2022 COlliesonline.com Performance Interviews Interviews around the country with top Collie Performance Exhibitors
We checked in with several talented Collie performance exhibitors from all over the country. We asked a series of nine general questions to see how things were shaping up this year so far for them. Check out what Sue Floyd, VMD, Maria Siebeck, Roxane Jourdain, Jeannette Poling, Linda Ward, Chelsea Bloomberg and Joany White all had to say about training and trialing with Collies in Performance in 2022. We thank all of them for sharing their insightful and heartfelt answers with us.
Who are you currently training or trialing?
Jeannette Poling: Rory (MBISS GCH & CT Chelsea Here Comes the Sun, VCD1 CD BN TDX VST MXP MJP CGC HIC), Natalie (CH & CT Chelsea Kissed by the Sun, BN TDX VST OA OAJ HIC) and our "baby," Layla (Chelsea Cover Girl).
Linda Ward: "Elsa" (GCH CH PACH UCDX Sinkona's Dream Catcher CDX BN GN GO RE HSAd HSAsM MSP5 MSPS MJP6 MJPS PAX MFP T2BP CA BCAT CGC GV) and "Ebony" (CH Sinkona's Black Magic NAJ PT CGC)
Maria Siebeck: I am currently training and trialing Titan, (GCH CH Ability's To The Moon And Back CD BN RI HSAsM HSAd FDC OA OAJ XF CGC).
Sue Floyd: I am currently training and trialing Glinda (Ch Camloch Clarity) and Fiadh ( Aryggeth’s Evensong.) Glinda is 9 and Fiadh will be 2 next month.
Roxane Jourdain: I am currently training and trialling my 2.5 year old smooth girl, Tini (CH Scalloway & Serac's Hold My Quarantini PT RN TKN RATN RATI).
Chelsea Bloomberg: I am currently training and trialing Tempest, (Belfair Colebrae Perpetual Motion CD BN RM2 RAE2 HSAs MX MXJ MJB XF BCAT SEA TKI) and I've recently brought home a six-month-old puppy named Legend (Belfair Colebrae Legendary -- Milas Belfair You Hold My Heart x GCH Belfair Colebrae Crazy In Love) who is working on his foundation skills for multiple sports.
Joany White: I'm training and trialing 4+ -year-old Boone, almost 2-year-old Mistletoe, their 8-month-old pup Annie, a few of Annie's littermates, and me.
What is your number one venue to compete in with your collie and why?
Roxane Jourdain: I love rally as it was the first venue that brought me to dog sports with my mixed breed girl Auriga, who is working on her RAE.
Maria Siebeck: My number one venue to compete in is agility. Agility provides me a way to bond with my dog. I love the pure joy we both share on every run. On the other hand, Titan's number one venue to compete in is herding. He has so much natural instinct. I feel like he knows so much more about it than I do.
Sue Floyd: My number one venue right now is nosework. Prior to that is was obedience. Early on in Glinda’s training it was clear that she had a lot of confidence issues away from home. We started in obedience and she learned all the basics early on, but trialing was a huge stress for her and she would disconnect and try and leave the ring -- a clear message that she didn’t want to be there. Everyone was saying that nosework is great for building confidence, so I decided to give it a try. I started with online classes one winter, then moved to in-person classes the following spring. We continued training in obedience but put all thought of competition away. In nosework the dog is imprinted on odor (birch, anise, clove,) and heavily rewarded every time they find it. You are allowed to reward in trials, which is huge. It is a very dog-driven sport, the dog is the leader, and basically the handler becomes the “dope on a rope.” You are there to support your dog and cover the search area, but only the dog has the answers. I started trading Fiadh in nosework at 9 weeks of age -- it’s great fun for puppies.
Jeannette Poling: We enjoy a lot of things: tracking, obedience and agility. I guess we would all vote that agility is our favorite: running, jumping, barking.
Joany White: Our #1 venue is tasting some of the great abilities in the Collie Variety Pack. We combine goal setting with experimenting in a number of different venues.
Chelsea Bloomberg: My personal favorite is agility, and it's Tempest's favorite, as well. I think we love it because of the speed and the excitement. A beautiful agility run, when you've cued your dog well and they've responded perfectly, is like a choreographed dance and that feeling defies description. Really, though, we love a wide variety of sports -- she's a handful of points away from her RACH, and we trial in obedience, herding, scent work, and NASDA as well.
Linda Ward: We probably attend more agility trials than any other, however when she is ready to compete in another venue, such as herding and obedience, and the trials are available I enter her in them. Although Elsa loves agility and she is a joy to run.
Did you set any performance goals this year? Tell us what they were. How did that go?
