Great Competition Homes: Morene Brown

L-R, Kaibab, WIT, Mike, Morene, Cache

Morene was my agility training when I lived in Tucson. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher! When I lived in Tucson Morene had a lab, a whippet and a sheltie. At that time I was training Tucket, Valerie and Payson in agility.

In 2000 shortly after I moved to Pennsylvania, Morene called to see if I had a puppy to share with her. I was expecting a litter sired by Payson out of Molly, Valerie's litter sister. There were only two in the litter, and the male had a tail that didn't reach his hock, so I knew that he would not be a show dog. I was able to call Morene and say, "Yes, I have your puppy"- even though he was only a few days old. Morene named him Kaibab.

Morene's fun and clear training helped Kaibab become the first TRIPLE agility champion, all breeds, in the city of Tucson. It takes a very special dog to be able to compete successfully in all three of these venues as they all highlight different skills and abilities of the dogs. It also takes a very special trainer to be able to train for each of these venues. Officially, Kaibab is MACH. NATCH, ADCH Acadia's Candidate, HSAs. The MACH is the AKC agility championship, NATCH is the NADAC agility championship and the ADCH is the USDAA agility championship.

Morene's passion is agility, but due to Kaibab's interest in sheep, Morene met Sue Bradley and allowed Sue to train Kaibab to the Herding Started title on the A course with sheep. The duo of Morene and Sue allow Acadia bred shelties to excel in multiple venues. When Morene called to say she was ready for another puppy, I was ecstatic!

WIT, aka- Acadia What Ever It Takes, HXAsd, AX, AXJ, is sired by Molly's son, Show Low out of Valerie- thereby doubling on Tucket (the mother of both Molly and Valerie). Morene takes her time training a new dog. She is never in a hurry to get titles, but rather waits until she knows the dog is ready and will enjoy the experience too. Knowing she trains this way, I shouldn't have been too surprised when she called to say that WIT had gotten a leg towards the herding EXCELLENT title at his FIRST herding trial, but I was. Again, it was Morene's willingness to allow WIT to train with Sue in herding that enabled WIT to shine in this venue.

I had thought that the accomplishments of Morene and Kiabab were outstanding (and they are!), but I couldn't have imagined the joy of what was to come. WIT not only completed the HX title on both sheep and ducks in three straight attempts, but he was High in Trial at the ASSA National Specialty Herding sheep trial and Reserve High In Trail at the ASSA National Specialty duck trial He has 6 pts (out of 15), the necessary two 1st place wins and the major towards the Herding Championship (HC). I would be willing to bet that WIT will be the first Acadia HC/MACH.

As luck would have it, Morene is sold on Acadia bred shelties. She has two more- Acadia's Microburst, OA, OAJ, Mike, a Canyon x Kiara puppy, whose first agility trial was the ASSA national specialty and he placed first in both Novice Standard and Novice Jumpers with weaves . Morene's youngest, Acadia's Hidden Treasure, Cache, is a Rincon x Faith puppy.

Kaibab turned 10 this year, but he is still competing in agility. His role now is that of "teacher". Kaibab is a very honest dog and will work for anyone. Morene now has Kaibab teaching her students the handling skills needed for some of the more advanced maneuvers. Once the student is clear about their own body language, they can begin to work with their own dogs on the advanced skills with the confidence that at least one of the pairs knows what they are doing.

It takes Great Owners and Great Trainers to make Great Dogs- and I am Thankful to have quite a few of them sharing their lives with Shelties from Acadia.