Boundless Blog |
By Madison Edmunds and Claire MacDonaldAs the number of juniors grow in the sport of agility, one of Boundless’s primary goals is to encourage clubs to support their junior agility handlers.
Here are four ways your club can show their support for junior handlers 1. Offer junior discounts for trials, classes, seminars, etc
Please feel free to contact us if you need any support at all, we would love to help you set up a system to support the future of agility.
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 Our next junior interview is with aged out junior, Rachel Rivkin. Rachel attended BJAC in 2018 and is attending again in 2019. Not only does Rachel compete in agility but she has also done conformation. Rachel currently attends Temple University and got to intern at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center. Q: What is your name and age? What state do you live in? Rachel Rivkin, I am turning 19 in March, and I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Q: What is your agility dog’s name, breed, and age? My agility dog’s name is Branson, he is a 5 year old standard poodle. Q: What is your intended major in college? I am attending college currently at Temple University, majoring in biology. Q: What is Penn Vet Working Dog Center, and what was your internship like there? Penn Vet Working Dog Center is a training, education, and incredible research center for detection dogs. Over my first semester of college, I received an internship here, and learned so much more than I could have ever imagined. At this amazing center, which is apart of University of Pennsylvania, they have the goal of educating and spreading their research in detection dogs, all while training many successful dogs for live saving careers. Each week I spent between 10-15 hours alongside one of their trainers assisting in data recording, hiding for search and rescue dogs, learning how to handle high drive working dogs, and got to help in research too! Some of the research studied here includes training dogs to detect ovarian cancer and even detecting stolen artifacts (such as paintings) through airports. In addition to their research, they train dogs for all different detection careers including search and rescue, single odor detection for explosives or drugs, and as well as dual purpose careers (odor detection and apprehensive work). Over my semester long internship I was able to open my view to many more careers involving science and dogs outside of the veterinary field. Q: What responsibilities do you have as an intern at Penn Vet Working Dog Center? Many of my responsibilities included walking dogs, data recording, hiding for search and rescue dogs, helping handle dogs on field trips, and helping as an extra hand in many of the training exercises. Working alongside the positive reinforcement trainers taught me so much as an agility handler, from learning new shaping techniques, to fitness exercise plans, and learning the foundations of training a detection dog. With these new training skills, I have already started applying them to my own dog, Branson. Q: Have you faced any challenges being in college and still trying to stay active in agility? Yes, being in college and staying active in agility is a challenge for me, but I still manage to add an agility trial to my schedule occasionally. While I attend college an hour away from home, it is difficult to constantly make plans to come home every weekend and travel to a trial, then immediately hop back into the busy school week. While I miss agility, what I miss more is being able to come home everyday to Branson. I did not realize how much of a stress reliever playing with Branson every day was until I got into college. There are also multiple dog events that I have attended for many years that I have had to turn down due to my college schedule. While sacrificing agility for college seems like a really scary idea, it allows you to step out of your comfort zone and experience new adventures in life outside of the agility routine. Q: How long have you been doing agility and what got you started in the sport? I have been doing agility for about 7 years, but became competitive in AKC trials about 5 years ago. I first got started in this sport when my family rescued a local standard poodle and my older sister began training her tricks in the yard. I saw how much fun it looked, so eventually I got my first standard poodle, William. William, at 7 years old, was given to me from Joan Mcfadden and Gail Woluniuk of Unique Standard Poodles. Because of William, I became dedicated to agility and found my passion in working with dogs. William retired about 4 years after I began training him, which lead to the addition of Branson into my life. Q: What is one of your favorite memory with your dog? One of my favorite memories with Branson is competing in Luxembourg at the European Open Junior Competition. That was my first trip overseas and my first high level competition. From that single trip, I made lifelong friends, learned a ton about my handling and how to push myself, and I learned that I have a passion for traveling the world. Together, Branson and I took on a European adventure, pushing both of us out of our comfort zones, but allowing us to learn the international ways as a team. It was beyond an incredible experience