AKC CONFORMATION
Sandra became active in AKC dog competitions in 1956. She started with Great Danes, and spent 18 years showing her dogs in the conformation ring. Several Danes of
her breeding ranked nationally one with two All-Breed Best
in Shows to his credit. In 1963 she co-founded the Great Dane Club of El
Paso.
HORSE YEARS
Starting in 1969, the next 10 years was devoted mainly to showing American Saddlebred
horses. Sandra owned three: a five-gaited mare that she exhibited, and a
three-gated mare that she sent to Dodge Stables in Kentucky to be bred
to the reigning stud. The resulting colt became a "jack-of-all-trades" pleasure
horse that Sandra used for local English and western riding competitions,
as well as dressage and jumping.
AKC DOG OBEDIENCE (10 Obedience
Trial Champions / 7 breeds)
In 1981 Sandra discovered dog obedience
competitions after purchasing a Standard Poodle puppy and joining the local
training club. A few match wins and she was hooked. OTCH Gambolique,
TD was her Novice A dog and the beginning of a succession of
Obedience Trial Champions:
a Doberman Pinscher (OTCH4 Raventine, UDX),
a Giant Schnauzer (OTCH KaRon's Kontessa),
an English Springer Spaniel (OTCH Sulo's Ledgewood Gypsy)
her male Giant, OTCH KaRon's Jabberwocky,
Pepper (U-OCH/ CH/OTCH22 Heelalong Jalapena, UDX15, HT, NA, OAJ) the
dancing Border
Collie, CH/OTCH Skansen's Tequila, UDX, TD,
NA, NAJ, first of the breed with both conformation and
obedience championship titles, Golden Retriever, OTCH Auburnmist Golden
Rule. Sandra's rescue dog, Jack
Russell Terrier, OTCH Speedbump, UDX2 (Maggie) was the second JRT and
first female of that breed to earn that title, and as of May 9, 2009,
OTCH HobNob Bridgit, UDX, RN, OM1, was the youngest dog of any breed to
earn the obedience champion title at 20 months of age..
AGILITY
In 1984, Sandra demonstrated the new English sport, Agility, to the US
obedience community and became an acknowledged pioneer of "British" dog
agility in this country.
Her interest was aroused by a series of articles published in Front & Finish in 1984 explaining the British sport. Sandra corresponded with the author, Angela Chuter of the UK, joined their agility club, and constructed all of the obstacles.
She trained her standard poodle and her husband's dachshund on equipment that she redesigned a bit to be able to raise and lower for all sizes of dogs. That flexibility became a part of the sport in the U.S.
In September 1984 she and her dogs put on an agility demonstration at her club's obedience trial. The interest shown led to an invitation for an encore at the Gaines Western Regional Obedience Tournament in Albuquerque in August 1985. By then, there were enough local participants ready to put on a two-team competition demonstration.
That demonstration led to a request for a repeat performance at the obedience Classic event in Houston in 1986. Ken Tatsch (founder of USDAA) came to El Paso following a trip to England where he was researching this new sport. The British obstacles were not adjustable and Ken had heard about Sandra's equipment. Together they planned the demo-competition for the Classic. Ken provided adjustable equipment that he constructed in the meantime, and also a team to compete with Sandra's in the demo. Sandra was inducted into the USDAA Hall of Fame - Pioneers of Dog Agility in 2003.
CANINE MUSICAL FREESTYLE
In June of 1994, Sandra read an article in Front & Finish about a new sport that started in Canada called
"Canine Freestyle." By November, Sandra had joined that Canadian organization, Musical Canine Sports
International (MCSI), secured a list of their movements, and
began training her Border Collie, Pepper, to do freestyle
dance moves because this dog needed more activities than obedience to keep
her exercised.
During this time, Sandra was volunteer coordinator for her local humane society and was putting on obedience demonstrations with her dogs at the society's various functions and fund-raisers. When she learned about freestyle, she thought that might be something new and interesting for their audiences. She and Pepper performed their first dance routine at the society's annual "Beauty and the Beast" fashion show in May, 1995. That same month they also gave a demo at their local AKC dog obedience trial - exactly 10 years after demonstrating agility at that trial.. It was the beginning of a succession of freestyle demos she and Pepper would give around the country. Those dancing demos led to requests for seminars, which created the opportunity for her Dancing With Your Dog videos and book.
K9 DRESSAGE
In early 2002, Sandra devised a new dog sport she calls K9 Dressage. This new sport combines the discipline of obedience along with freestyle movements presented in a format patterned after equine dressage. She believes that requiring the dog to work both sides of its body equally when performing a variety of movements will produce a more balanced and flexible animal. Her K9 Dressage manual can be viewed by clicking on the yellow star on the home page of this website. A DVD video demonstrating the 3 levels of K9 Dressage testing and how each level is performed and judged is available. A K9 Dressage training DVD video in which Sandra demonstrates how she taught her dogs each of the movements was produced and released in July 2007. Both videos can be purchased from this website on the K9 Dressage page or the ordering page. Sandra is sponsoring K9 Dressage tests through video presentations. For information email Sandra at sandrard@elp.rr.com
PERSONAL
Sandra is the mother of 3 daughters and a son. She has 7 grandchildren. Her husband, Michael, is a chemistry professor at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He has also been active in the local humane society; having served as president for 5 terms. Sandra has a BS degree from UTEP in Secondary Education.
Pepper
Jabba
Tequila 
Maggie (JRT) and Bridgit (BC)
