Karl and I have known each other for many years.  We were on the same flyball team from 1998 until 2002.  We started dating in 2004 and were married in 2007.

Karl got his first dog, a Shetland Sheepdog named Sage, in 1993.  Sage participated in obedience, flyball and agility.  Karl and Sage competed at the NADAC Agility Championship.  Karl then got a Border Collie, Kenzie, who competed in agility and flyball.  Next came a rescue Border Collie, Haley, who did herding.  Karl lost Haley and Kenzie in 2002.  Haley was lost to a mysterious lung problem that the U could not figure out.  He was then told about Rally, another rescue Border Collie, who became his flyball dog.  Karl later added; Seven, a BorderJack; Narc, a Dutch Shepherd; Sonic, a Border Collie and Prozac, a mixed breed.  All of the dogs played flyball.  In 2005, he bought a Border Collie puppy, Fringe, who does agility.  She is the first of our dogs who does not know how to play flyball.

 

Karl is the Highlights newsletter Editor for the American Mixed Breed Obedience Registration (AMBOR),  a member of the Minnesota Mixed Breed Club (MMBC) and a member of the Minnesota Agility Club (MAC).

 

Karl also plays bass.  He played in bands in high school and after.  More recently, he played in the band Pastel Black from 2005 until 2009.

Heather has been training dogs since her family got an Australian Shepherd mix puppy, Dusty, in 1983.  A kind neighbor lady helped her teach him obedience.  In 1989 she took the family's Belgian Tervuren mix, Sinder, through 4H obedience classes.  Heather and Sinder competed at the county fair in 4H obedience and junior showmanship.  When Heather finally bought her own dog in 1993, a mixed breed named Sadie, she started obedience classes at a local obedience school.  Those classes lead to flyball classes and agility classes which lead to competition.  They were also on the school's drill team.  Heather's next dog in 1997, another mixed breed named Copper, also trained and competed in those sports.  He did a bit of weight pulling too.  After Heather lost Sadie, at 10 years old in 2003, she got a Dutch Shepherd puppy, Vada.  Vada also competes in those spots as well as Schutzhund.

 

Heather is the Membership Chair for the Minnesota Mixed Breed Club (MMBC) and an owner of the American Mixed Breed Obedience Registration (AMBOR).  She is also a member and Membership Chair for the Minnesota Agility Club (MAC)  and is members of the Minnesota Valley Schutzhund Verein (MVSV), the United Schutzhund Club of America (USA) and the Working Dutch Shepherd Association (WDSA).