Linda Ward: I desperately wanted to earn a PACH to earn the CCA Grand Versatility Award and be able to pick it up at the 2022 Collie Club of America National Specialty in Utah. A goal my daughter had cautioned me that it may not happen in time for the 2022 CCA National. I am not getting any younger (I will be 75 in November) and really wanted to earn a CCA Grand Versatility on Elsa as I fully believed in her and her ability. AND I wanted to be able to receive that award in person with her at my side at the 2022 CCA National. I have never been able to pick up any of my Versatility awards for one of my dogs in person and this meant a lot to me. Elsa and I have been through a lot together and she has been amazing, adapting many times to continue with her training/trialing. My daughter and I were in a bad accident in 2019. In 2020 I had both knees replaced (three months apart) and we were back in the agility ring competing three months after the second knee surgery. There were times I couldn't run Elsa and gave her to another person to run (my first choice would be my daughter, Tanya, but on a few rare occasions she was not present at the trial and I would hand her to a person that I fully trusted) and their comment was always, "she is a lot of fun to run." Elsa earned 11 double Qs in the few agility trials that we were able to attend in 2021 to earn the PACH. Tanya and many of my friends were there to celebrate that moment. It is my first ever PACH! And my first and probably only Grand Versatility Award! There were tears that day as we received the award and made that journey around that ring with many of my friends there to watch and support me. That National will always be so very special to me and as an added bonus, Elsa finished her HSAsM and her HSAd titles at the National, earning a RHIT in ducks. If I could change one thing at that moment, it would have been to have Tanya there also. This past weekend we went to dinner with a friend, Jeanine, and it came up. She said that Elsa is so much fun to watch, wagging her tail and having a good time!
Roxane Jourdain: Tini had a litter this year which delayed a lot of our goals! You may be seeing her son Maël in the performance ring in the future. I hope to finish her Rally Advanced title and maybe get her excellent, which would qualify her for a CCA versatility award. I am also trying to go for Beginner Novice
Sue Floyd: My performance goals for this year were to start trialing with Fiadh, and to continue to work towards Glinda’s NW3 Elite title. In addition, I decided to blow the dust off Glinda and get her back into the obedience ring in an effort to earn her CDX. Fiadh has earned her ORT, and novice titles in AKC Scentwork, we are ready for a NW1 trial if we can get into one . . . Glinda is one qualifying score away from her NW3 Elite title -- so close! In the beginning I never thought we would be able to compete because she could be so nervous about strange places, then I never thought we would make it past NW1. But she earned confidence along the way, and we have ended up competing in the creepiest of places -- old camps, empty fairgrounds, a nature center with huge fish in tanks -- and she has taken it all in stride. We have also been back in the Open A obedience ring, and although we have no Qs yet, I have had a dog who is connected and trying her best. I know we can get there.
Chelsea Bloomberg: I did have goals this year -- I had hoped to finish Tempest's MACH and her RACH this year; we're still on track to finish the RACH, even with some time off, but we've been slowed down on the MACH goal due to a lingering injury. This has been a year of learning patience and resetting my training plans and strategies!
Joany White: My performance goals this year are to be a better taxi driver (I live hours away from everything) and to keep progressing appropriately for each dog, keeping in mind Deanna Levenhagen's tip to steer away from having goals that are date-oriented. I also need to keep thanking agility teacher/sometimes handler, Nick, herding trainer/handler, Susan and tracking trainer/handler, Nancy.
Maria Siebeck: My performance goals this year were in herding. I wanted to complete my Herding Started A Course Sheep Master title, try to get a second leg towards a Herding Started A Course Ducks title, enter a Started D course, and, move up to Intermediate A Course. We actually exceeded our goals in herding. We achieved our HSAsM and HSAd titles at the Collie Club of America National Specialty in Salt Lake City. We also have earned a leg toward our HSDs, HSAdM, and the best of all . . . we have one leg toward our HIAs.