that I will never forget. Q: What has been one of your biggest challenges in dog agility or training? One of my biggest challenges in agility was finding a balance between everything I wanted to do outside of agility while still including agility. Throughout high school, I maintained a job, high honors, agility competitions, and a social life. It was very difficult at times to make sacrifices to attend agility events I really wanted to attend to do something else, but it was all worth it in the end. Finding ways to balance my schedule and manage my time is a skill that carried on with me through college, and will throughout my life. Q: What was your favorite part of camp in 2018? What are you looking forward to at BJAC 2019? My favorite part of camp in 2018 was reconnecting with all my friends and making new ones! Seeing so many young kids all with the same passion was very encouraging. What I look forward to at BJAC is learning more, working with new trainers, and pushing myself further with my best teammate. As a junior agility program, we want to support the other programs and opportunities for other juniors. Recently Boundless Junior Agility Camp was contacted by Funna® regarding a partnership, we of course had to say yes! Funna® uses trained and seasoned dogs to help train juniors handling and training skills just like BJAC's LAP dog program! Read below to find out more about our friends in Finland and their upcoming revolution. We are so excited to hear about their program and love their mission (learning and fun!). We can't wait to watch them grow and increase the number of juniors in the sport of agility. This is the FUNNA® REVOLUTION! Well hello there! We are Funna®! We are here to bring you the joyous word of Funna®, an agility concept that has been made particularly children in mind. Have you noticed, that children nowadays don’t move as much as they did before? Somehow the game consoles and different apps are more interesting than the vibrant, ultra-HD graphics you see in the real world. Well, Funna® is here to change exactly that! What Funna® is? Funna® is dog agility on children’s terms. Our mission is to create more active children, who know their own body. As we focus solely on children aged 5-12, we can concentrate on supporting the child’s growth physically as well as emotionally. Mainly, Funna® consist of various exercises that strengthen children’s motor skills, balance and coordination. Our goal is to teach children an active and healthy life style that lasts throughout their whole life.  Even though we’re a dog agility specialised in children, the dogs are only a minor part in our classes, but that doesn’t mean they’re not important! They have very crucial role in our teachings. As we use dogs already familiar with agility, they have this amazing ability to read even the weakest cues the child gives them. That makes the child experience success, which furthers their positive take on this sport and exercise in general.  Funna® Kids always come up with excellent exercises all by themselves! We involve the children in our classes. They can come up with new exercises what makes them even more connected with Funna® lessons and other children. We make the children engage with various exercises introducing them in the form of a play. We make them learn the course through dog’s eyes, so they are able to understand the dog more, how it might behave in various situations, or if it’s even possible for the dog to see the cues. Learning in a group and with a dog teaches child empathy amongst other positive mental conditions. “We believe that positivity is the real way to make emotionally and physically strong adults, who believe in themselves and associate exercise with happiness.” We in Funna® believe in teaching the children the positive way – praises and positive energy to assure that the child leaves the class with a content smile on their faces, already exited for the next lesson! We believe this is the real way to make emotionally and physically strong adults, who believe in themselves and associate exercise with happiness. So, Funna® is not only about physical fitness! Learn more about our revolution on www.funnarevolution.com and check us out in social media @funnarevolution. Let’s have FUNNA® FUN together!  Our second junior spotlight will be on Annie Niekerk. Annie Niekerk attended BJAC in 2018 and is planning to attend again in 2019. At our 2018 camp, Annie ran one of our LAP dogs, Vixen. Q: What is your name and age? What state do you live in? My name is Annie Niekerk, I’m 13 and I live in New Jersey! Q: What is your agility dog’s name, breed, and age? My dogs name is Liberty, but nicknamed Libby, she’s an English Labrador Retriever and she’s 3 years old. Q: How long have you been doing agility and what got you started in the sport? I’ve been doing agility for almost 3 years with Libby, but only got more serious about 2 years ago. It was really Instagram videos that got me interested in agility. Q: What is one of your favorite memories with your dog or a dog you run? A favorite memory with Libby would probably be going on vacations with her and just being with our family, I also love Vixen, my LAP dog last year when she would bark to get treats, haha. Q: Have you ever attended agility events such as AKC nationals, Westminster, etc.? How was your experience