Austin K9 Xpress Agility Training Club

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Meet Our Member

Joanna Cordry

What is your profession? Planner, project development (for governmental agency)

Describe your household – any children, significant other, other pets? 2 dogs (Captain Marvel & Mardigras), 1 cat (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, AKA Kitty Hawk, AKA Hawk)

Are you originally from Austin? If not, where from? How long have you been in Austin? Nope, not from Austin, but I’ve been here since 1985. I grew up overseas – spent my teenage years in Norway

When you’re not doing agility, what fills your time? (Work, hobbies) Scuba diving, rock climbing, swimming, reading, other misc things… and yes, work.

How "dog old" are you? (Example: 4^th dog – 4 dogs old) Hmm… that’s hard. We always had dogs when I was a child (I think maybe 4 during my life at home); I’ve had 6 “forever” dogs as an adult, plus a couple of foster dogs, plus a couple of dogs who had other people but shared my house.

What dog(s) are you currently training in agility (breed, age, name, titles earned)? Marvel (Captain Marvel) – a terrier mix (maybe Am Staff mix?), age 4, no titles yet (other than being a Captain, of course – of the super-hero variety)

How and when did you become interested in agility? When I first got Marvel, I knew he needed “a job” and to be challenged – so I tried agility

When did you join Austin K9 Xpress? 2006

Do you compete with or are you interested in competing with your dog in agility? We’ve only completed in 2 trials (the K9Xpress trials), and will be in our 2009 trial. I unfortunately don’t have a lot of time or extra money, so I don’t know how much we’ll be competing, but I do hope to do so more than once a year in the future – Marvel has a great time!

If you do trial, in which venues (AKC, NADAC, USDAA) do you compete? I’ve only done NADAC.

Do you train or compete in other dog sports (obedience, tracking, flyball, etc.) No, not now.

How often do you train? Formally, 1-2x a week, but we work on behavior daily on an informal basis – especially on walks/hikes.

What goals have you set for you and your dog(s)? Having fun and trying to get Marvel to behave consistently across environments/situations.

What’s the toughest part of training for you? Getting to class & actually training, and maintaining training/behavior during day-to-day life – I tend to want to spoil/baby my dogs…

What is your dog especially good at? Paying attention to what I’m doing and what cues I give, (intentionally or unintentionally!)

What’s your favorite place in Austin/Central Texas to take your dog? Either the greenbelt or the K9Xpress field

What’s your dog’s favorite treat? Anything that squeaks! He especially likes the “Good/Bad Cuz” toys. Next to that – pretty much any food…

What’s yours? Pizza and beer!
What’s your proudest moment with your dog? What’s your funniest moment with your dog? Oh, wow… anyone who knows me knows that I have these all the time! There’s no way I could choose one or two… Marvel is a very high-energy, high-drive, active, intelligent, curious, and HAPPY dog (man, is he happy – almost all the time), and he keeps me on my toes and makes me laugh frequently… I know I underestimate him, so I end up being proud of him frequently – because he exceeds my expectations.