Off to a BAD Start
Bad AttitudeFrom Karen Barratt of Galveston, TX
USDAA-11/15/97
Just received a call from Karen Barratt of Galveston, TX who wants to join us and has been wearing her BAD Tshirt to USDAA events. Most recently her Beardie Boo (Ch. O'Duinnin Picabo Streak, NA, NJC, AD) won her first Advanced Jumpers leg on11/2/97 at Rough and Ready Agility in Houston with a 2nd place and a Q (It is possible to get a placement ribbon without qualifying in both NADAC and USDAA) . Then on the 15th of November she got two more Advanced Agility legs at Flashpaws in Houston, the Advanced Snooker with a second place and a Q and the Advanced Pairs with a 1st place and a Q. We are looking forward to hearing more from Karen and Boo, who also has her first two Open legs in AKC. Boo took a little time out to have her first litter of pups and Karen intends to begin her agility training with one of her new pups at four months, which is the age that Jane Simmons-Moakes recommends beginning Agility Training. Jane even has classes for four month olds. I have asked Karen to write an article for us about training at this young age. I know that my trainer, Nancy Gyes trains her own border collies in their whelping box and is definitely training them by four months of age. She has miniature equipment for them and really works on the directional commands, such as out, right, left, and behind (a great command for lining up one's dog to take an obstacle properly).