Category: Dog of the Month

Meet Lulu, otherwise known as Wuwu, our April/May dog of the month!

Lovely, lively, Lulu started agility at age 3 and loves zooming through tunnels and chasing her human around tricky courses. She shines when learning new things, and enjoys working hard for her favourite treat, chicken, and the simple joys of the agility field.

Lulu’s human decided to do agility because it looked like fun and it (actually) was – and she loved it – so now she is hooked. And, woohoo – Lulu’s now an Intermediate and Jumper’s B girl! Her biggest challenge to date has been learning the weaves, which makes the accomplishment of winning out of Starters even sweeter. Her biggest goal is to be injury free, living her best life.

When she’s not doing agility, you may find her race-tracking around the lounge, napping in her favourite donut position, or in her favourite place, beside her mama, awwwww.

Little known fact, Lulu loves children and cheese. Give her a cheese wielding child and she’s in heaven, showing off her best trick, playing dead or getting lots of cuddles.

We are so proud they are part of our CCATS family.

• Favourite Food: Loves everything
• Known for: Being outspoken
• Favourite Toy: Fluffy or bald Girl Doll

Meet Colin, otherwise known as Cauliflower/Flower Boy, our February/March dog of the month!

Colin started agility a little over a year ago and loves climbing, especially his favourite contact gear. His human decided to do agility to bond and keep active together.
Colin’s biggest challenge is weaving – those pesky weaves – and his human is absolutely stoked every time he completes them and was even more thrilled when they got a 1st place in Starters! His other big accomplishment so far is a 1st place in Jumpers C – way to go Colin! 🥳
He’s currently working hard on his biggest goal of earning his Agility Dog (AD) title.

When he’s not doing agility, you may find him napping flat on his back with legs in the air, or at his favourite place, the beach/around the water. Ahhh, the beach, a dog after our own heart!
Maybe he’ll be playing with his favourite toy (a basketball), earning a treat of salmon, or performing his best trick of walking around the top of the trampoline at high speed. We’d really like to see that! 😂
Or he could be snacking on his favourite food, carrot 🥕. Yep, that’s right – this boy loves carrots!

Little known fact, Colin never leaves anyone behind. While walking with friends, he will wait for everyone to catch up and continue walking together. That’s the kind of guy he is.

We’re stoked that Colin and his human chose to be part of our CCATS family, and we couldn’t be prouder to have him as our February/March dog of the month!

• Favourite Food: Carrot
• Known for: Keeping the peace
• Secret Talent: Submerging his head underwater for 30+ seconds to find a carrot on the pool bottom

Meet Jax, otherwise known as Dufus, our December/January dog of the month!

Jax started agility 3 years ago and loves tunnels, diving in every time. Jax’s human chose to do agility because Jax was a high energy pup and needed physical and mental exercise, and because it was something interesting and super fun that they could bond over. She reckons Jax’s biggest challenge is weaving, and we’ve seen all the hard work they’ve put in to get though those twelve poles.

Jax’s biggest accomplishment so far is 1st place in Jumpers C at CCATS Oct Ribbon trial. You’ll be seeing him at a champ show soon on his way toward his biggest agility goal of earning his first title. We hear he’s Lightning McQueen on a bike ride 😜 and can see his agility confidence is growing, so he’ll get there in no time.

When he’s not doing agility, you’ll often find him at his favourite place – the beach!! Or, perhaps he’ll be napping at home with legs in the air and chest puffed out 😂 or curled up like a giant cotton ball. Maybe he’ll be all action playing with his favourite toy, a soft, long bird lookalike, or earning his favourite food (anything with meat or a special treat of fresh salmon). He’s got a keen interest in gastronomy and in his house, he is known for being an absolute foodie!! Lots of yummy treats this time of year, so enjoy Jax, and thanks for being our CCATS December/January dog of the month.

• Best Trick: Speak
• Favourite Treat: Fresh Salmon
• Secret Talent: Excellent Guard Dog

Meet Viewlands Strike-me its “Atlas”, aka Little man / Troublemaker- our October/November dog of the month!

Atlas has been doing agility since he was a wee man (tee hee, pun intended). Atlas’s human was looking for something fun to do together and coincidentally was constantly getting agility videos of Maisy & other extraordinary CCATS club members sent to her 🙂 so she decided to check it out to further strengthen their bond. Now you’ll see them regularly at club sharpening and sharing their skills.

