PR Poppy Kinetic Darling NJC SJ PJ2 OAJ CGC

Poppy is what you can consider a "personality plus" dog! Despite her small stature, she has more energy and attitude than she knows what to do with. Poppy obtained her CGC at 7 months old, but given her energetic nature we knew that we had to find an activity to help keep her busy.

At around one year of age, we enrolled Poppy in Introductory agility classes. Poppy was a smart pup but was very feisty too. She tested every ounce of my patience during the early days! Clicker Training clicked with her, she quickly learned basic obedience and agility skills using this method of operant conditioning. For more information about Clicker Training click here.

We entered our first agility trial in 2003, and the first day we qualified (qed) with a first place in Novice Jumpers with Weaves. Hey, this agility stuff was going to be a breeze. NICE THOUGHT BUT OH SO WRONG. After that first trial we spent the next several trials being whistled off the course, or having to leave because Poppy kept running away! Poppy clearly enjoyed running and jumping, but generally on her own course. Oh dear, maybe agility wasn't for us after all....I decided to stick with it for a little while longer and work on more obedience type exercises.

Somewhere around trial number 6 or 7, something clicked. Suddenly we were running like a team! We completed our AKC Novice Jumpers with Weaves with two more first places in February of 2005. Looking at videos from the early days is painful, but seeing the progress makes it all worth while. I'm glad we didn't give up.

Poppy pops over a jump to earn her NAJ title in February, 2005.

See more photos of Poppy in agility at the agility page.

Titles Earned:

Legs Earned:

Funniest Agility Moment at a Trial We were crated near the practice jump, and for some dumb reason I was doing "Jump, go to bed" (go to crate) with Poppy. When we entered the ring, she took the first jump, left the ring and went to her crate. Lesson learned - dogs do get pattern trained, and FAST!