This year I received an AKC Junior Showmanship Scholarship. I was so excited to be chosen for this honor. The sport of purebred dogs has had a great influence in my life, and I know that I will continue to participate in it as an adult.

My name is Eric Blanker and I am a thirteen-year-old boy who likes to play sports. My family has nine dogs total, eight Siberian Huskies and one Newfoundland. Freya is my dog and she is a Siberian Husky. We train together in Rally. This is my favorite area I like to train Freya in. I think she likes training in Rally, too. When I started working in Rally obedience I never thought I would win several awards, especially one from the Siberian Husky Club of America. Both my awards were for Highest Scoring in Novice Rally for 2009. I was somewhat surprised that we could do so well in Rally.

I was ten years old when I began training Freya for Rally. I really wanted to train her for Agility, but first I had to train her to work with me. It was important for Freya to follow my commands. I also needed to work on improving my reading skills. In Rally the trainer needs to read the signs in order to know what to do. My mom and I decided I should train in Rally because it could help my reading get better. Plus I thought Rally would be fun. I train with the Pioneer Valley Kennel Club in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Every time we have shown in Rally Novice we have scored in the 90's and placed first and third in our rally trials. The first time we were in the ring we got a 96! I was up against 16 adults and we got first place. The second time we were in the ring we got a score of 98. I was surprised and proud of Freya and myself. The third time we were in the ring we scored 94 and came in third place. All the dog shows I've gone to have been in Springfield, Mass. Freya got her third leg in July 2009 and we earned her RN in three straight trials. Not bad for the first dog I have trained.

Freya and I also like to do many other things together as well like dog sledding and backpacking. Freya earned her Working Pack Dog (WPD) title from the Siberian Husky Club of America.

The rest of my family is involved in dogs too. My brother shows in breed and Junior Showmanship and my dad trains in Rally and Tracking with his Newfoundland, Arwen. My mom trains in Obedience and Rally. I help my mom by setting up a Rally courses for her. My mom also put Freya's C.D. title on her. Our family also does demonstrations to teach other people about our breed. We've gone to the Greenfield Winter Carnival to put on dog sledding demonstrations, we also went to New York City for Meet the Breeds to helped out at the Siberian Husky booth (I really liked seeing and petting all the different cats), and we've also gone to a school to give a Rally demonstration.

My other hobbies are basketball, soccer, and football. I also go biking on the trails with some of my friends.

I am proud of myself and Freya for doing such a good job. I never knew that we could do so well. I enjoy working with Freya in Rally and I hope to do more Agility with Freya as well as more Rally.

Note: Freya is a special dog because she was born with a urinary defect, called ectopic ureters. This means that she leaks urine. Freya had several surgeries as a puppy to help fix this problem.