at these events? I’ve never competed in events like Westminster or AKC nationals, but I’ve watched Westminster 2018. It was such a cool experience to see so many great dogs and meet new people. Q: Do you have any current goals you are working towards? Currently with Libby, I’m working very hard on her engagement to create a more focused dog, especially for camp! It’s been our main focus for about 2 and a half months now. Q: What are your long term agility dreams and/or goals? My long term goals would have to be to trial with Libby and get her MACH. My first priority is just having a successful trial with her though! Q: Where do you train? I train at a local shelter with an agility trainer named Linda Bogert who owns a few border collies. She’s a great person and trainer and even though it’s an animal shelter, the facility and equipment is wonderful! Q: Besides agility, what kind of activities, sports, etc. do you enjoy? Besides agility, I love swimming, I’ve been swimming competitively for around 6 years and it’s a lot of work but it’s so fun. Q: What was your favorite part of camp in 2018? What are you looking forward to at BJAC 2019? My favorite part of camp would have to be meeting new friends and being with people I already know. I also really enjoyed running Vixen, my LAP dog, she was so sweet and for camp 2019, I’m looking forward to seeing her again, and meeting people I’ve known on Instagram who are coming and seeing old friends too! And most of all, that I’m bringing Libby this year! Q: Do you have anything you would tell juniors interested in attending BJAC? I would tell juniors to have fun and don’t stress the camp, it’s a great learning experience, and you meet new friends and connect with other juniors who love what you do! There’s no better way for a junior to do agility, than a camp with other junior! To follow Annie and Libby's journey visit her Instagram @_libbythelab_  Emily Walker is a junior active in multiple dog sports with her poodles. Not only does Emily compete at the national level but at the international level too. In July of 2019, she will head to Switzerland on the EOJ 2019 USA Team! Emily will be attending to Boundless for the first time. Q: What is your name and age? What state do you live in? Emily Walker and 17. I live in Texas. Q: What are your agility dogs names, breeds, and ages? Indi, Miniature Poodle, 3 years old Lyra, Miniature Poodle, 1 year old Q: Besides agility, what kind of activities, sports, etc. do you enjoy? I am a member of my FFA and compete on leadership development teams, as well as show animals. I’m a member of my high school band, and I play the Piccolo and the flute. I love horseback riding, photography, and working with all types of animals. Q: What is your favorite dog breed? And why? My favorite dog breed is Poodles. I’ve had Standards and Miniatures, and Miniatures have by far stolen my heart. They are out-going, mischievous, incredibly smart, athletic, driven dogs packed with personality. If you’re looking for a competitive and happy breed, Poodles are a perfect match. Q: How long have you been doing agility and what got you started in the sport? I’ve been doing agility for 7 years. My mom was in a local club with her Poodle when I was young so she would take me to classes and shows from the time I was a baby in a baby stroller. I grew up on the side lines watching people work with their dogs, and I just knew that I wanted to do that one day. Q: Do you participate in any dog sports besides agility? I currently also compete in Obedience and Rally. I hope to try some other venues soon! Q: How does agility differ from other dog sports such as rally and obedience? Agility involves more distance skills, and athleticism. It is also generally a more high energy environment. Q: If a kid was interested in starting a sport with their dog, what advice would you give them? My advice is that it is all about your mindset. Never compare yourself or your dog to other teams, and always work with the dog you have. Never give up to your defeats and disappointments, and never surrender to the idea that you aren’t good enough. Anything is possible as long as you set your mind to it, stay positive, and work through YOUR journey. Q: What are you looking forward to at BJAC 2019? I look forward to the new learning experience, as well as meeting new trainers and more junior handlers! To follow more on Emily and her dog's visit @agilitywithpoodles on Instagram!  Our first junior interview will be on Jordyn Baker. Jordyn competes in several venues with a rescued mix breed, has an up and coming border collie, and steps in to run other dogs at events as well. She and Bentli have won local USDAA tournament rounds and will be attending Cynosport World Games this year. Jordyn attended BJAC in 2018 and is planning to attend again in 2019. Q: What is your name and age? What state do you live in? My name is Jordyn Baker, I’m 16 years old and I live in Louisiana. Q: What are your main agility dogs’ names, breeds, and ages? My main dogs are Bentli (mixed breed) and Million (border collie). Bentli is the dog I compete with and is who I started agility with. She is 4 years old. Million is my 10 month old puppy who is currently doing agility foundations and will be primarily pursuing agility and conformation. Q: How long have you been doing agility and what