I moved to Spain in 1987 and like many people living here ended up with a young dog which I named Foxie. She was wandering around the Urb I was living on and one day followed me home and of course that was that. We had 15 wonderful years together, she made a grand old age of 17. I currently have 2 dogs, Jazmin, now 10 and Henry 11. Its because of these 2 dogs that I became completely hooked on dogs, training, agility, flyball and doing fun competitions. Over the years I was helped by various trainers (thanks).
In September 2004 a friend of mine, Adrienne and I formed a new club in Casares (inland from Estepona) starting with Agility and later adding Obedience classes as well. We had many adults as well as Children attending. The classes started due to Len (then living in Gibraltar) moving back to UK and donating to us all his handmade competition standard equipment....A VERY BIG THANK YOU.
In 2005 my partner and I bought a house in the lovely village of Coín (20 mins inland from Marbella), and due to popular demand started OBEDIENCE classes in my garden. Very soon AGILITY was added to the mix, now I run several classes a week. Its very social for both us and the dogs, a lot of fun is had by all plus a great bonus is most of the dogs go home and sleep contently, which of course the owners love. A new class has been introduced now....FLYBALL.....An incredible dog sport that is fun, fast and exciting for both you and your dog, especially if they love jumping and are ball mad.
FOXIE 1988 - 2005, my best friend for 15 years. I was working in a local bar when she turned up, after a few days she decided to follow me home and the rest is history....she definitely adopted me!!!
A real family dog, won best in show at Adana in the mid 1990's as they said she was what Adana represents...a mixed breed dog for the whole family to enjoy.
She was a very easy going dog that anyone could walk and play with her (a friends 2 year old son won Best Child Handler with her), but she was also a houdini, she would disappear out of the garden in a puff of smoke. We would spend ages looking for her, then when we returned home, she would suddenly appear behind us as if she had been there all the time....bless her.
JAZMIN born 29th May 1998.A friend's dog, "Nellie", who is a German Shepherd x Collie was mated (not intentionally) by the next door neighbour's dog "Leon", who was a Belgian Shepherd (sadly no longer with us). I wasn't really looking for another dog but she was so cute and I love her mum, so who could resist...obviously I didn't LOL.
She became a fantastic obedience, agility and flyball dog, winning loads of rosettes and trophies over the years, even got Best In Show...TWICE...now we have retired from competition....giving others a chance...or at least that's what they tell me. She now happily takes charge of the dogs that come to class...it's amazing the respect most of them give her. SHE HAS BEEN MY INSPIRATION IN GETTING ME ADDICTED TO DOG TRAINING.
HENRY born March 1997. A very good friend of mine went into a pet shop in Gibraltar for a bag of dog food and came out with Henry, a young puppy who had a sign on his cage "free to a good home". Unfortunately when he was about 2 1/2 years old, another of my friends dog decided he didn't like Henry anymore, and started fighting with him. I took him in when things got too bad. He is a wanderful companion to Jazmin, they have a fantastic relationship, he is a real character. His favourite pastime is sleeping (hence the picture). Everyone who meets him falls in love with him....I feel very honored to have him in my life.
