Maplewood Flat Coated Retrievers & Cardigan Welsh Corgis

Sharon, MA

katrin@maplewooddog.com

Prior to my involvement in flat coats and cardis, I started with a retriever x husky named Barley.  Barley was my 1st dog, picked from a local shelter as a pup when I was 11 yrs old, and with him I started on my dog training journey.  With Barley I became involved in agility and 4-H.  Sadly, Barley had many aggression issues, that though my family and I tried to address them through every avenue available at the time, he did not survive to reach his 3rd birthday.  I do, though, credit Barley for getting me started as a positive dog trainer and so involved in the dog community and it was my loss of him that furthered my desire to learn about behavior modification and how to help dogs with serious behavior problems not meet the same fate he did.

A few months after loosing Barley, in 1998, I welcomed my 1st flat coat into my home.  Regal (C-City Mornin' News at Maplewood CD, S-NGC, O-OGC, Open Versatility, ECC, EAC, O-TN-E, TG-E) was a wonderful liver boy from Sandee Cassidy (now Sandee Butler) with whom I competed seriously in performance events.  Re was the light of my life and together we explored conformation (earning a 4pt major from the 12-18 class), junior showmanship (including a Best Junior award from the Novice Senior class), competitive obedience and agility.  Regal passed away in February 2007 from hemangiosarcoma, a form of cancer all to common in flat-coats, he was 8 and a 1/2 years old, much too young.

When Regal was 4yrs old, in 2002, we moved to Pittsburgh, PA where I attended Carnegie Mellon University.  2 days after moving, I rescued James, a little black flat-coat puppy.  When we returned home to Massachusetts, James was trained to be my Service Dog, a job he does very well still today.  James also competes in agility and rally events and is formally known as James SD, RN, Novice Versatility, TN-O.  In 2008 James was the 1st recipient of the NEFCRC "Friend in Deed" Award.  I was honored, I think he was just happy with the extra attention. 

In 2004, Sandee (Regal's breeder), told me of a very special liver puppy she had in a current litter.  I was intrigued, so Niche  (Gondolin's Tree and Leaf CDX, RE, S-TN-N, S-TG-N, Novice Versatility, TN-O, Can CD, WC, TG-O, O-NCC) came into my life.  Niche is Regal's nephew and my most serious performance dog.  With Niche I have explored rally, hunt tests and tracking in addition to agility, obedience and conformation.  He is currently on his way to his conformation Championship and it is hoped that he will finish this year, just needs those majors.

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi entered the Maplewood Pack in June 2007.  Monty (Visions Okemo CGC, TDI cert) came to me at age 2.5yrs from Holly Goldman-Craig of Visions Cardigans (he was a breeder return).  Monty needed some consistent training and rules to follow and within just a few short months passed his CGC and TDI certifications on the 1st try.  He also began agility and herding lessons the summer of 2007 and enjoys both with gusto!

In April 2008, flat coat number four entered my life, a black boy named Obi (Gondolin's Road Goes Ever On), once again from Sandee and Chris Butler at Gondolin Retrievers.  Obi is Niche's nephew, so we're still all in the family.  I have high hopes for Obi and in addition to training him for agility, obedience, conformation and hunt, I am training him to be my next service dog so that James can have a well deserved retirement in a few years.

I am a member of both the Flat Coated Retriever Society of America and the North East Flat Coated Retriever Club, as well as the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America and the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Association (of the UK).  I participate in National Specialties when I can and attend many of the NEFCRC events such as the summer field trainings which are very informative and a ton of fun.  I have been a member of the ACT-Up Agility Club since 1996.

I currently teach classes in agility- beginner through competition and teach pet obedience classes, as well as do behavior consults and behavior modification/management with clients in my local area through Maplewood Animal Care & Training, Inc.  I was a NADAC judge for 6 years, currently retired.  I am a Certified Pet Dog Trainer through June 2008.

I also have a page of photographs from my other hobby, oil painting.  I just began in Spring 2007 but I really enjoy the 'escape' from reality it allows me.

I love the experience of finding out just what motivates any particular dog and having the most fun we can.  I train with all positive methods (yes even in hunt training, no force fetch or e-collar for my dogs) usually involving clicker training in some shape or form.  All around it is fun for both the dog and I and I try to keep it as up beat and motivating as I can.

Send all comments to katrin@maplewooddog.com

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