ABOUT THE TEAM

My name is Sarah-Jane and I am excited to be the reason that y'all are coming to Canada in 2024!  I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones, showing off my home region, and having so many fabulous humans and dogs in one place.

In 2021, after months of bugging Sheila Gibbons relentlessly, I took the plunge and offered the first NASDA trial in Alberta. I had not seen any of the events but my gut told me it was going to be an amazing sport and I wasn't wrong! To see the sport grow from one club (me) to 18 clubs in Alberta in 3 years has been incredibly gratifying.

I had the opportunity to attend the first Invitationals in Nevada in 2022, soaking in the atmosphere, shadowing senior judges, and marvelling at the amazing teams competing. I was beyond excited to attend the entire event in Montana with my ESH (emotional support human) Kate and her dog Shirley. My Standard Wirehaired Dachshund Zing and I competed in 3 events in both the Showcase and Invitationals, and I had the honour of being on the judging panel for shed events in showcase and invitationals, as well as some semi-final and final events.

I will be playing in all 4 events between my two dogs: Zing, my Dachshund, and my Muppet-Man, Portuguese Water Dog Caper. I'm thankful for my amazing crew of folks that are stepping up to help and support this event.

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TLC Training & Consulting

Out Of Sight Mantrailing

Kate is originally from St. Louis, Missouri (USA), now resides in Calgary, Alberta (CAN) and has trained dogs in a professional capacity since 2007.

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Kate will be competing at the 2024 Invitationals with her Basset Hound, Shirley, who has qualified for Showcase with 11 invites in four disciplines. In 2023, Shirley became the first Basset Hound in NASDA to achieve both her Versatile Locating - Bronze and her Supreme Versatility - Bronze.

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Kate is passionate about accessibility in dog training and dog sports as well as supporting team relationships between handlers and their dogs.

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Canidapt Dog Training & Working Dogs

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I'm Sarah, from Reno, NV. My Cavaliers & I have been involved in NASDA since 2019. This is our 3rd Invitational event. I'm always happy to help where can. My passions include dogs, art, coffee and trailing with the Rat Bitches. 

An Alberta native, Jessica actively engages in scent work, including scent detection, NASDA, barn hunt, and dock diving with her 2.5-year-old Aussie Mountain Doodle, Odin (affectionately known as a "Whitewalker doodle"). Her passions include photography, all things related to dogs, birding, and producing wild bird content for YouTube and Telus Optik TV. 

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Canadian Bird Nerd

Odin's TikTok

Odin's Instagram

My name is Kathy Etchemendy from Sparks, Nevada. I have had dogs participate in rally and agility in the past but  began participating in NASDA with my special need guy Walter in 2023 because NASDA welcomed dogs with special needs the opportunity.  I fell in love with the sport and the people. I am looking forward to invitationals again this year and helping make the event a huge success.

Responds to: Martha, Jasper's Mom, HEY!! 

NASDA Evangelist who wants every dog to have the opportunity to play these games.  NASDA Judge. Human end of Team Cheyenne and Co-Human End of Team Jasper.  

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Dodger's Paws / Dogs With RATtitude

I am Meaghan and I am currently based in Drumheller, Alberta. I compete with my senior Pomeranian, Tusk, who was always just along for the ride but turned out to be great at quarry sports! Tusk has qualified for the Showcase every year since starting in 2019 and this year is our first time qualifying for the Invitational!

My name is Maddy and I have been playing in dog sports since I could sit in a carrier on my mom’s back and competing since I was 5! I have been playing NASDA since I entered a trial on a whim in 2021, then came home and started a club, and started with two trial weekends in 2022, and 3 in 2023! I will be playing in invitationals with my Jack Russell Halo as we got a versatility invite and are oh so excited! 

My name is Marnie and I started doing “dog stuff” with my gifted-to-me Chesapeake in the late ‘60’s (I know, old as dirt!). In the last 20 years, I have been a breeder of, and exhibitor and performance competitor with Spanish Water Dogs. I will be a sub-assistant for this event!

I’m Lori, from Edmonton, Alberta and, as you can see, I’m camera shy (I prefer working behind the scenes). My dogs play many sports, and I just started competing in NASDA with my Labs Wally and Lily (I have another Lab, but she thinks looking for things is dumb). I’m so excited to meet everyone at this year’s event.

We have been playing in dog sports for a few years and in 2022 were introduced to NASDA. 

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Our Amstaffs, Troy, Ginger and TyLee received BOB invites to the 2024 NASDA Invitational.  We are very excited to participate and looking forward to the event and meeting all the wonderful people and talented dogs.

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We will be supporting the NASDA Invitational by volunteering in the areas of sponsorship. 

Sheila is an academic with a research background in Medical History, Canadian History, and Cultural History. Her career been varied, but it always seems to swing back to dogs.

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Sheila has been involved in dog sports for about 15 years. She has been a judge for CARO Rally Obedience, BHA Barn Hunt, NASDA, AKC Trick Dog, AKC CGC, and DMWYD Trick Dog. She is a Certified

Professional Dog Trainer, Fear-Free Certified, and Shelter Behaviour Certified.

Sheila currently has four dogs who make up "Team Danger" and has competed at high levels across North America. Renegade (Gade), an 11 year old Cairn terrier / fox terrier mix; Nyx (Nibbles), a 7 year old Parson Russell terrier; Hef, a 6 year old Parson Russell terrier; and Roy, a 1 year old border collie / cattle

dog mix. She has competed in basically all of the sports, but her main sport focuses are Flyball, Barn Hunt, and NASDA Working Dog Trials.

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Sheila has been involved with NASDA since the very beginning. Though she wasn't at the first field trial, she was part of the groups that tested what some of the games would look like. This included an

outdoor Trailing and Locating test in the brutal Saskatchewan winter. She is Judge #J00002, and her dogs were some of the first titled in NASDA in North America. She is a co-founder of the organization, and

was integral in getting the rulebook together, which was no small feat.

As a judge, Sheila really loves seeing the connection between dog and handler, and the joy that they share in their runs. A beautiful run will always give her goosebumps. A dog who is disabled or a senior giving it their all will always make her tear up. Never tell her your dog is retiring if you don't want to see her ugly cry.

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Sheila wants to remind competitors that she’s not judging them – even though she’s judging them. She has enough competition experience to know that things can go sideways so quickly and not be the

picture you want to present to the judge in that moment. But she also knows that she has the very best dogs – and she bets you do, too.

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So, whether you're vying for top honours or simply enjoying a sniffy stroll with your dog, Sheila's message rings clear: embrace the joy, cherish the moments, and revel in the unbreakable bond between human and dog. And remember, in the grand scheme of things, we're just out here playing with our dogs – let's

keep it fun, stress-free, and full of wagging tails.

Hello, I’m Grant Peters one of your judges for Invitationals. I’m a prairie man of mystery, or double double O 7, according to my JID. That and people always want to talk about NASDA when I’m judging. What had started out as a “Hey Liz, what does it take to be a judge," so my friends’ dogs could also play while she was the judge of record has turned into a very fun hobby.

I am from Saskatoon, SK and have two wonderful dogs, Zoe (Welsh Terrier) and Balen (Parson Russell Terrier) who I love to death. If you want to know more just ask, I’m very approachable and will be happy to answer any of your questions. If you feel like spending an evening during Invitationals playing a board game, let me know the when / where and I’ll be there.