The glorious sound of success

On Sunday, March 7, 2010, the journey from agility trainee to Master Agility Champion (MACH) ended in triumph for Donna Pashia, of Lamar, MO, and her Shetland sheepdog “Tensi.” Donna and Tensi finished their agility career together at the Wichita DTC three-day agility trials, by earning a combined total of 45 points throughout the trial.

The Master Agility Champion title allows dogs who have earned their initial agility trial title to continue competing in the ring. According to the American Kennel Club rules, to earn the MACH title a dog must achieve a minimum of 750 championship points and 20 double qualifying scores obtained from the Excellent B Standard Agility class and Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves class. During every agility course run, the dog and handler team accrue points based on how fast they completed the course. The dog and handler team are time penalized for any errors made on the course, such as missing an obstacle or failing to do the obstacle in the correct order.

A drum beat of her own
Tensi was one year old when she came to live with Donna Pashia, an accomplished dog trainer and handler. The mischievous Tensi, however, did not make the journey easy for Donna. Over the years, Tensi has taught Donna a great deal about herself and dog training and competing. “Tensi is one of those dogs where everything is on her "own" terms and what you may get for the day, you were lucky,” explained James Epple, a long time friend of Donna’s.

“I learned so much from Tensi competing with her,” reflected Donna about her journey with Tensi. “The education is priceless. I love her very much and I had to keep her happy 24/7 so that I could get the most from her for competition. As I indicated earlier, Tensi has always marched to the beat of her own drum so it wasn’t an easy road.”

"Donna's drive and motivation lead her to never give up on Tensi. Where some handlers in the sport of Agility would possibly start on a new dog, Donna kept going and worked with her daily on motivation. It was so neat to see the both of them in the ring and to see each run get better with time. Donna managed to pull through all of those hurdles to gain success." – James Epple

When asked of her most memorable moment competing with Tensi, Donna had this to say: “When we took our MACH lap around the ring and I told her she could do whatever she wanted, once she realized I meant it, the happy, mischievous look on her face zipping around the ring warmed my heart. That’s my Tensi, always marching to the beat of her own drum.”

James described the final agility run of the day for Donna and Tensi, “On that final run, you could have heard a pin drop in that Arena. I will never forget it! Congratulations Donna on a job well done!"

The beat goes on
Now that Tensi has earned the coveted MACH title, Donna has retired her from competing. Instead, she will spend her time taking long walks, being a demo dog for Donna at her dog training school, performing therapy dog work in the community, and bossing Donna’s other dogs around in the house. Donna will, however, continue to train and compete with her new dog “Speedy”, a young golden retriever.

“Get the right dog, train it, and get out there and have the time of your life. It is so much more fun to be in the ring than outside the ring just watching,” said Donna on the sport of Agility.

"I am so proud to have her as my friend and mentor for agility. To know that she was able to attain her MACH despite all the odds was truly inspirational,” said James.

More about Donna
Donna Pashia is the owner and head instructor of the Dog Obedience Training School off Hwy. 71 in Lamar, MO. If you are interested in learning more about the sport of agility with your dog, please visit her website at http://www.dogobediencetrainingschool.com.