Jeannette Poling: This has been a very difficult year for me. I broke my left leg on April 15. It was a catastrophic injury, requiring pins, plates, wires and screws. My sports orthopedic surgeon says I will not be up and about for dog sports until February 2023, if then. I am still using a walker. At the beginning of the year my goals were for Natalie to continue with her agility. She completed both her OA and OAJ before my injury. Also I was hoping Natalie would be ready for CD competition in June. I had hoped for Rory to earn more Double Qs and points in agility, and his CDX in obedience. We were looking at a June competition. For Layla I started her in tracking as a 12-week-old puppy, out in the fields. But my biggest dream was achieved: for my father and daughter, Rory and Natalie, to both earn their Champion Tracker titles. Rory’s chances for competition had been way laid for two years because of COVID restrictions. The dogs continued to have lessons with Paula Cingota in 2022, and they were both ready to compete. I don’t know how it is in other parts of the country, but here in Southern California the VST tests are few and far between, and only four dogs, plus an alternate, are tested per trial. And many of the tests are hosted by breed clubs with their breed being selected first for the tests (which makes sense). For the 2022 VST trial season there were eight trials from March – July, or 32 tests plus eight alternates. They have a drawing to be in test. I entered them in every test. Rory was picked for the test on Easter Sunday in April, it was the 4th of the 8th trials. It was two days after I broke my leg. My husband got us to the test and I listened at base camp to hear if he passed. He qualified with a beautiful demonstration of tracking ability. It was a wonderful day. Rory was now a Champion Tracker. Natalie’s name was drawn as the last regular entrant for the last VST trial of the season in July. I could have fainted. Natalie passed, making quick work of her VST track. And as her track layer said, “Best day ever!” Natalie was now a Champion Tracker. I feel very blessed. Rory and Natalie are the first father and daughter duo to both be Champion Trackers in collie history. Even with all the pain, and disruption of our lives with my broken leg, this has been a very memorable year with these wonderful goals achieved. Thank you to Paula Cingota for being their trainer and handler. She says she loves “Her Fluffy Man and his daughter.” And then for my Layla: when I could no longer take her to her TD lessons, which I started in February when she was 12 weeks old, her coach and my dear friend, Bobbie Sevier, took over her tracking training. My husband Tom drives Layla to those lessons, because I still cannot drive. Bobbie says Layla will be ready for the TD test this winter. I will end here. My dogs bring a lot of joy and Tom and I are very blessed.
In your chosen performance venue, what temperament traits does a collie need to have to excel at that particular sport?
Sue Floyd: I think any collie can do nosework. Having a confident dog that is food or toy motivated makes it easier, but Glinda has shown me that even a sensitive dog can overcome their fears when they understand odor obedience. For her odor = food, always!
Roxane Jourdain: To be successful in rally, a collie must show willingness to work when rewards are not available, as well as a stable temperament as we often trial in new places with a lot of dogs around. Handler focus is a must! The novice title is very accessible, but it does get complex at higher levels.
Jeannette Poling: For all of the performance events we compete in I want an athletically built dog that is structurally correct. The Collies need to have a sound and out going personality that is eager to learn. A dog that is not stressed by its environment, that when given the appropriate training and practice, can get out of the van, be given a hug and go off and compete. A dog that can learn to work on a team (with me the handler) and also a confident collie that will work independently, such as in agility if I give a cue to “go on” then she can look out and see what she needs to do.
Linda Ward: My "chosen" performance venue is ANY that I train for. You need a dog that is willing to learn and be a teammate, one that can be adaptable and still give their all. A sound temperament, a willingness to be a partner, forgiving of your mistakes and still willing to try. Happy and outgoing. Any active sport also requires good structure, an important part of the picture.
Chelsea Bloomberg: I think one of the biggest things a Collie temperament needs for agility, particularly, is confidence. There is a lot of noise and distraction and such a range of surfaces (rubberized equipment, dirt floors, turf floors, matted floors, tipping teeters, etc.) that it can be overwhelming for many dogs. As with most dog sports, having a dog that wants to work with and please its handler makes the training and trialing much easier.
Joany White: Regarding our #1 venue, some of the temperament traits needed to excel are confidence, intelligence, athleticism, good work ethic, ability to problem solve, ability to think independently while also working together, ability to get past my errors, and a sense of fun!
How do you get your dog ready for a trial?
Chelsea Bloomberg: For most things, I prepare by reinforcing foundations at home and then testing them in new environments. The more places my dog is able to do things confidently, the more likely she'll carry that confidence into the ring. I have recently been experimenting with setting up as much of an obedience/rally ring as I can in local parks (for me, that's rally signs on cones and two ring gates to create a ring entrance) and that seems like it's made a big difference to Tempest's focus in the ring.
Jeannette Poling: They just live healthy lives as pet dogs. They have good diets, lots of exercise on our property, and the appropriate lessons to make them prepared for what I want them to perform. I do not enter them until they are ready to have success. I also always bathe them and trim them (just like for conformation) before we compete. They are breed champions and I want them to radiate their beauty. People often tell me that they love to watch my collies run in agility because the big flowing coats are quite spectacular.
Sue Floyd: We play a lot of games to get ready for a trial. My instructor has us do easy foundation games, open line boxes for nosework, and pairing with food so the dog is rewarded quickly. It’s all about confidence building.