got you started in the sport? I started agility in my backyard when I was an 11 year old in 6th grade with a different terrier mix that has since passed away. We used a turned over children’s seesaw and sticks with flower pots for jumps, a piece of plywood as a table, and a disconnected slide put down flat in the grass as a dog walk. Truthfully, I did not know that there was a name for what I was doing and after I came to that realization, I was hooked. Over three years went by before I found a club and started to train there. It did not take long for fellow club members to realize that I was more self taught than they had thought and in no time I was invited to train on Thursday nights with the Masters people. This was a big deal for me! It was February 2017 before I attended my first trial and I was dubbed the “self taught kid who trained the dog by herself” for quite a while. At the time of my first trial I was 14 and a freshman in high school, so I had been training for pushing 4 years and 3 of those were on my own. Q: What is one of your favorite memories with your dog(s)? Getting Bentli from one of our local rescue organizations when I was in 7th grade is a pretty sweet memory for me. She was a very honest and special girl from the beginning and being able to be her partner over the past 4 years has been something i’m very thankful for. Q: What is your most notable achievement? In January of 2019, Bentli and I had a pretty spectacular weekend and won Grand Prix with a BYE to a regional event and placed 2nd in Performance Versatility Pairs teaming with Renee Culpepper and her Jena. Q’s aside, the compliments I get are something I consider to be notable and they have helped me grow as a handler. Q: What has been one of your biggest challenges in dog agility or training? (Personal or dog) For over a year Bentli has had teeter troubles after being put on a faulty teeter at an event. It’s something we’ve put a lot of work into and she can often be seen creeping over the teeter with an energetic ringside cheering squad to motivate her (and it works!). Q: Where do you train? I train with Pawprints Agility Club in Shreveport, Louisiana. Louisiana has very few clubs and I’m thankful the yard I train in is only 25 minutes away! Q: Besides agility, what kind of activities, sports, etc. do you enjoy? Million and I have a conformation debut coming up in April. It’s something i plan to pursue with her and future dogs. Q: What venues have you competed in? What is your favorite venue? I compete in USDAA and AKC. USDAA is probably my favorite because I really enjoy tournament classes and will travel quite a ways for them. Q: What was your favorite part of camp in 2018? What are you looking forward to at BJAC 2019? BJAC 2018 was a wonderful experience! My highlight was getting to train with such talented individuals. After 4 months off, Bentli ran remarkably well and we were very in sync over the 4 days of camp. On day 4, Bentli and I teamed up with Natalie Spinsby and her Fire for a USDAA Pairs themed final which we won. BJAC really is a remarkable event. Likewise, in 2019 I am most excited for spending time with close friends and training with this year’s instructors. Jordyn Baker was one of the BJAC 2019 scholarship recipients. In her essay, Jordyn explains the struggles she has encountered with her first border collie, Ripley. Her scholarship essay can be viewed here. Jordyn also has a YouTube channel featuring some of agility and traveling videos! Check out her channel here and featured below is her Agility 2018 video.  One of our first features on the Boundless Blog is of junior handler, Jordyn Baker. Jordyn and one of her dogs, Bentli have excelled in agility competitions. In her essay below, Jordyn shares her experience with what was thought to be her next agility star. By Jordyn Baker In March of 2017, less than a month after my competitive agility debut with Bentli, my three year old terrier mix, my parents decided that they were on board with me getting a more competitive breed of dog to train and one day compete with. A quick look around the show site told them that border collies seemed to be the name of the game and were the way to go for someone looking for a competitive, biddable and versatile breed. Immediately after, they were out on a mission to find me my own border collie. Not long into our search we were put in contact with a breeder on a working farm in Arkansas who had a litter of black and white smooths looking for working homes. We spoke about agility and he assured us that my puppy of choice could just as easily be an accomplished stock dog or accomplished agility dog, that it was up to me and what I helped her become. Her future was in my hands and what he said was true, the world was ours and we every intention to make it our own.  