08/02/2026
GrAgCh, Ag Games Ch, Ag Ch, T Ch, Ro Ch Shadow
Grand Agility Champion (2026)
Agility Games Champion (2025)
Agility Champion (2024)
Tracking Champion (2021)
Rally Champion (2018)
ADAA Agility Champion (2023)
Shadow has achieved the required passes to be the first dog in Australia to be awarded Agility Grand Champion (pending DQ).
With the introduction of Agility Grand Champion in the most recent agility rules, Shadow needed 1 x ADM & 1 x JDM Q cards (post 01 01 2026 to prove that he was still competing) which he easily did with two beautiful effortless clear rounds (ADM last weekend & JDM last night). Thank you Jo Anna for your guidance on the new rules :)
Our journey together has spanned 12 years with barely a day or hour apart. I had been training running dogs in agility since the late 90’s in Qld in mock comps as there were no Associate Register dogs permitted back then and then I moved to Darwin where all my Associate Dogs of that era were welcomed.
I hadn’t long returned to live back in Qld from living in the Kimberly and Darwin when a tiny little black and white puppy that had been born out on a farm at the back of Mackay out of a red kelpie mum and they think a blue heeler dad (it was thought there was BC in granddad) that I named Shadow, came to share my world. I told the person I got the puppy from that he would become an Australian champion.
At the time of 9-week-old Shadows’ arrival in March 2014, I didn’t have the foggiest clue as to what an agility champion was, what was involved or what it was called or how to go about it or where to even look to become informed of my ambitious goal! (I found out the rule book was a helpful place to start!)
I lived with 6 dogs on 25 acres of bush in rural Central Qld with no access to guidance or agility training except for a few small online courses that were starting to pop up on FB (which I had only recently learnt to navigate!).
We trained RO and Tracking which were Shadows first two ANKC championship titles plus we focused on our agility training out in the front paddock on sticks and bricks, pieces of poly pipe and had hilarious set ups made from builders horses, very looooong timber planks, carpet, logs etc. for DW, AF & SS, with all material gathered from the bush or regular trips to the local tip shop.
Shadows’ very first ANKC competition at 18 months plus a few days of age, was the 2015 Qld State Titles in which he somehow gained a couple of Qs regardless of the fact we had no steering or brakes.
He just LOVED the game and to go FAAAAAST over everything and anything, so Gamblers was (and still is) one of our favorite classes because I could use it for training.
The following year at the 2016 SA Nationals, Shadow massively impressed the judge (not!!) by jumping on top of and over the tunnel as that was the shortest route to the next obstacle, but somehow we made it into a final and someone had to ring me early Sunday morning to tell me to get my dog and toosh to the grounds ASAP because they were starting! We were still lounging around in Pj’s in the cliff top villa enjoying the view as in my mind there was no-way we would make a final so the thought didn’t enter my mind, and I hadn’t even bothered to look at the results or list of finalists.
After the SA Nationals I knew I really had to knuckle down and even though we were on the road and travelling I made a promise and commitment to my team that skills were our biggest priority. My handling was half ok because I had Mr Reliable Zita to teach me and I learnt to handle Shadow from behind because that was where I always was!
Distance work and Shadows’ ability, desire and love of running hard and fast was a saviour and opposingly a big big challenge. There are several people who will read this who can vouch for the fact that I would literally be in tears crying before entering the ring with Shadow as I totally knew we would fail repeatedly and at one point of his agility career we had a consistent DQ rate of 100% per competition plus in Shadows eye contacts were really for jumping off from as high up the plank as he could and start lines were completely and I mean completely non-existent (for Shadows entire career as I did not hold criteria when he was young – btw my young team have brilliant start lines! Lessons learned!).
In 2017 I was fortunate to attend seminars with Justine Davenport from Canada who impressed upon me the need for skills, the very lovely Jenny Damm and then with Zeljko Gora, these two both teaching me how to handle blind crosses with a Ferrari dog, which I had very rightly lived in fear of, plus position, position, position and to be brave, veeeeery brave!
After several years of being on the road and travelling up and down the continent from Cairns to Adelaide via Melbourne and Sydney for various agility events and family gatherings we settled in one spot, got all our agility equipment back together with us, committed to daily skills and focused training in agility with handling lessons with Megan Bell plus we played and had fun in duck herding, sheep herding, tricks, dock diving and then we came together as an agility team and haven’t looked back since.
Shadow has gone on to represent Qld several times as part of the Qld team at National Championships.
Shadow has won multiple Qld state titles in agility, jumping and games, been the recipient of annual Qld Agility & Jumping Dog of the Year awards, won club perpetual trophies and club Dog of the Year awards and been a consistent and strong agility competitor at local, state and national events.
Ferrari Shadow is now a vintage model at 12 years of age and has achieved the highest award in each of the disciplines we have committed 100% of our time and efforts to. The youngsters in the team benefit from AAAAAAALLLLLLLL my terrible (unknown at the time) mistakes and I soooooooooooo wish I could have my time all over again with Shadow and do him the justice that he deserved right from the start.
We treasure every run together out here on the field or in the competition ring and I am deeply thankful for everything Shadow has taught me and helped me to improve in my abilities as a trainer and handler and for every single moment that we spend together just hanging out on the farm as a small family.