Atlas loves wing jumps and working those challenging weaves for treats and other rewards. His biggest agility goal is gaining ground – to be able to get a little distance between Mum & I while running a course – maybe it’s the promise of his favourite food, fresh cooked fish or a bully stick. His confidence has grown for sure and his biggest accomplishment in agility so far is conquering the A frame. It’s a very large obstacle for such a tiny little man.

When he’s not doing agility, his favourite place to be is in mum’s arms, napping on her lap any which way up or relaxing in a sunny spot. In fact, we hear his secret talent is sleeping and snoring like a freight train!! He also “convinced” mum to let him sleep on the bed when he was only 4 months old and has been there ever since. Yup, he’s a charmer alright and a wonderful member of our CCATS family.

• Favourite Toy: Your Droolly “doggie”
• Secret Talent: Snoring like a freight train
• Best Trick: Puppy dog eyes (it gets me all the best treats)

Meet Ivy, aka Dingus, Darling, Gorgeous Girly and The OGGG (The Original Good Girl) – formally known as Penteronda De-vine Ivy – Our August/September dog of the month!

Ivy’s been enjoying agility for a little over a year and a half and has already been travelling to a few away shows with her family and their campervan. You may have seen her getting really giddy for a pat when anyone gives her attention – who could resist those giddy pats! Her biggest accomplishment in agility so far is overcoming her reactivity to other dogs so she can focus on having fun and teaching her humans some great agility handling skills.

Next year, she has set her sights on competing in and achieving a clear round in NZDAC (NZ’s National Dog Agility Championships) when it is back in the South Island. She’s been working hard on her start lines, so she can be rewarded with lots and lots of her favourite obstacle, the wing jump, helped by her favourite sheepskin tug-tug and lots of consistent practice.

When she’s not doing agility, her favourite place to be is on adventures with Dad in the mountains or napping under the heat pump taking up the whole couch with her head propped up on a cushion. She’s also known to help herself to a bit of food if it is left out and her humans are out of the room, which of course makes it taste way better, but not as good as her favourite treat – ice cream – unless of course it IS ice cream – or cheese – or anything with dairy.

Ivy’s humans choose to do agility because it’s a great way to bond with your dog, it’s super fun, and it’s one of the best ways to tire out a clever border collie brain! Plus, they said they get to hang out with an awesome group of people – aww – we CCATS enjoy hangin’ out with you all and Ivy too – thanks for being a part of our family and the agility community.

• Secret Talent: She can press the pedestrian crossing button
• Best Trick: Rewind backwards through her human’s legs from a distance – impressive!
• Little Known Fact: She was very nervous around kids as a puppy but has turned out to be the most amazing big sister to her furless little brother

Meet Ruger, formally known as Canelupo Enzo, our June/July dog of the month!

Ruger started agility a few months ago and he loves it! You can spot his large grin at training and running courses from the other side of the field. His favourite agility obstacle is the tunnel and he and his teammate are enjoying learning agility skills – who knew there was so much to learn?? And there is always something new 😉

Ruger has recently shown off his skills at ribbon trial level and his biggest accomplishment so far is a clear round in Jumpers C. His goal is to keep getting better (which he is smashing by the way) and with the help of some venison treats and his favourite orange bouncy ball with rope attached – we know he will succeed. Living far away from training and competition can be challenging as can going slow enough to get things right, and we are impressed by Ruger and his handler’s efforts.

When he’s not doing agility, you’ll find him curdled up near his humans in the lounge, adventuring with his kid sister Billie (also a GSD) or at his favourite place the lake for a swim. He’s also a keen deer stalker and regularly hunts deer with his human. We hear he signals when one is nearby and is excellent at tracking and finding wounded deer.

Ruger’s human chose to do agility because it looked like good fun and a new sport to try out and get some exercise. We are so glad she did and is now a part of our CCATS family.

• Best Trick: Take a bow
• Favourite Food: The cat’s food!!
• Known for: Vocalising his presence

Meet Kiwa, our April/May dog of the month!

Kiwa is a Lhasa Apso x Poodle, who started agility a couple of years ago. In a flash, he graduated up the ranks to Senior classes and is working hard towards his goal of becoming Champion 🏆 – helped along by play and rewards with his favourite pink ball or some tasty chicken. Hard to believe this guy is a slow starter, but once he gets going – he’s motoring! His biggest agility accomplishment so far is being awarded NZ Nationals Top Dog!

