Page 8 - March 2023 Issue

Asher: From Rescue Pup to and started to get those double Qs that we needed to earn
an Agility championship: my goal!” The path to that goal

Canine Super Star was detoured, though, by an injury to Asher which required
orthopedic surgery and physical therapy. But just two-and-

In November 2014, Lisa Trippett of Denton rescued a a-half months after completing the therapy, Asher and Lisa
German Shepherd puppy, approximately four months old, earned a PACH (Preferred Master Agility Champion) title.

from the Animal Resource Foundation in Chester. She “Reaching this goal with him after not knowing if he would
named him Asher. He was a large puppy, full of energy but, ever run Agility again made it all the more special,” Lisa said.
like all puppies, without much self-control or focus. Lisa Asher now has titles in Obedience, Rally, Scent Work, Barn
knew she and Asher would need training. They took Puppy Hunt and Agility. Lisa said, “He has taught me to never give

and the Family Dog classes at Talbot Kennel Club (TKC). up on the hard ones and to fi nd amazing instructors who
“We continued with Family Dog and then on to Focus. In support and encourage you, like those at TKC. The joy of

Focus, the dog and handler work on relationship building finally reaching your goal is incredible!”

and other skills to prepare the team for higher level classes,”
Lisa said. For more information on the training available at Talbot
Kennel Club, go to talbotkennelclub.org.
After Focus training, Lisa and Asher began a Beginner
Agility training program as well as classes for competition
level Obedience, a dog performance activity Lisa had
participated in before. Lisa recalled, “After training for some

time I was seeing a great improvement in Asher’s behavior,
and he was doing very well in all his classes.” Th e instructors
at TKC encouraged Lisa to enter trials where she and Asher
earned Obedience Beginner Novice (BN) and Preferred
Companion Dog (PCD) titles as well as a string of Rally
titles up to Rally Excellent (RE).
The Obedience and Rally success set a foundation to build

upon, “… giving Asher and me the confidence to move on
to Agility training,” Lisa said. “Both Asher and I enjoyed
this time together. Before long we began competition Agility
training.” Along the way, they also picked up lots of titles
in Canine Good Citizen, Trick Dog, Scent Work, and Barn
Hunt (Asher’s absolute favorite activity). Agility has dogs racing against a clock as they navigate an ob-
stacle course.
But it has been Agility which has crowned Lisa’s and Asher’s

development as a team. “We finally got our timing together

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