Make no bones about it:
Backyard agility is fun!

BY ANN HAUPRICH

The following article about Caliber Canines was published in the July 2008 edition of The Saratoga Business Journal.

    Tara Baggerman may only be 26 in human years, but in dog agility training circles, the founder of Caliber Canines is regarded as a seasoned veteran.

     Looked upon as a mere pup by other dog owners in her class when she first signed up for agility lessons with her adopted husky mix Hermes seven years ago, Baggerman is now a champion trainer who is being groomed to become an agility judge for Canine Performance Events (CPE), which stages competitions across the USA and Canada.

    With 24 titles and counting, she and Hermes are something of a study in agility ability throughout the greater Capital Region, but it wasn’t until people started picking her brains for her advice on the subject that an entrepreneurial spark was lit inside the head of the former Saratoga Springs High School scholar.

    True to her Blue Streaks Alma Mater, Baggerman took off like a bolt of lighting to research the pros and cons of starting a business where lightweight agility equipment could be transported to the homes of clients – thus enabling hounds of all ages, stages and abilities to be taught new tricks in the comfort of their own backyards.

    The Canadian-born Baggerman, who became a proud US citizen a decade ago, chose to wait until the Fourth of July – her favorite American holiday -- to officially launch the web site for her innovative enterprise.

     The site (www.calibercanines.com) showcases a logo that was created by Carrie Mervine, who earned the title of Baggerman’s best friend soon after they met at the Maple Avenue Middle School in Saratoga Springs in the 1990s. Although Mervine’s career as a professional graphic designer led her to Las Vegas, the childhood friends found it easy to exchange logo ideas via email.

    “Carrie’s logo along with the slide show my Webmaster created for the site really capture what Caliber Canines is all about,” beamed Baggerman, who has attended seminars hosted by some of the top agility handlers in the nation including Karen Holik, Julie Daniels, Terry Smorch and Kathy Leggett.

     Baggerman began her agility training beneath the tutelage of Fran and Bill Seibert of JAZZ Agility in Greenfield Center and currently trains under Wendy Cerilli of High Goal Farm in Greenwich.

    Quick to sing the praises of her mentors, Baggerman credits the Seiberts with doing an outstanding job of teaching her the essential fundamental skills needed to succeed in agility and Cerilli for showing her and Hermes how to run like champions.

    “Wendy is an incredible agility trainer; her Australian Shepherds are some of the best in the country. I can’t thank her enough for her guidance over the years,” said Baggerman.

    “All of these instructors have shown me that, while teaching dogs of all ages is serious business, the experience should not be a chore – or a bore -- for canines or their owners. At Caliber Canines, the emphasis is on providing private agility lessons that are captivating, imaginative and purely positive,” said Baggerman. “My goal is to make the training experience as challenging and as rewarding as possible so that the dogs and their owners really enjoy their time learning together.”

    What makes Baggerman’s business truly unique is her concept of bringing the arena sport to the comfort of her clients’ own backyards when it best suits their schedules. “Agility provides a much needed mental and physical outlet for dogs and humans alike, but not everyone can fit group classes in the evenings or on weekends into their schedules. That’s what gave me the idea of starting a backyard agility service where lightweight training equipment is brought to the homes of clients at times that are convenient for them,” said Baggerman, who began professionally training canines as young as 10 weeks and as old (in dog years) as senior citizens when she was just 20.

    Additional credentials include being a certified Canine Good Citizen evaluator for the American Kennel Club (AKC), a member of the international Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and an active member of Jazz Agility Club since 2003. Just last year, she served as JAZZ’s secretary. The previous summer, Baggerman volunteered at the SPCA in Queensbury where she was able to work on positively modifying the behavior of shelter dogs.

    “Unlike the dogs I taught in my group obedience classes, these shelter dogs were not always motivated by food or toys. I had to be creative in order to communicate with them and figure out what would motivate them. These dogs offered unique training challenges as some had been neglected or abandoned and many were hesitant to trust me right away. The experience was incredibly rewarding, and I want to thank the SPCA for allowing me such an incredible opportunity. I learned more during that summer than I had in years of teaching group classes. I also discovered that many of these dogs were surrendered due to problems such as potty training, jumping, barking or digging – all issues that can be easily prevented with proper positive training. It became more important to me than ever to recommend that those adding a new puppy to their household seek out early training so that the dog is not surrendered to a shelter later.”

    When not nurturing dogs that belong to others, Baggerman can be found practicing agility with her two dogs in her own backyard in Ballston Spa. As unbelievable as it may sound, Hermes isn’t the only dog in the family who can run obstacle courses that include leaping over bars, jumping through hoops, balancing on teeter-totters and weaving in and out of snugly spaced poles. In addition to being titled in agility and rally obedience, Hermes “sister” Athena is an Alaskan Malamute who has earned certification as a Therapy Dog and a Canine Good Citizen Award from the AKC.

    In retrospect, Baggerman can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t in the company of canine companions. Pictures in family albums show her walking a pair of leashed Bedlington Terriers when she was just two and another one where she looks like a Shirley Temple doll next to such gentle giants as Irish Wolfhounds and Scottish Deerhounds. A dog who left especially deep paw prints on her young heart was a marvelous mutt named Max who met with an untimely cancer-related passing just before the arrival of the Hermes.