 |
BCSA
Board of Directors |
|
I
got my first Border Collie in 1997. We originally bought Cheli as “just a
pet” but she quickly became my introduction to “all things dog.” She and I
learned about obedience, tracking, conformation, agility and herding.
Cheli competes in and has earned titles in every venue, currently she is
known as U-CD U-AGI CH Shoreland’s Power Play CDX RN TDX PT OA AXJ HTD-Is
STDs NAC OJC NGC TN-N. She needs one leg to finish her AX and I need to be
brave enough to enter a VST test to earn her VST and CT. She also became
the foundation of Czechmate Border Collies when she had her only litter in
2000.
I now have 6 Border Collies and a flock of sheep. The second BC added to my pack was from imported (Irish ISDS) lines, as evidenced by his name. Celt (Celtic Legacy at Czechmate CD RN TDX HSAs HTD-Is) was bought from a sheep/cattle ranch. Three of my current dogs are from litters that I have bred. Tess (Czechmate Quintessential CD RN TD HSAds NA OAJ HTD-Is HRD-Is NJC TN-N) is from Cheli’s litter and she is the dam of my other two who are Win (Czechmate Hit the Trifecta PT HSAs) and Wager (Czechmate To Win Place or Show). I also have Peter HSAs HRD-IIIs STDs and had Reba (CH Shoreland’s Flaming Star PT HSAs JHD HTD-Is) until I placed her. As you can tell, my primary interest with my dogs is performance. Together we have earned titles in AKC obedience, rally, tracking, agility and herding. We also compete in other herding, obedience and agility venues. I have trained and titled dogs for other people in herding (2 PT and 1 HT) and tracking (TD). I also teach herding, agility and tracking and have just applied for a tracking judge license.
I have ventured into the conformation ring as well. I have finished 3 CH, (Cheli, Reba and CH Czechmate Chasing Ewe Around RN) all of which had performance titles before earning their CH. Last year I showed the first dog that I bred to earn a CH (Chasin). I also have 3 dogs that are pointed, one with a major. At the 2004 National Specialty, Tess was Best Opposite Sex to Best in Match at the Performance Match. Reba won the Herding Titled Bitch class in 2004, despite being 5 weeks pregnant! In 2005 I judged the Performance Match at the specialty.
In my life outside dogs, I work full time as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service. In 1998, I finished work on a Master of Arts degree in history and hope to eventually get back to finish a PhD in history. I have also done some work with Border Collie rescue. We hold a herding trial at our home each fall (first AHBA and now AKC). We also have held a NADAC agility trial several times.
I have been involved with several of the BCSA national specialties. In 1999, I helped add a TD tracking event and in 2001 we also added TDX. I gave an introduction to tracking seminar at the 2004 specialty. In 2004 and 2006 I was the specialty chair or co-chair. Currently I am the health chair for BCSA and arranged for BAER testing and DNA blood draws at the 2005 national specialty. I also help out with the ROM scoreboard by compiling all of the information located on the BCSA website.
In life outside BCSA, I am a member of Forest City Dog Training Club where I serve on the Board of Directors as the Agility Trial Chair. I have also taught both obedience and agility classes there. I am a founding member of Northern IL Stock Dog Club and currently serve as Secretary/Treasurer. I have also been a member of Pecatonica Tracking Club where I was on the Board of Directors and served as test secretary, test chair, tracklayer and cross tracklayer many times.
BCSA has come a long way since it was formed and became the AKC parent club. I haven’t been around for all of the growing pains but I’ve seen enough of them to appreciate the progress that has been made. There is still a long way for us to go – the Border Collie community is so diverse that it will take some work to bring some factions of it together but that does not mean that we shouldn’t try. There is still a lot of work to do in the area of genetic testing and lots of opportunity for the various factions to work together for the good of our beloved breed. After having worked with a couple of boards in my role as specialty chair, I look forward to being able to be a part of one.
Page Updated 10.22.2007