Kez is my little Crossbreed born on 5th October 2008 (born on Ernies 2nd birthday). My nan got her as a puppy, and she spent the first 18 months living with 6 other dogs and getting only flyball as mental stimulation. We think she has got Australian Kelpie in her as she has very much the attitude and drive, possibly with some terrier in there too. This was not enough for her. She lived a very stressful life, she spent her whole walks chasing my nans other dogs, causing some injuries. She was chased by 2 GSD’s on one walk, and after that became petrified of other dogs. She wouldn’t even let my nan put a harness on her without lots of growling and trying to bite. With my nan she had many bad methods used on her, water squirting, rattle bottle, bark collars, alpha roll… all made her worst. My nan wanted what was best for her, so we took her on in June 2010.
At first she was supposed to just be my parents dog to be company for Lola after our old dog died 2 months earlier, but this didnt really work. She needed training for her fearfulness, chasing and many other behavioural problems she had. I’ll try and list them all, but ill probably leave out some as there were a lot. She hated being handled, even putting a harness on freaked her out. I remember watching my nan do it and my nan just got so stressed with her, there was just no need. She had no trust in me, she would be constantly darting her head round on walks looking for danger. She would run in the opposite direction on sight of another dog, this being extremely scary sometimes. She would constantly nip and try and get my other dogs to chase her, causing Ernie eventually to be wary of walking with her. She would bark constantly when going out for a walk and keep barking all the way down the road. She was even fearful of some people. In June 2011 she suddenly started running circles round me (something she did with my nan when she escaped from somewhere) and just refusing to come near me. She’s extremely good at sensing my emotions, so when I started getting stressed with her chasing she thought I was getting angry with her and was going to tell her off so wouldn’t come back. To say the least, she has not been easy.
In February 2011 we started training obedience. My trainer was amazed at her heelwork position, I didnt really think ever do obedience but we trained it anyway. In April 2011 we started training agility completely by accident. I was going to start classes with Ernie, but on the day we were due to start he hurt his foot on our walk and couldnt come. So I took Kez instead, and by June she was competing. We didnt get anywhere as she was quite distracted, but it was her first show and there were a lot of dogs around. In July she gained her Bronze Good Citizen Award in which she had to have an examination done and many other exercises that would have seemed impossible. Then we started obedience. In her first show she broke everything, in her 2nd show she held everything. And it was at her 2nd show that Kez qualified for Crufts in the YKC starters class and came 2nd in the Special Pre-beginners, a half mark away from winning and qualifying for Discover dogs too. I was in shock! And for the Special Pre she had to hold a 1 minute stay with about 10 other dogs in the same ring.
At her 4th ever show at the end of October 2011 she won out of 26 other dogs in the pre-beginner moving up into the beginner class. For this she had to hold a 1 minute sit stay and 2 minute down stay in a small hall with all these dogs packed close together. For a dog who used to run on sight of any other dog just a few months before this is incredible. And then in March 2012 we went to Crufts and she only went and won the YKC Starters obedience class! She chose then to do her best round up to that point despite all the distractions. Not bad at all for my sensitive little Kezzy 
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She really is a different dog now. Her reactivity around other dogs is a working progress but she can now forget about it when it matters and put her whole trust in me. She absolutely loves to work, and is incredibly clever. Shaping sessions are just so much fun with her, she just loves being given a challenge and working out a solution. She is now so much calmer on walks and it has taken a long time but she can finally now just go off and sniff without worrying about if theres other dogs about or if Ernie needs to be chased. When we first got her, because she rarely went off and did her own thing we rarely ever saw her roll. Now, she rolls in anything stinky she can find! She is also the most greedy dog I have ever met in my life. She eats EVERYTHING! And I do mean everything. It makes her a great dog to work with as she is so food motivated, but can get a bit annoying when she’s picking up even the smallest crumbs on walks. But, thats Kez for you 
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She is the first dog I have ever competed with and have actually got somwhere. That in itself has taught me a lot on how 
to handle a dog in competition and enjoy every second too. She is the first dog I’ve ever fully trained in obedience and agility, again bringing more lessons for me. I did my first real agility competition with her where I actually competed and did every obstacle. Because of her speed, she taught me straight away how to handle a dog to the best of my ability and give all the commands well before she actually does the obstacle. She absolutely is a joy to run in agility, and she puts her heart into it. Same with obedience, it still amazes me that the dog who couldn’t cope even seeing a dog across the field can now hold stays in a ring with 20 or more other dogs.
She really is just my dream dog. She has the drive and attitude that Ernie lacked in competition and the confidence and trust Indi lacked in competition. She has the joy for work that is just so fantastic to see, and at the same time is the sweetest dog in the world. With her crazy ears, her crazy attitude and her loving nature she really is just one very special girl .
