Working Partners
By: Emily Carter

The way I see it, I am only 13 and I already have a full time job. I’m a partner in the firm “Emily and Olive,” and we both love working with each other. Before I was born, my parents showed Shih Tzus in the obedience ring and were instructors at the Tulsa Dog Training Club. But when I was born, the dog show circuit faded into their background. So, for the first nine years of my life, my main experience with dogs was nursing those two spoiled, elderly veteran dogs. They were never considered “pets,” but were members of our family. Even though the two were of a toy breed, they did well in the obedience ring and were the reason my parents became so involved in the sport.

At first, I didn’t show dogs, but horses. I began riding hunter jumper horses when I was 6 and my trainer had an Australian Shepherd, Greta, whom my family fell in love with. In the horse world, Aussies are common working companions and we were impressed with the breed qualities Greta had. When one of our Shih Tzus died of heart failure in 2001, my parents turned to experts and began contacting breeders of Australian Shepherds. After interviewing and visiting a few, Pam McCaslin of Copper Oaks Australian Shepherds in Newalla, OK convinced my parents she had just the right dog for them. I remember when my mom announced: “Ms. McCaslin said she has a really good dog for us. He is the first one in his litter to retrieve a toy from the toy box,” she said. That won us over and we visited Copper Oaks the very next weekend and returned home with Winston.

By the time Winston was six months old, I had helped train him to retrieve his beloved tennis balls and I had also taught him to catch a Frisbee by rolling his food dish. He just started going after it, first across the floor, then in the air. He has a natural urge to catch things in mid-air, which looks very pretty and graceful. He’s also very good at catching bubbles and food in mid-air. But it was my dad who took him to formal training at the Tulsa Dog Training Club.

When the second and last Shih Tzu died, we again called Pam McCaslin and Copper Oaks. But Pam didn’t have any puppies, so we had to wait and cross our fingers. We really wanted a black tri girl, but all we could do was hope. Pam knew how anxious and excited I was to get a dog. Soon, the exciting news came: the litter was born and there was a black tri girl. We had to wait eight very long weeks, but the minute I saw her I fell in love. She was this little black oval-shape ball of shiny fur. She almost looked like a black olive! While that became her “call” name, her registered name is Copper Oaks Ebony Pearl.

My mom really wanted a dog to train, after all Dad was training Winston. But, she lost out. Olive chose me instead. My dad’s instructor at TDTC was Jill Perry, who is also president of the club and the junior handling instructor. And when Olive was only 9 months old, we began our first obedience junior handling class.

One of the most important things for a junior handler to do is to find mentors. My junior handling instructor from TDTC, Jill Perry, is one of my mentors. She is incredibly thorough and patient and is always ready to offer tips and assistance in showing. Our breeder, Pam, is another mentor. She has worked with me on everything from grooming before shows to understanding bloodlines and recessive/dominant traits.

Even though I had shown horses, I was very nervous. I knew from working with animals that they have a 6th sense. They know when you are nervous or angry. They know when you feel unsure or sad. If I’m disappointed or nervous, Olive can sense it and gets anxious herself.
At the next show two weeks later, Olive was distracted and we didn’t earn our third leg in three shows. We had been playing and not practicing. We played a lot of “hide and seek” together instead of obedience practice. When I left her on the recall exercise, she thought I was going to play the game and followed me. Not only did I not get my last leg, but I also lost my contest to Dad and Winston, who did get his CD that weekend. After that show, Pam talked to me about not giving up. She encouraged me to begin showing Olive in Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) shows to get in more practice. And, since Olive and I work so well together, she also encouraged me to begin showing in the conformation ring.

With help from Pam, I learned about conformation. So, at the Indian Territories Australian Shepherd show in July 2004, Olive and I showed in obedience and conformation and not only earned our ASCA CD, but also began acquiring awards in conformation. This time, we won the CD race against Dad and Winston—as Winston broke his final down stay on his third leg.
With practice and experience from the ASCA shows, Olive and I finally earned our third AKC leg (and CD) during the TDTC fall trials last October. (And of course, Olive officially became Copper Oaks Ebony Pearl CD). We also won third in Novice A the first trial and second in Novice A at the second trial as well as HS Australian Shepherd in both trials.

In December, we received the ITASC’s High Scoring Junior Handler for Obedience and Olive win High Scoring Altered Bitch for the year. Olive and I are both excited about what lies ahead in our partnership. We were going to start agility, but I’ve decided instead to work on a CDX and begin working in the TDTC’s new Rally class. My family has added two more Aussies, Ruby and Kodie. Now, my 9-year-old brother, Chase, is working with Ruby in the TDTC junior handling program and Dad and I are arguing over who gets to train our newest dog, Kodie.