Zeppelin earned his first leg of MR2 over the weekend at Synergy Ringsport Mondioring Trial – New Year – with a score of 266, securing himself a 3rd place finish

I owe this success in its entirety to Zack Kiser & Amy Kiser, they have single-handedly revived my passion for mondioring by showing me what true support and genuine teamwork looks like. It was an honor to compete next to so many talented teams. Thank you both for welcoming me into the Oceanside Mondioring Club.

Thank you SO much to the Judge, field help, hosting club, and especially decoys. This was a tricky and exciting weekend- we haven’t had this much fun in a while!

Special shoutout to Jessica Valentine. You are a hell of an inspiration.

Trip & Drake on the podium at the 2024 USMRA Nationals in St Louis. It takes a village!

I am very delighted to announce that Legend earned his mondioring 3 title several weeks ago at the Heartland trial. I have been waiting for the right picture to post. Our judge was the admired and respected Jos Helsen of Belgium. Earning this title would not have been possible without the committed work of Todd Dunlap. Many thank yous to the decoys and friends who have helped us through our mondio journey (to many to list you all but you know who you are). Thank you also to Terri Mikesh for capturing the moment – more pics to come. Also thank you Scott Irwin for always supporting my dog sports.

• photo by Traces of Nature

Izzy and I repeated our MR1 in Colorado at the Black Diamond “Life’s a Circus” Mondioring trial on 10th September 2017, earning a 189 and High in Trial.
She lost a few points here and there – two commands on the send away; two whistles on the recall after the defence, but I was very pleased with her attitude and confidence.

Thanks to decoys David Broderick and Kevin Bain, Judge Don Lee, Ann Malberg for your calm, clear presence as deputy judge, and the Black Diamond WDA for a fun weekend.

Izzy earned her MR1 title this weekend at Heartland Working Dog Club in Ohio under judge Ann Putegnat and decoys Todd Dunlap and Chad Byerly. She gave an nice performance on Saturday, earning a 194/200 and her first leg.

The second day we earned a slim 160 out of 200, but it was a qualifying score and we got our title! We missed our Defence of Handler, which was a very fun Fourth of July parade (and she did a bark and hold instead of a whistle back on the flee, wtf? and I made some handler errors) but a very fun trial with some wonderful people!

Izzy Defence Saturdauy

My good boy made me proud again.

Thanks to my people. Heartland Working Dog Club for all of the support and help you’ve given us. Gail Warling Marit who is my biggest cheerleader. Gary Marit who puts up with me invading his home more often than he cares to admit. And to Todd Dunlap for always being there to tell me what I’m doing wrong and lead me in the right direction. I still think you’re a loser, but I also kinda you at the same time.
And thanks Chris, for supporting this crazy obsession of mine.

A great Mondioring weekend for Groovy and Qool. Groovy competed at level 1 for her 7th time with yet another Qualifying score of 199/200. Qool titled at level 3 (the highest level) with a very respectable 346. 300 is passing. Qool and I will continue to compete at level 3 until he retires (hopefully another 6 years . Thank you so much to Todd Dunlap who has worked with us from the beginning as our decoy, coach, trainer, mentor and Friend. His dedication to Mondioring and every dog and handler team he coaches is truly inspirational. Todd’s knowledge and willingness to share that knowledge is unmatched. His sense of fairness and constant search for a better way is a source of excitement and personal growth for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you Todd Dunlap. Thank you Judge Ann Putegnat for a challenging trial and Chad Byerly and Todd Dunlap for great decoy work.

Heartland Mondio Trial

Habbit du Loups du Soleil – MR 3 with Todd Dunlap his trainer and Jos Helsen from Belgium – the judge … Ironically Jos also judged Habbit back in July 2014 in Humboldt Co., CA and awarded him his first leg of his MR1!

Well Habbit finally gave me my belated b-day present of an MR3 with a score of 321. Moving to Ohio was a leap of faith.

It has been an honor to be a member of my new family and club – Heartland Working Dog Club and work with Middletown Ringsport Club to prepare for this adventure. It shows that it takes a village to create a Level 3 Habbit.

Thanks to Todd Dunlap for making me think that a stopped attack was as probable as an accurate weather forecast in Ohio. To Jake Brandyberry for bringing the confidence back to Habbit’s escort after such a long hiatus and to (of course) Joseph Cinnante for making me believe that Habbit can be more than he was and to encourage me to work for better perfection. And to not forget Redwood Bite Club for providing the lucky pink camo socks that allowed this magic to happen.

Crazy Rabbit!

Thank you, Todd Dunlap for your guidance and training. Thank you Jos Helsen for a challenging and super fun 2 days of trialing and many hours of guidance, stories and Mondio-talk. Heartland Working Dog Club, you are my peeps and I am grateful for each and every one of you. Most of all, I am so proud of my siilly, funny boy, Qool. You are such a clown. I learn from you every day! Qool To Be Loups du Soleil, MR2.
– Gail

photo credit Catherine Smith