Sandra Davis - 2003 - Pioneer of Dog Agility

HOF - Sandra Davis - 265x176Sandra Davis of El Paso, Texas, founded the local Great Dane Club in the 1960s, owned and competed with American Saddlebred horses in the 1970s, and became involved in dog obedience and agility in the 1980s. In 1984, she read a series of agility articles published in Front & Finish magazine explaining the British sport; she contacted the UK author so she could join their agility club and learn more. After she constructed her own set up obstacles, Sandra demonstrated Sandra Davis of El Paso, Texas, founded the local Great Dane Club in the 1960s, owned and competed with American Saddlebred horses in the 1970s, and became involved in dog obedience and agility in the 1980s. In 1984, she read a series of agility articles published in Front & Finish magazine explaining the British sport; she contacted the UK author so she could join their agility club and learn more. After she constructed her own set up obstacles, Sandra demonstrated the new “English” sport to the United States obedience community and became an acknowledged Pioneer of Dog agility in this country.

Sandra 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 height flexibility became a part of the sport in the U.S. 

During one demonstration, she met USDAA Founder Ken Tatsch, who had also been researching the new sport. The British obstacles were not adjustable, and Ken had heard about Sandra's equipment. Together they planned a demo-competition with adjustable equipment Ken constructed, as well as a team to compete with Sandra's in the demo. She was honored as a Pioneer of Dog Agility in 2003.

Sandra went on to develop demonstrations in canine musical freestyle with her dog Pepper and launched a series of seminars, videos and a book on Dancing with Your Dog. Later she devised a new dog sport she calls K9 Dressage, combining the discipline of obedience along with freestyle movements presented in a format patterned after equine dressage.