Linda Ward: We (my daughter, Tanya, and I) train all the time for different events. We keep our dogs as physically fit as we can, including conditioning and diet. We have a dog chiropractor that helps us to keep our dogs in physical condition to compete and sometimes have to do specific exercises to help heal or make stronger an area that may have been injured or is just weaker. We also consult with traditional and non-traditional vets when needed. We watch carefully for any sign that something may not be quite right and attend to that immediately.
Roxane Jourdain: We train at home and on the road to make sure our moves are solid! On the day of trial, my #1 priority before we run is to make sure she is relaxed and acclimated, and that she is in the right headspace.
Joany White: To get the doggies ready for a trial, I start when they're tiny, before their eyes have opened. I love introducing them to new things (ie., the crumpled paper bag in the picture of Mistletoe nursing the pups while watching the rodeo) and building their confidence by giving them well-planned problems to solve. I love training them to be professional snugglers, to adore and be oriented to me, balanced with independent thinking . . . Marianne Sullivan's fb post last week was so exciting, comparing raising pups to jazz music!
What other performance events interest you that you have not tried yet and why? Do you think you will try them in the next year?
Roxane Jourdain: I have competed in herding, obedience and barnhunt, and have plans to title in scentwork and agility. I hope to get to a scentwork trial in the near future.
Sue Floyd: I don’t really think there are other venues that I find tempting right now. We still do obedience, a little rally, some herding lessons, some tracking, and nosework. There is not enough time or money to do more.
Jeannette Poling: Maybe “Scent Work” . . . right now I just want to get past my broken leg and the recovery.
Linda Ward: I would like to do Scent Work. I believe that we would have a lot of fun with this sport. I will need to retire before I can add another sport.
Chelsea Bloomberg: I would love to try tracking and hope to do so soon. I haven't tried it, yet, partly because it's hard to maintain the number of sports I already do with a busy work schedule -- and laying tracks (and getting spaces to lay them) is a time challenge.
Joany White: Performance venues that interest me that we haven't tried yet are -- well, I should say we tried these once and that was enough. I thought Boone might have fun with Schutzhund, so I asked him if he'd be interested! We went to a really cool teacher who evaluated Boone's desire to keep/fight for the toy. Boone is such a happy retriever that he had too much fun bringing the toy back to the teacher and dropping it at his feet so the teacher could throw it again for him. Boone was so happy and cute, but Schutzhund is not in his future. Mistletoe is very athletic, bold and has a few family members who like to swim, so I wanted to ask her if she'd have fun dock diving. I bought the cutest squeaky rubber frog for her to chase into the water. The local dock diving instructor spent 20 minutes tossing the froggy into the water and coaxing her, but she wasn't that into it, so I put her back into the car -- loose, with access to froggy. Next thing I knew, she tossed little froggy out of the open window, right at me, as if to say, "Here -- your turn! Get the froggy, Joany!" She is too smart and naughty and such an adorable rascal!
How do you define success in your performance experience with your collie?
Jeannette Poling: Success is a happy barking collie with a wagging tail. This happy behavior could come when a new skill is mastered and demonstrated, or at the end of an obedience lesson, or an agility run, or when the dog hears the roar of the gallery when a VST is passed. Success for me -- it is the journey, not the destination: it is seeing my dog happy and eager to continue to work.
Chelsea Bloomberg: Success for us is coming out of the ring (agility, herding, obedience, rally -- whatever the venue) with a happy, wagging dog and a smiling handler. If my dog had the best time, the Q doesn't matter. Of course, I certainly prefer a Q, but I don't want it at the expense of my dog's enthusiasm; some of my favorite runs have been NQs.
Roxane Jourdain: My number one definition of success in my performance experience is "did she have fun?". If it is not fun for her, then we haven't been successful. Success for me isn't the Q's or the scores, but seeing my dog light up when asked to work.
Joany White: I define success as communicating clearly to my dogs and picking up what they are telling me. I love to ask the dogs questions. I love our teaching/learning dance. I love having fun together and doing our best. I love it when the doggies understand how proud I am of them (there's always something to praise them for) so that they start wiggling and singing, "I'm too sexy for my shirt"!
Maria Siebeck: As long as we are both having fun we are succeeding.
Sue Floyd: Success in competition for me is having a dog that is there working with you, trying their best. Having a comfortable, confident dog. It’s not about the Q, or the placement, which are nice, of course, but we all make mistakes. If I have a dog that is trying, I know we will get there. So many people underestimate the stress that trialing puts on their dogs, especially in obedience. When a dog fails to do something that they can do at home the dog gets blamed for disobedience, when the dog is likely doing the best they can in that environment, at that time.