It was about 13 weeks into Ripley’s life that I started to noticed strange, finicky behavior despite the age appropriate socialization she was receiving. She and I enrolled in a puppy class in hopes of working out what I thought for sure was a puppy fear stage and help her confidence. Like I said, the world as ours and I surely thought this was just one small puppy bump to work through. The class came and went with little to no avail, and I had a regressing puppy on my hands that I was expected to do great things with. Throughout this period, Ripley continued to attend shows with me but was spending more and more time in the kennel where she felt comfortable. One day, at a small local show, five month old Ripley was walking around with me while I picked up ribbons for Bentli when she lunged at a nonthreatening handler standing ringside. This was when we started to realize that the problem was bigger than we thought, considering Ripley had been extensively socialized and was a very happy puppy at home. Our nights at agility that had previously been used to start Ripley’s puppy foundations for agility had became at time where my trainers and myself sat down and watched Ripley as she avoided every dog and handler, eventually cornering herself out of the way from any commotion. There was no reason for the aggression and fear she was showing and it left us all puzzled and concerned for her future, but even more so we were scared for her comfort and the life she was living as this continued to escalate.  January of 2018 had begun and Ripley attended a quiet trial with us, since leaving a young dog at home for two nights wasn’t an option while we traveled. She stayed kenneled in a quiet area covered with a heavy blanket and melatonin, but when I went to open her kennel to bring her outside, she was incapable of leaving the kennel to make it outside and she sat there shaking and growling at people as they passed. This was the heartbreaking last straw and I would soon find out that this would be the end of her days of travel and her official retirement in dog sports, even though she had just turned one. We got in contact with a canine behavioralist several hours from our home and the next weekend we were on the road with Ripley, holding on to our last gleam of hope to save the year old dog who was so scared of life that she was a danger to anyone outside of our house. We pulled up, I got out of the car and shook hands with the behavioralist and she asked me to get Ripley out of her kennel. Shaking her hand and being terrified for what would come of this meeting is something I remember vividly to this date. I got Ripley out and we walked in and Ripley immediately lunged with her hackles raised and teeth showing. She was put in another kennel while we sat down and talked about our options where I was then told that I had no business owning a border collie, that I was a weak person unable to “take charge of a dog” and this dog was a dangerous lost cause who needed to be put down immediately, preferably within the next hour. Ripley was indeed dangerous to strangers but it was not because I was weak or incapable of handling a border collie and everyone else knew this. For the next two hours we took into heavy consideration her wellbeing and what could be done to keep her comfortable or if putting her down was the most fair thing for Ripley.  Those two hours were agony and many tears were shed as we drove back home with Ripley who was quietly sleeping in her kennel. My heart was completely broken because even if she wasn’t going to be put down, her career and everything she once loved so much was over before it ever really started. The world was ours, but I felt like it had been taken away. Deep down I knew I couldn’t put her down. She was so happy at home and lived in complete peace, and for that reason she is still here with me. It shattered me knowing that she would never be able to lead a normal life, but one year later she is still here living a very low stress life and weekend trips out of the city where she can play with no fears. This was not her fault, nor was it anyone else’s fault. Sometimes a breeding produces a dog that just isn’t right for no known reason. Inside of agility, Ripley completely changed the way I see both dog sports and the border collie breed as a whole in the sense that finding a great sports dog is a complete gamble and that wasn’t something I understood until I had to make so many hard decisions with her. Not every dog gets the chance to do great things. Outside of agility, my experience with Ripley (and being told this was a breed I shouldn’t own) has pushed me to never doubt myself or give up on something I love. You might go into something with an absolute end goal in mind, but your end goal might not always be plausible and that’s something that one has to learn to manage and adjust to, while not giving up in the mean time. Welcome to the Boundless Junior Agility Camp blog! This blog will feature interviews of junior handlers, entries written by juniors, videos, and more. We hope this blog helps bring the junior community together and share different juniors individual experiences. Boundless hopes to be more than just a 4 day agility camp by reaching out and supporting the junior agility community with resources to connect and learn. We can not wait to share all the amazing posts we have planned.
If any juniors (or aged out juniors) or agility instructors would like to help contribute to the blog, a written blog post or interview, please shoot us an email at bjac.juniors@gmail.com. We hope to share content frequently. Sasha Zitter and Madison Edmunds |
Sasha Zitter and Madison EdmundsWe are the founders of Boundless Junior Agility Camp! Our goal of this blog is to feature content by juniors to share with the community. Archives
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