Marcene Perry

I started in obedience as a child with a mixed breed dog my family had. Guy was a very good boy, and we really liked obedience classes, but at that time mixed breed dogs could not compete.  

As an adult, I got back into obedience training in the 70’s with a German Shepherd someone had given my father.  He was a very poorly bred dog and very afraid of the world.  I started taking him to obedience classes at the Atlanta Obedience Club to help him deal with strangers.  He died very young and I went looking for another Shepherd.  I got Bo, who was a much better Shepherd and continued classes with the Club with him. I also took my mother’s Silky Terrier to classes. During that time Bo got a CDX and Toto, Mother’s Silky got a CD.  I also became interested in conformation and joined the Atlanta Kennel Club.  I got two Springer Spaniels to show in conformation neither of which was able to finish, but I enjoyed conformation shows.  One Springer, Dinah, got a CDX and a TD. I am now a life member of the Atlanta Kennel Club.

I moved to Dallas in 1985 with one old Springer.  After she died I was so busy with work that I just did not have time to get another dog.  I finally decided in 2005 that I really needed to get back into dogs. I wanted a breed that I could show myself in conformation and obedience and that did not require a lot of grooming.  Those 3 requirements eliminated a lot of breeds I really like, such as German Shepherds, Goldens and Poodles.  I kept flipping through the Dog Book and coming back to Pembroke Corgis.  

I got my first Pembroke, Decker, in 2006.  My stated goal to his breeder was to have a Champion UD.   Decker became a Grand Champion UD RAE.  My most memorable moment in dogs was probably him finished his UD.  It was a terrible struggle for both of us, but we finally did it. He made it very clear that he did not like the obedience ring, so he retired from that.

My second Pembroke, Herbie was a Grand Champion CDX RE NA NAJ and the first dog I trained in agility. Herbie had 3 High in Trials in obedience. He had some quirks, like seeing invisible things (sometimes) in the corners that were undoubtedly there to kill him.

My third Pembroke, Cherry, is a CH CD RA AX AXJ CA BCAT RATN.  She’s had two litters, and I have kept three puppies from those litters.

Grand Champion Sugar Pie RN MX MXJ MXF is working on a MACH.  She’s been a challenge to train in agility, as she was a wild bolter, and spent quite a bit of time racing around, and out, of agility rings. She’s now 5 and has settled down some and has 9 QQs towards a MACH. The bolting has kept me out of obedience rings with her, particularly after, at the National Specialty, she bolted out of the ring as I was walking around the ring in Beginner Novice. Maybe in a few years she can resume obedience (or maybe not).

The two puppies from Cherry’s second litter are now 2 ½.  Sunny is close to finishing his breed Championship and at his first and only agility trial got his NA and NAJ titles, an Open Standard leg, 2 Novice Fast legs and a T2B leg.  His sister Maddie has one 5 point major she got at her first and only all breed show. She finished her Novice and Open agility titles in her first three trials and is now in Excellent agility.

I’ve been having a lot of fun in agility. It’s a different kind of training and there’s a lot more to it then may meet the eye.  When I started in obedience and through the 70’s the standard training method was a slip chain collar, a “firm correction” and some praise.  The mere thought of cookies was ridiculed.  Training has come a long way since then and I think much for the better.