Linda Ward: I have been successful in many sports with several collies. I believe that you need a close support person and group. You need to be open to learning and trying something new. You need to watch other teams and be willing to break down a performance to see how it could have been better. Retrain yourself to be a better partner when needed and willing to work with your dog to help them understand what you want. As you move to higher levels in performance you need to be willing to fail and move forward to reach your goals. That means that many times you have to step outside of your comfort zone to grow and to evolve as a team. Challenge yourself and your dog.
If you could change one thing about your chosen venue, what would that be?
Maria Siebeck: I wish there were more herding facilities and trials available.
Linda Ward: I would like to see the A-frame in agility lowered for all heights of dogs. Courses that are safe for all dogs at all heights, that don't stress their shoulders in sharp turns and pounding that needn't be quite that tight.
Sue Floyd: In NACSW nosework I wish there were more opportunities to trial. I’m lucky in the northeast to have a lot of trials to enter, but the number of available trial spots does not meet the huge demand. Currently we have wait lists nearing 100 dogs for NW3 and Elite trials. In AKC obedience I wish there would be opportunity to reward your dog in the ring between exercises, and or verbally reward them during exercises. The silence, the formality, the lack of food rewards during trials make it very demotivating for dogs, especially collies. CDSP obedience allows these rewards and I find my dogs are much happier.
Jeannette Poling: All of our agility trials are run outside in parks. The courses are full of gopher holes, and slippery grass. Spectators are at ringside with strollers and screaming kids. Once a kids’ “bounce house” was almost on our fence line. We have also run under the San Diego airport approach with roaring planes over head, and the judge doing her table count with hand signals. I would love to compete inside a building on a flat surface without all the distractions.
Roxane Jourdain: Judges should make sure their Rally courses don't disfavor large dogs with tight turns and short moments of heeling.
Joany White: The one thing I would change about my chosen venue is me.
Chelsea Bloomberg: I would love to see multiple-level titling classes in agility with no weave poles and the ability to set much lower jump heights for veterans. These are available in non-AKC registries, but we tend to stick with AKC events. Our veterans still love to run and I think it would be right to honor them with classes they can keep doing into old age.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE SO FAR THIS YEAR COMPETING?
Linda Ward: In the fiscal year of October to October for Colliesonline Performance week, it would be October 10, 2021, when Elsa earned her PACH at the Helena Montana Kennel Club agility trials.
Maria Siebeck: The Collie Club of America National Specialty in Salt Lake City -- we earned three titles, two herding titles (HSAd and HSAsM) and our Rally Intermediate title. We also came in 3rd place in the Most Versatile Collie competition.
Roxane Jourdain: Winning the Rally Advanced A class at CCA with Tini with a score of 92 was amazing! She and her littermate Nyx (mjr ptd Scalloway's Dream Temptress RN HT, 2nd Am Bred CCA 2022) both qualified for Most Versatile Collie and it was awesome to see both wild kids receive their awards together.
Jeannette Poling: This Spring my Rory earned his Champion Tracker in April and his daughter, Natalie, earned her Champion Tracker title in July. They are the only father and daughter collie Champion Trackers. While I was not the handler, I took them to all the training, beginning with their TD and TDX lessons, and through their VST practices. I made sure they were ready to learn what was being presented.
Chelsea Bloomberg: While winning the Most Versatile Collie at this year's National was certainly an unbeatable thrill, I have to say my most memorable experience was returning to the rally ring in August after significant struggles with ring stress. We had both come away frustrated from several rally trial weekends and I was delighted to find that our training strategy was working and I had my happy workaholic back.
Sue Floyd: My favorite trial experience so far this year was earning Glinda’s second NW3 title. It was at a school, which she is usually comfortable with, but there is always a chance she will find something to worry about at any particular site. She came out of the car dragging me to the search areas. We started with a blank search area and she clearly communicated there was nothing there. She was spot on all day, comfortable and confident in her searches. We finished with 3rd place out of 38 dogs.
Joany White: One of my most memorable experiences so far this year is from competing at an agility trial. At the end of one of our FAST runs, Boone started up the A frame, which was the next to last jump and one of his favorite obstacles. The buzzer went off as soon as he leapt onto the A frame, heading away from me. Totally on his own initiative, he did a 180° when he heard the buzzer, leapt off the A frame and ran to the last jump, saying, "Joany! We don't have time for the A frame! We need to get to the finish line right now!" How did he know to turn around and where the last jump was? Amazed, I might have managed to say, "Over!" as he cleared the last jump, thereby stopping the clock, getting 1st place and finishing up his title. I love my favorite Boone, and I love our smart and devoted breed!