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Carol Stocking and MACH Shy MX,MXJ, CGC, NAC,OJC,TN-N

I have a very unique relationship with Shy. I thought I was getting a very "shy" Border Collie rescue dog. Instead she has turned out to be the opposite and with personality plus. She needs to be very busy, which is why agility is my chosen field for her. She has grown to love it when on the course and in practice, but still squirrels, and gophers are her passion.

Shy is a challenge to me, because she is a "strong-willed child". She gets into a lot of trouble as a result, but it is just that character that I love. Agility brings out the strength of the bond you have with your canine teammate, and we have bonded! We have been competing in agility for four years now. Shy has her MX and MXJ titles and is working toward her MACH, slowly, but surely. She doesn't have to hurry on my account, and if she never makes it, that is okay too. I just love running with her on an agility course. I am delighted to have rescued this very special dog.

By July 2008, Shy had earned her 9th Double Q toward her MACH title. And now for the big event, please scroll down.

Yahoo!! Shy now has a new title "MACH". Yes, she did it in South Jordan, Utah on Feb 15, 2010. What a thrill to run the victory lap in front of a few Boise people who had gone down, and the great group of Utah folks we have competed with for years.

We've had a long slow, sometimes difficult and bumpy road to this point, but I had faith that some day the top goal could be met. Shy was rescued by me from the Idaho Humane Society. Smooth coat Border Collie, split face, and a pretence to be timid. What more could I ask!! How about a job for her; she proved to need one. Basic obedience led to the introduction to agility. I was excited, but Shy couldn't get real enthused. With Mary Hunter's help and years of instruction, Shy learned to be excited about being on the agility field with me and learned skills needed to complete a course successfully. (not speedily) I went over the top in an effort to get speed and enthusiasm--I got nipping on course. Along with my bad handling skills, a couple of years were spent walking off course in the middle of a run, because Shy was happily trying to grab me.

One day in 2008 Dino grabbed me & a light bulb finally went on about my handling. (not that I hadn't been told before) Dino said "your hand is prey to the dog, keep it quiet". BINGO! The result was that in 2009, Shy double Q'd 17 times & began to rack up time points too. To date she has 35 double Q's (15 more than required), and 761 time points. At the Lizard Butte trial Shy ran her last four courses at 20 inch height. She qualified on all four runs with fourth places on all. My little buddy and team mate has now earned the right to retire to the preferred level and the lower height of 16 inches. We ran every course together as a team, and we'll continue that way until one of us says "okay, that was fun, let's do something else together now". Thank you to everyone who ever gave us encouragement, advise, and those ever present hugs. See you on the short course. MACH Shy & Carol