Ainsley currently has two dogs. Cĕili a 5 year old Border Collie cross and Bracken a 3 year old Border Collie. An advocate for rescues, Ainsley adopted both of her dogs through local rescue organizations as puppies. It is because of Cĕili that Ainsley has become involved in many dog activities. Cĕili developed some space and dog-reactivity issues as she matured which pushed Ainsley to ensure that Cĕili was a well-trained, responsive dog that she felt comfortable handling in public. This meant they spent their time in a variety of classes including a series of obedience classes, trick training, agility and Rally-Obedience. Cĕili actively competes in Rally-O and agility and is learning to play flyball. Ainsley and Ceili have become a fabulous team and have achieved greatness in Rally-O where they have completed their Level 1, 2 and 3 titles (all earned with Excellence) and earned two High in Trial awards for her Level 3 legs. She was ranked 9th in the 2006 Canadian National APDT Rally-O rankings. Cĕili started competing in agility this past summer and is doing well – everyone says that Cĕili’s main limitation is her handler’s resistance to running faster! Even with this limitation, as a team they are quickly earning titles and have competed on the National stage in 2007.

Two years after rescuing Ceili, Ainsley fell in love with Bracken from a photo of a surrendered litter of border collies posted on a rescue website. Bracken is now a happy-go-lucky two year old who wants to be cuddling, retrieving or eating. The second time around, Ainsley had a toolbox full of knowledge that helped her train Bracken to be a lovely little Border Collie that was well socialized and aiming to please. Bracken also competes in Rally-O and has his Level 1, Level 2 (Excellence) and Level 3 (Excellence) titles. He was ranked 18th in the 2006 Canadian National APDT Rally-O rankings. Breaking away from obedience, Ainsley and Bracken took up flyball and became members of the B.Y.O.B. flyball team and earned their FD, FDX and FDCh titles. Bitten by the agility bug with Ceili, Ainsley has also been training Bracken in agility. They are now a seasoned agility team and have also competed on the National stage in 2007. Their next venture as a team will be herding and hope to try Freestyle when they have some spare time!

A true supporter of positive training methods, Ainsley believes that both dog and owner should be having fun while they learn. She continues to build her relationships with both dogs by learning about new training techniques and has attended seminars by Emma Parsons, Patricia McConnell, Jean Donaldson, Kiersten Lloyd, Kim Collins, Kim Anderson, Cheryl Bartlett and ClickerExpo.

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