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Sherry is my first dog, and with her I have discovered the joys of dog ownership. The long walks on the beach, with her chasing seagulls, exploring the bush for possums, and grassland for birds and rabbits. These are part and parcel of owning a Welsh Springer I have found.
They do chase things, it's hardwired into them. But of course! They're gundogs, and that's what they were bred for, to flush birds out of cover for the gun.
She's never actually caught anything yet, but she does try hard.
Sherry was bought primarily as a pet and also to show, so I took her to basic obedience classes as a puppy, as Welshies are much nicer pets when they have good manners! She showed some promise, and quickly worked her way through domestic level classes and into the competition level.
We had arrived at the wonderful world of dogsports!
We've tried our hands (and paws) at many different things over the years, ranging from breed showing, to search and rescue training, working trials, obedience, flyball, dancing with dogs, and agility. Sherry has proved able to do any or all of them, with only my ability as a trainer, and keenness to continue with any one avenue determining what she has become best at.
I finally decided that agility was our niche, and that's mostly what we do these days. She will turn 9 on 22 Nov 2004, and though she has slowed down a little, she's showing no signs of wanting to give up, and in fact is running better than ever now.
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