The Spotlight shines on a talented odd couple and their dedicated owner. Frankie is a Miniature Pinscher, and his best friend is Zoe, an Old English Sheepdog. Zoe might be much taller and hairier, while Frankie is smaller and quicker, but both are excelling in agility through the League. Frankie also is a Fast CAT stand-out, ranking number one in his breed for the past three years. Jess Manna, a League co-captain for teams at Bayshore Companion Dog Club in New Jersey, tells us how the program has helped both dogs and how she runs two such different breeds.
Dog call names, breeds and ages:
Frankie, Miniature Pinscher, 4 years old
Zoe, Old English Sheepdog, 7 years old
Registered:
Frankie: Francis William Manna NF CAX FCAT6 TKI VHMA FITG RATN
Zoe: Princess Zoe of Jersey ACT2 ACT1J FITG
League teams and divisions:
Frankie – Bayshore Hurricanes, Regulation Sophomore
Zoe – Bayshore Beach Babes, Regulation Freshman
Owner name:
Jessica Manna
City/State: Linden, NJ
How and when did you get involved in dog sports?
When I got my min pin, Frankie, four years ago, I knew I was interested in doing sports with him. Something about the way he escaped from the 36-inch x-pen with ease and darted wildly and fearlessly around my house as a puppy, made me suspect he might enjoy sports. I was definitely interested in agility, but knew nothing about it other than what I had seen on TV, and that a few of my friends did it with their dogs. When he was 10 months old, after researching training facilities and deciding on Bayshore Companion Dog Club, we started our first agility foundations class. A friend introduced me to Barn Hunt, and we dabbled in that a bit, then after he turned 1 year, I started him in Fast CAT and CAT and he loved it. Since then, we have become BCDC members, discovered many other fun sports, and made tons of friends!
How did you decide on your two breeds and end up with two such different dogs?
My mom got her first Old English Sheepdog in 1974 and has always had one as a pet since. I joke that I was raised by sheepdogs, because I have had one by my side since birth. When we got Zoe in 2018, we already had two big dogs (Kelsea, an OES who is no longer with us, and Max, a mixed breed,) so she fit right in. I love my sheepdogs, but I found myself really wishing I could experience owning a small dog, at least once in my life. I wanted a little dog with a big personality, who would be up for doing anything with me, could keep up with the big dogs, and with considerably less coat maintenance than the sheepdogs. The King of Toys certainly checked all those boxes. I set my sights on owning a min pin as my next dog (and my first dog of my own,) and Frankie came home with us in 2021. I call him my little dream come true; he is everything I wanted and so much more!
Did you know right away that you wanted to do agility with both?
I always thought agility was cool, and something I wanted to try. I am not sure why I did not consider getting into it with Zoe sooner; I guess none of the agility dogs I had seen on TV were big, goofy sheepdogs. I knew I wanted to do agility with Frankie pretty much right away, so we got started with some foundations training when he was around 10 months old and progressed as he got older. Eventually, Zoe started expressing curiosity about what we were up to and where we were always going. I started working with her a bit more and including her in some of our outings and training sessions, and she really enjoyed getting the extra bonding time with me. My agility instructor had a foundations class after Frankie’s course work class. I signed Zoe up thinking she would appreciate the opportunity to tag along, and that it would be good for her fitness and confidence. I did not expect how much she would love it! Frankie and I had been participating in League, and eventually Zoe joined our club’s freshman team too. Currently Frankie is in AKC Novice, and Zoe will be joining him soon. She has been working on finishing up her ACT titles and growing confidence in a trial setting.
How different is it, running such two different dogs of different sizes, and how do you adapt for both when planning how to run a course?
Frankie and Zoe are very different dogs and running both has really challenged me to grow as a handler. When we are in class or at a trial where both dogs will run the same course, I have to walk it and make separate plans (and backup plans) for each dog. Frankie can be pretty fast, so I need to be able to work him at a distance. With him, I tend to use a lot of rear crosses, so we practice those a lot, but I like doing blinds with him too when I can. He is also very smart and thinks extremely quickly – often faster than me. If I am late on a cue or not there to support a line, Frankie will sometimes disengage and go trotting off, presumably to find a more skilled handler. He definitely is not an “easy” Novice A dog, but his exuberance on course inspires me to keep working to become a better team.
Zoe is a lot more mellow, both in the ring and in general. Usually, our biggest challenge is making standard course time. But as our confidence as a team grows, her speed is starting to increase. Running a larger dog has prompted me to think about turns a lot more; it’s like switching from driving a sports car to a semi-truck. With her, I use a lot more front and blind crosses and run much closer to her than I do with Frank. For a dog that I had no competitive aspirations for, she continues to amaze me with how much she keeps improving, and most importantly how much fun she has been having with agility.
I understand that you have worked especially hard with Frankie on distractions. Can you describe your journey with him and how League has helped with that?
Little Francis can certainly be a challenge to run. His brain is always so busy, if I am not keeping him 100% engaged, he will be off in a flash to go sniffing and looking for trouble. We found a wonderful obedience instructor and started taking classes to work on attention and engagement. She showed me how to make obedience fun, Frankie and I learned a lot, and discovered another sport we enjoy in the process! Our awesome agility instructor was then able to help me translate these obedience skills to the agility ring, and he has been steadily improving. We also faced major challenges with ring stress and distractions when transitioning from a class setting to trials – league has been a tremendous help in bridging that gap. I appreciate that it is less pressure than a trial, but we still have all the distractions we would have at a trial.
Can you tell us about Frankie’s Fast CAT career and other achievements outside agility? Also any others for Zoe?
Frankie loves Fast CAT; he has been number one in his breed three years in a row, and we have attended two Invitationals, winning Best of Breed both times. He also loves running CATs and has his CAX. He has his Novice Barn Hunt title and last summer we had a ton of fun taking dock diving lessons, which I hope to return to this summer. Most recently, we started showing in obedience, and I am starting to train Zoe for obedience as well. Frankie also has a couple of trick titles and both dogs have their Fit Dog Gold titles. We are also starting to learn rally, which they both seem to enjoy.
Are the two of them friends? Do you get comments when you walk them together about being so different?
Yes, they are friends! They play together surprisingly well, considering the size difference. I have gotten comments before, along the lines of “oh, that’s different!” when I am walking both at a trial, which is fair, because I have yet to meet someone else who has this combo. I often get approached by people who ask me their breeds and are excited to meet them. Zoe, in particular, is a “fan favorite;” we get approached often in public and she loves all the attention.
What are your future goals?
I would like to see how far we can progress in AKC Agility for sure. I think that if Frankie and I keep working hard, we could reach the higher levels. Zoe is a bit older, and I never even thought I would be able to get her through a tunnel or on a teeter, so I am just happy that she is happy and having fun. We will keep playing and see how far we can get, so long as she continues to enjoy it. I think it would be awesome if she could earn a Clean Sweep or a placement in the league someday too. I have aspirations to show both dogs in obedience and rally and have already gotten started with Frankie. I would also like to continue Frankie’s dock diving training and see if Zoe has any interest in trying that too. If we can find the time amongst everything else, I am also interested in learning scent work, maybe down the road when we slow down on some of the other sports.
Anything else you want to add?
I wanted to thank all my instructors, coaches, teammates, and friends who have helped me along and supported me on this journey. I also wanted to thank everyone who supports the league, in any capacity, for affording us such a great opportunity to grow in a competitive setting.