Cindy began training dogs when she was ten years old with a black Lab named Jet. She showed him in Conformation and Junior Showmanship. A few years later she began showing a Keeshond named Windy. She won numerous placements in Junior Showmanship including First Place. In 1985 she got a Sheltie named Michael. She trained and showed him in Obedience and earned his CD title in 3 days of showing. Although Cindy did not continue competition with Michael, they participated in Pet Therapy and numerous charity walks.
In 1997 Cindy obtained another Sheltie and named him Forest. Together they began learning the exciting sport of Agility. In 1999 Cindy met Jim, her husband, and they were married in 2000. Jim soon began learning agility with his Australian Shepherd, Alley. They both began competing in agility and as their love for the sport grew, they decided to turn their hobby into a dog training business. They found and purchased their agility haven in 2002 and launched Agile Paws Dog Training that year.
Cindy assisted and later taught dog obedience classes for a local dog training club for five years. Jim and Cindy have also taught agility for a local kennel club.
Cindy and Forest compete at the national level in agility. Forest has acheived his CD, MX, and MXJ titles and is nearing the completion of his Master Agility Championship title. Jim's Aussie, Alley, was tragically killed at age seven just before completing her MXJ title. She had her AX and AXJ titles after competing a very short time. Cindy now competes with a young Belgian Tervuren named Faith who has already earned her MX and MXJ titles and is coming close to completing her MACH. Jim is now training a very young Australian Cattle Dog named Bug who will begin competing soon. They also own and love an Aussie named Nellie who earned her Open agility titles but no longer competes, and an Aussie mix named Bean who has only three legs. The newest addition to their "family" is a Cocker Spaniel rescue named Joshua. Although Josh is not quite a year old, he is already learning and loving the sport of agility.
Jim and Cindy now offer dog obedience classes and all levels of agility classes as well as private instruction and behavior consults. In addition, they operate a boarding facility with spacious runs and a large grassy play area.
Cindy is an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Both Jim and Cindy have attended numerous agility camps and seminars and Cindy has attended several seminars on obedience and behavior. They continue to learn from various seminars, books, videos, etc., as well as from the dogs they work with on a daily basis. They also have the privilege of working with an all-breed rescue group called Save One It Matters.