When he’s not doing agility, you’ll find him curled up in a ball napping or somewhere with a bird’s eye view for surveillance and perfecting his guard dog skills. It’s no surprise then, that Kiwi’s favourite agility obstacle is the A-Frame – though he doesn’t stop to admire the view – we reckon it gives him a buzz.

Kiwa’s human chose to do agility “because it’s fun.” We couldn’t agree more, and we’re glad you and Kiwi are sharing the fun with us at CCATS!

• Favourite Treat: Chicken
• Secret Talent: Relaxing so much he goes limp like spaghetti
• Best Trick: Standing on his hind legs

Meet Scout (aka Wee Dog, Dumb Dumb, Missy Scout) our February Dog of the Month!

Scout is a 4-year-old Australian cattle dog, also known as a Blue Heeler, who started agility training just over two years ago.

Scout’s favourite agility obstacle is the one with treats or her beloved noisy, empty, crunchy Just Juice plastic bottle on the other side. After all, nobody works for free! Her biggest agility accomplishment so far is achieving 100% accuracy on her weaves in her most recent competition – including the straight and fast entries she previously found challenging – woohoo! Her next goal is to secure that second Jumpers C win to move up to the more challenging Jumpers B level and to continue working on unleashing her inner speed demon. Scout prefers accuracy over speed any day of the week, or so we’re told, and she’s always ready to demonstrate a trick or two.

When she’s not practising agility, she’s at her favourite place: the horse paddock. There, she enjoys herding her horse (or rather, running alongside her human as she rides), which she does with great enthusiasm every day, as if it’s the best day ever. She’s also known to nap on her back with all four legs stretched in various directions. Or she might be found weight training with a massive stick – another favourite pastime of hers. If it’s too big to pick up, it’s just the right size for her.

This clever girl likes the sound of her voice and knows her words. She can retrieve nearly all her toys by name – how clever is that! And she knows a trick or two and will be happy to show you. Scout’s human thought agility would be the perfect outlet for her intelligence and energy – a smart move indeed – and says they have met some pretty cool people through agility. They have a lot of fun too.

• Favourite Treat: What her human has, but cheese, always cheese
• Secret Talent: ‘Herding’ her human’s horse while the human rides
• Best Trick: Sit pretty, and we reckon her ‘bang-bang’ drop dead is a pretty class act too

Our Dog of the Month for December/January is Maisy (AKA Mayzoozles or Maisy Pup), a 5-year-old Schnoodle. And to save you looking that up, a Schnoodle is a Schnauzer X Poodle.

Maisy started her agility journey back in 2019, falling in love with it after the intro class. Since then, she has gained proud accomplishments such as winning a Jumpers B heat at the 2022 Nationals (NZDAC) and coming 2nd in her height in the Jumpers B finals – just to name a few!

Before she started her agility career, she aced all of her Puppy and Adolescent classes, and looking for another training endeavour, agility was the next thing to master; she was clearly going to be a high achiever in whatever she emBARKed on. her favourite obstacle, the dog walk, is also her biggest nemesis, with the current goal being to get those paws down in the contact zone, aiming for a 90% hit rate. Not to mention her super secret goal of beating a Borderpap (Border Collie X Papillon) in a Senior agility event based on time alone (no faults). 🤣🤣 In the meantime, she’s racking up Jumpers A challenges, so watch this space as the Master titles start to roll in.

She is often described as clingy, which is why her favourite place is within 2 meters of wherever Dad is, although like most, she does also love to be sprawled out in the sun napping on her side on a nice day.

As well as being known for being fast on the agility field, she may also be known to some as the beautiful face of the 2023 4 Paws Marathon 32km medal, and she ran the entire 32km! (Let’s just skip over the part with the human-shin-high swamp water!)

Finally, even the most dedicated of athletes needs to indulge in some comfort food, and Maisy is no different. With cheese and sausages being her menu – rumour has it that she can eat an entire sausage in 2 bites (no chewing required!) – along with her feline sister’s leftover Succulent Chicken cat food – But I am sure that’s a whole other story.

Thanks team Maisy for being such a big part of our CCATS family!

• Best Trick: Roll over (but only one way)
• Favourite Toy: Her oversized agility leash that you’ll see at every show
• Favourite Treat: Cheese (you must always pay the cheese tax)