Wendi was my first dog that I competed with.  At the age of 9, I begged my parents for a dog.  While at a flea market, I talked my parents into the impulse purchase of collie puppy.  Wendi was what every kid wants in a dog.  She followed us around, played ball, and was up for any game we could think of.  When Wendi was five and I was 14, I talked my mom into letting me take competitive obedience classes with her.  Every week my stepdad Chuck drove Wendi and I to class. 

After 6 weeks of class, we entered our first obedience trial in Columbia, MO.  Let's just say 6 weeks of class wasn't enough.  I switched training schools and practiced for several more months before we entered another trial.  Wendi and I then went 3 for 3 and got our CD.  Our scores were nothing to write home about, but we managed to qualify.  We began training for open and agility competitions.

After gaining some confidence by earning a title, I relaxed a little more in the obedience ring.  Wendi enjoyed the jumping and retrieving exercises in Open also.  Her attitude improved and she won Open A with a 175 at the Belleville show for her first leg.  Her second leg was a 185.5. 

While training for Open, I showed Wendi in agilty.  At our first agilty trial (Collie Nationals in Witchita, KS), we managed to qualify with a clean novice standard run and earn highest scoring collie in trial.  Wendi went on to earn her NA and NAJ.  She also had one leg to her OA.  See Wendi's complete AKC competition history.

I went to college, so Wendi never finished her CDX or OA.  As she became older, she lost her hearing and began having vision problems.  She also developed arthritis which made it difficult for her to stand and walk.  In June of 2006, at the age of 15 years old, we made the difficult decision to put Wendi to sleeep.  We miss you Wendi.

Wendi