Andrew Schlueter,
President
‘Own your own business they said. Be your own boss they said’. After 10 years of working ridiculous hours, getting a fledgling business on its feet, Andrew needed to find something totally different to find balance. A MAC member since 2002, he had an older, very bored Aussie/Border cross named Bosco, and they stumbled upon agility. It became apparent that it was a great way to strengthen their bond while having a blast doing it. They were hooked. Bosco was followed by Thunder his red merle aussie, Casey, Ella, Havoc, Tesla and Torch. ‘Australian shepherds are like pringles, you can’t just have one’. According to Andrew, ‘The people in the agility community are special, special in a good way. I have made many lifelong friends along the way. I even met my wife, Susan, at an agility class, to whom I proposed to…at an agility trial. It has been a great 20 years in agility and hopefully at least that many more to come’.
Amy Muschik,
Past President
“For me the best thing about agility is the ability to spend time with your dog doing something you are both actively engaged in as a team. It’s a partnership that builds better connection and understanding.”
Amy joined MAC in 2004 with her husband Dan, after realizing their very active Australian Shepherd, Boomerang, needed a challenge both physically and mentally. Agility was the perfect outlet. They began lessons with MAC members and soon found themselves surrounded by a group of like-minded friends who loved dogs as much as they did. In the beginning Amy had no intentions to compete. She just wanted to play with her dog. Not long after she entered their first trial and obtained their first Q. Before long they added a new Australian Shepherd to their family and her husband Dan took on the training of Boomerang’s little brother Shadow.
“One of the best things about MAC is that we have all levels of competitors represented, from beginner’s to hard core competitors, and although we all enjoy some friendly competition, there is a wonderful spirit of sharing and support in our club.”
Boomerang eventually attained the coveted ATCHC and both he and Shadow have since passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Although Amy doesn’t currently have an agility dog, she continues to be involved in the club to enjoy being with like-minded friends and encourage the love of agility.
Rachel Hawkins,
Vice President
After doing basic puppy obedience and some trick training Rachel was looking for something more to do with her young Border Collie, Isla. She had heard about agility and started taking lessons with Sarah Hughes at Details Dog Training. Rachel early on said “this will just be for fun” never thinking she’d enter a trial. It wasn’t long before realizing that everyone “does it for fun” and enjoys creating the bond with their dog(s). Fast forward to 2021, Isla has her Starter Games title and working towards more! She also now runs Fynn who joined the pack in 2017 who seems to love it, especially when there are treats at the end!
Rachel joined MAC in 2018 after attending some of MAC’s trials and meeting members Andrew & Susan at agility classes. Rachel has now joined the board as Director at Large and Trial Secretary for the upcoming trial. She looks forward to continuing to make the club a place where a group of people who love doing things with their dog can support each other, host trials, raise awareness about agility, and have fun!
Gillian Sonnenberg,
Treasurer
Gillian’s journey into the world of agility started in 2016 when she adopted her first dog, Rush, into her life. Though agility wasn’t quite for Rush, Gillian quickly grew a passion for the sport. She adopted Rally from Barks and Meow’s rescue and started training at Dreamweavers with Blanche in 2019. They had their first trial in 2021 and first Q at a MAC trial in the summer.
Gillian quickly fell in love with the sport of agility and become a MAC member at the end of 2021. On New Year’s Day 2023 Gillian welcomed another Barks and Meow’s rescue pup into her pack with Riddle, a young spot dog mix. Riddle is already showing lots of enthusiasm for the sport and Gillian is excited to start trialing this summer!
Andrea Morningstar,
Secretary
Andrea got involved in agility after rescuing a 2½ year old Border Collie named Beau. Knowing that these were dogs that needed a job, she decided to try agility and started taking lessons with Blanche Cooper at Dreamweavers Training in Granton and has been hooked ever since. Andrea is now on her second dog named Porscha, who is a very high drive dog compared to her first dog Beau, which brings a new set of challenges when it comes to running as a team.
As she started trialing more and more and seemed to be gone a lot of weekends her husband Jack Lucier decided if he wanted to see more of his wife, he better get a dog too, and along came Indy. He started taking lessons with Debbie Dust, also at Dreamweavers and after a few lessons and a few successful trials he was hooked too.
Andrea’s very first trial was with Beau at MAC and not long after that she became a member in 2017. One of the main reasons was because of how supportive, friendly, and fun the club was during her very first trial. Andrea has now joined the board as Secretary and looks forward to being more involved with the club and to continue that fun, friendly atmosphere.