For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had dogs involved in my life. Whether it be the family pets I grew up with or the animals I worked with in veterinary medicine, there was a constant animal by my side.

At the age of 24, I bought my very own dog, an Australian Shepherd whose name ended up being Alastair. Little did I know at the time of picking him at eight weeks old, he would introduce to a whole another world. This world being dog sports. It would a few years to get there though.

When Alastair turned two, we did training classes to get his CGC. From then on the rest is history. Since 2022, we’ve competed in several different dog sports. Barnhunt, dock diving, scent work, rally/obedience, and so much more! To this day, we still compete and have a lot of fun doing so.

With him being my first dog, along the way I have also learned the difference between a purebred dog and a well bred dog. Although, he isn’t “perfect” in regards of breed standard, he’s perfect to me.