Conformation (Property classes)

I have been a member of Dogs Victoria since 1987. We purchased our first Australian Cattle Dog pup in 1988. l joined the Australian Cattle Dog Club of Victoria lnc. in 1989 and quickly became involved on the Committee. I feel very proud to have been given Life Membership in 2013.

I have been a Member/Committee, President and Secretary of several Clubs and am still currently with the ACD Club of Vic lnc., and both the Ballarat Dog Club and Sovereign City Kennel Club.

Retired from exhibiting and breeding, but our Kennel prefix was STRATHBLUE and we have sent dogs to Europe, the USA and semen to South Africa. We were not a large kennel and only did selective breeding.

Two of our proudest moments were when International, Mexican, American Champion Strathblue Aussie Topgun won the ACDCA Specialty in 2004 and then went on to be top A.C.D in America in 2005. The other one was with Grand Champion Strathblue Aussie Lord who won Best in Show at the ACD Club of Vic lnc. in 2003, 2004 and then winning it again in 2012, at 12 years of age.

I am licensed to judge Groups Two, Four and Five. I am currently in the Judges Training Scheme for the Gundog Group.

I have had the privilege of judging my own breed in Texas (USA), the ACD Club of Victoria lnc. 2015 Specialty and the A.C.D. Society of N.S.W. Specialty in 2018.

I have Judged in Australia and New Zealand.

I would like to thank the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Club of Victoria lnc. for inviting me to judge their Property Classes at the 2025 Championship Show.

It is an honour and pleasure to be asked to judge such a beautiful breed.

Obedience

My love for dog training began in 1982 when I signed up at Southern Obedience Dog Club with my first Weimaraner, Jessie.

Dalmatians Rommy and Rebel joined our family in 1996, and I started trialling.

In 2005 Rommy and I achieved our Australian Obedience Champion Title.

Ringo, my wonderful GSP gained his UD title and in 2017 became a Rally Obedience Champion.

Weimaraner Eli is a Triple Champion, Conformation, Tracking and Rally.

As well, I have made up 5 other Weimaraner Australian Champions in Conformation.

My next challenge is my gorgeous Aussie Shepherd, Kody.

I love seeing people working with their dogs and I definitely know the challenges they face, but also the joy and bond that is formed in the training and competing.

Rally

I have had dogs most my life, beginning with Whippets and Mini Foxies, back in the early seventies. My dad had the Whippets for rabbiting, the Mini Foxies were my companions. I began teaching the dogs to be obedient and learn different tricks, and this is where my love for training dogs started.

Later in life I had Kelpies and Border Collies which were trained for work in the abattoirs and livestock trucks. I have also raised and trained Rottweilers and Dobermans for security work.

Since being retired from security, I have ventured back into Whippets and joined Dogs Victoria in 2007, allowing us to compete in Conformation, Obedience, Rally, Trick Dog, Endurance, Scent Work and now dabbling in Dances with Dogs.

I trained my eldest Whippet, Ollie (aka Peperone Original Sin CD RAE ET), to Rally Advanced Excellent; the first in Victoria to do so. He has since passed away and I have found my new team of team of Whippets to trial with; Neut Ch Zapotec Riccos Fernando SWN RN TK.S – who gained his titles in a short period of time – and our young girl who hasn’t had the chance to trial yet but is very keen and eager to learn.

Having achieved RAE with Ollie, I decided to apply for my Rally Judges License and gained this during Covid.

I am honoured to have the privilege to judge Rally at the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Trial.

Retrieving Ability Test for Gundogs (RATG)

Trick Dog

I started training and competing in dog sports about 25 years ago, and my current team is an Associate and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. 

I am an ANKC Judge in both Trick Dog and Dances with Dogs.

My dogs compete in obedience, Rally, Trick Dog, Freestyle, Heelwork to Music and more recently we have taken up Scentwork. 

I’m thrilled that my dogs have achieved Freestyle Grand Champion, Heelwork Champion, Rally Champion, Utility Dog and Trick Dog Advanced. 

I’m also a Pet Therapy volunteer of around 14 years, visiting Aged Care and Hospitals. 

I’m passionate about Trick Dog and I wish everyone the best of luck.