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My name is Sarah Kiely and I am 10 years old. My Sheltie’s name is “Allie Oop” and she is almost 1 ½ . Allie is the most wonderful dog a kid could ever ask for. Allie was a tremendous surprise for me! It was a cold fall day, and my mom surprised me by telling me we were going to meet an old friend she used to ride horses with for dinner. As we drove on, I was unsure why we were stopping at McDonald's since we were supposed to be meeting her friend for dinner. Anyway, didn’t really think much of it, so I ate too.

We got to my mom’s friends house and they had a bunch of Shelties and Sheltie puppies. Little did I know at the time, that one of those most adorable puppies was to be mine. My mom said to me “Wow Sarah, look at all these puppies, aren’t they so cute!” I, of course, agreed. Then my mom picked “Allie” up and said “say hello to your new puppy.” I was so lost for words, I couldn’t believe it. I even got teary-eyed! I had been asking and asking for a dog to do agility with and my mom made my dreams come true. We drove almost two hours each way and just to go to dinner? What a tremendous surprise!

Now, Allie and I show at AKC agility trials and I am part of the “AKC Junior Handler Program” which I feel very proud to be a part of and wear my Junior Pin very proud. Allie and I aren’t just a kid and a dog, we are a “TEAM.” Allie and I started with obedience classes and then went on to weekly agility classes in Andover, New Jersey, and practice often in our backyard with my mom and her Pomeranians. My mom helps me a lot and we read agility magazines and watch any kind of agility on TV that comes our way. Our training also includes taking our dogs everywhere we go to socialize them well so they can handle any situation without a lot of stress. Allie and I just started trailing in September 2004, and got through the Novice Standard and Novice JWW. Allie and I are now starting OPEN Standard and OPEN JWW, I am very excited. We also appeared at the “National Dog Show” in Fort Washington, PA November 13 and 14, 2004, as part of the “Agility Demos” which aired on Thanksgiving Day on NBC. That was very exciting and an overall great experience for me and for Allie.

I owe my mom a lot. My agility experiences have been the time of my life! When I grow up, I want dogs to always be a part of my life and I would also like a career with dogs!