2002 - The Year in Agility

by Cheryl Fischer

Wow, what a year 2002 was for Papillons in Agility!!! Not one, but TWO papillons were selected to represent the USA at the World Agility Championships in Germany in October of 2002! And, an awesome little Texas pap became the 8" National Champion at the AKC National Agility Championships in November. Also, we saw a number of new MACH titles, including the first MACH4 toy dog in history. And in the world of "cross training" we had a Papillon winning both the biathlete and the triathlete award at the AKC Companion Events Tournament.

First, in May of 2002, 45 dogs and handlers arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota to compete for a spot on the AKC World Team - the team that would travel to Dortmund, Germany in October for the right to named "World Champions". The AKC would be sending three teams to compete; a "Small" team (14" jump height), a "Medium" team (18" jump height), and a "Large" team (26" jump height). There were three paps that had met the stringent criteria and made the journey to Minnesota: "Moso" (Coor's Espiritu Hermoso, CDX MX MXJ) owned by Roger Coor of Arizona, "Phoebe" (Bomar's Beanie Baby, MX MXJ), owned by Kimberly Sisak of Nevada, and "Turbo" (MACh Primavera's Tom Bombadil, MX MXJ), owned by Cheryl Fischer of New Jersey.

Needless to say, EVERY dog that made it to the Invitational was exceptional. They were there because they were "the BEST" - fast and accurate, focused and driven. It was two days of awesome agility by very competitive handlers in a stressful and sometimes emotional environment. At the end of the weekend three dogs (the "overall" winners at each height) had earned a spot on the AKC team. One of them was a papillon. Turbo and I were going to Germany!!!

The rest of the team would be announced six weeks later. When the final teams were announced there were TWO papillons on the team - "Moso" would join Turbo and two shelties on the US "small dog" Team in Dortmund! It was to become the most exciting week in my life as "Team USA - Small" became the Silver Medallists at the 7th World Agility Championships! There were two other wonderful Paps at this event; one from Sweden, and another from Switzerland. The Swiss pap, "Bandit" was on the Swiss bronze medal team, and became the Individual Silver medallist as well. At 13" tall this awesome pap and his incredibly athletic handler were wonderful to watch.

Three weeks later, in November, the AKC National Agility Championship took place, this time in Houston, Texas. Judith Bowers and "Trey" (CH MACH2 Serna-Stedt Treasure TDX) won the 8" division in an exciting final round. It was a lot of fun to watch Judith and Trey, and share her excitement at this win!! One of the many benefits of attending these tournaments is the opportunity to meet fellow competitors. Judith and I see each other once a year, at the National championships, and it is so nice to renew that friendship and to cheer one another on! Also, a papillon (my "Turbo") won the Gold medal in the 14" International class that took place in Houston in conjunction with the Nationals. All in all, there were 21 papillons at the 2002 AKC National Agility Championships; 13 entered in the 8" jump height, and the remaining 8 were in the 12" classes. Many had been to Nationals before, some were new to this experience, but all performed beautifully and were wonderful representatives of our breed. Only 4 other breeds had more dogs entered (Border Collies, Shelties, Aussies and Golden Retrievers)!! We have truly become a "force to be reckoned with" in the agility community!

Although not specific "solely" to agility, Diane Smart and her pap, "Tempo" won BOTH the Biathlete and the Triathlete award at the AKC Companion Events Tournament held in Perry, Georgia. While there Diane and Tempo competed in Agility, Obedience and Tracking. Tempo is now a "Triple Champion" (the first, I believe). Diane always gives credit to Tempo's breeder, Jan Berger of Savoy Papillons, for providing her with such a terrific dog! This is an incredible team to watch work, Diane is an excellent trainer and Tempo obviously adores her. Congratulations to both of them!

In November the second annual "ALL STAR" Tournament place in Pennsylvania. This tournament used to be called the "Pupperoni", and has changed names. This year the winner of the 8" division was a papillon named Rocket. Rocket is owned by Kelly Ely of New Jersey, and this was her first time ever at a large tournament. It was made more special because Kelly adopted Rocket from his breeder, Sherry Duhigg, who had him back from his second home!! Kelly has a done a wonderful job with little guy, who was too much for his first two owners. You Go Girl!

Last but not least, we saw the achievement of THIRTEEN new MACH titles in 2002, one of which was a MACH2, two new MACH3 titles, and the first ever MACH4 toy dog!! Also, Andrea Samuels "Mikey" became the first MACH Phalene**. Many of these handlers have multiple MACH dogs, making this a pretty accomplished list for BOTH the humans and the Papillons!! Congratulations to all of these accomplished teams!!