Pennie Mahon is one of the Houston Canine Frisbee Disc Club’s most accomplished members. She is a Master Dog Trainer and the owner of Barks 5th Avenue here in Houston. Anyone who has been around the disc dog world for very long knows her team is one to watch. She has committed to being one of the instructors at the HCFDC Holiday Mini Disc Dog Clinic coming up on December 11, 2011 at 1 pm. We decided to sit down and ask her a few questions about her take on disc dog competition, training advice, and a few other topics. Ms. Mahon will be helping those attending the clinic with putting together or improving their freestyle routines. Next time you get a chance, please take a moment to thank her for sharing her insights with us on the houstonfrisbeedogs.com website.
We haven’t gotten to interview as many disc dog enthusiasts as we would like to since we started this project last year, but in the upcoming season we are hoping to post interviews from other champions like Ms. Mahon.
HCFDC: Thanks for agreeing to talk to us and we are really looking forward to the clinic next weekend. We’ve seen your name at the top of a lot of the disc dog leaderboards lately. Can you tell us a little bit about what you have accomplished with your dogs and what you have been up to with them this past year or so?
PM: I will tell you as far as honors we have won, I don’t really keep detailed records, but we have been the Texas State Champions with two different dogs for two different years. Once with Spinner, and once with Gabe, and that is a huge accomplishment we are very proud of. I’m also very proud to have been to the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge (IDC) finals two years in a row and finished third. That was a pretty big deal for us too. More recently, I was the 2010 Colorado Canine Challenge Champion. That was a huge win for us.
HCFDC: That is huge! The Colorado Club is one of the best in the country—and they don’t usually let teams from out of state win. What about all those awards from this past season?
PM: I was number 3 in the world with UFO which is a significant honor. I was #4 in the world with AWI last year. This year, in 2011, we were #2 in the world at UFO and #4 again with AWI.
HCFDC: Well then, next year we expect you to be #1 at UFO and to move up big at AWI as well.
PM: Well if I don’t then something is wrong with me because I’ve sure got the dog to take me there.
HCFDC: We’re talking about Psych right?
PM: Yep. Psychawiley coyote. That’s what we call him.
HCFDC: That’s a great nickname for an awesome disc dog! What is your role in the HCFDC?
PM: I am a life time member of the Houston Canine Frisbee Disc Club. I am not formally a board member anymore, but I serve on an ad-hoc basis doing whatever needs to be done. I was the president for a few years and I have been with the club for 11 years.
HCFDC: What do you do to pay for all those discs for your dogs?
PM: I am the owner and I am a master trainer at Barks 5th Avenue in northwest Houston. I work in the pet industry and have been doing this my whole life. I’ve owned Barks 5th Avenue for 11 years as well and I’ve worked in this area for the past 20 years. My business does specialized training using operant conditioning and positive reinforcement, as well as basic obedience. We really pride ourselves on our role in client education. We believe success is with the client as most dogs are really very easily trained. Our philosophy is we change people’s lives one dog at a time. The relationship between a pet and an owner is great when it is operating at maximum efficiency with good training and communication. It really impacts and enhances the relationship between a dog and their owner. It is very rewarding and fulfilling to have a trained dog. Barks 5th Avenue also has boarding, grooming, daycare, and a retail center. We are very happy and enthusiastic about sharing our knowledge about pet nutrition with clients. We specialize in grain free and raw diet pet nutrition.
HCFDC: How long have you been involved in K-9 disc activities?
PM: 11 years.
HCFDC: Has there ever been a pivotal moment when you knew you had a disc dog on your hands?
PM: We took Air Bandita out in the yard one day when she was just 4 ½ to 5 months old and threw a disc to her and she jumped up in the air caught the disc. My husband Pat and I stood there literally with our mouths wide open. This is a true story because you would have had to have seen her. It was one of those polished types of stylish jumps where the dog gets at least four feet in the air, kicks their legs out and snatches the Frisbee out over their shoulders. It was just amazing, and we were floored.
HCFDC: How did you get started in K-9 disc competitions?
PM: I started because of that little dog named Air Bandita that I adopted/rescued from a client. Air Bandita was driving us crazy and we decided she needed a job. In 1998, my husband Pat and I were watching ESPN and saw the Ashley Whippet Finals that were on TV. That was the first time I had seen freestyle flying disc or Frisbee dog. My husband, Pat, who is also a HCFDC member, played Frisbee for years without a dog just for fun. Up until that point I was heavily involved in rodeo and horses and had been my whole life. That night that my husband and I saw the AWI on ESPN we agreed and literally I said if I ever do something with my dogs it would be that sport. That has to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen human and a dog do. Pat agreed and we decided if we ever got another dog it would be a Frisbee dog.
So fast forward to April of 2001, a client brought a little cattle dog to me that belonged to her son that was in college. About 3 ½ months old and it was tearing everything up driving them crazy. She asked if I could help place the dog in a home. It was a week before father’s day and Pat told me before that if he ever got a dog for himself he wanted a Blue Heeler. So I agreed to take the dog and try it but I didn’t guarantee her for sure I was going to keep it. I did promise to make sure the dog was placed in a really good home if the dog did not work out for me. I met the dog and I was in love. Two days later I gave it to Pat and the rest is history. The touching part of the story is that it was at that point that we took Pat’s new dog Air Bandita out in the front yard and she made that great catch. Before we threw her the disc, Pat was like “I would love it if this dog would play Frisbee.” Remember when we saw that Frisbee dog show on ESPN? I was thinking along those some lines and then she made that spectacular catch and we were super uber excited that we had ourselves a Frisbee dog. That’s what got us started. It was Air Bandita.
HCFDC: What attracted you to K-9 disc and what is it you have come to love about it?
PM: It is kind of ironic that Frisbee dogs are such a huge and massive part of my life. Air Bandita shaped and changed the course of my life. This sport has brought people into my life, friendships, business contacts, dogs. It is amazing to me that it (canine Frisbee) has shaped who I am and what I’ve accomplished in life. My dogs have taught me amazing lessons and it all stems from one little dog and Frisbee. I think that is pretty cool!
HCFDC: Do you consider K-9 disc a hobby, game, sport or something else?
PM: I don’t even think that can be answered. It’s not just any one thing to me. It is a lot of things to me. I consider it for me a sport and a hobby combined. I think that it not only fulfills a spot between dog and owner that is very necessary like for herding breeds, for a lot of the breeds we work with. For the dogs it fulfills a need for them as well. For me, I don’t consider it a game because I am a competitive person and whatever I do with my dogs I do it as a sport. But it’s what I do for fun. Competing and training and all of that I challenge myself all the time with it. That’s where I get my satisfaction is challenging myself and my dogs and then taking my dogs and competing with them. For me the satisfaction comes in the payoff of that training. Actually seeing my dogs go out on the competition field and do what we have trained so hard to do together. That’s a very rewarding feeling for me. So I would say it’s primarily a sport.
HCFDC: Tell us about your disc dogs? How many do you have, what are their names, breeds, and favorite moves on the disc dog field?
PM: This could go on forever, so I will try to make it as brief as possible. Air Bandita is very near and dear to my heart because she opened up a whole new world to me. She will be 11 in February. The next dog in line would be Spinner. Wow! What do I say about Spinner? Spinner is an 8 year-old Australian Shepherd. I could get a little sentimental here. Honestly because I believe that each one of my dogs is a gift from God. They are brought into my life to teach me something. Spinner has taught me a great deal about patience and accepting a dog for who they are. She will be 9 in March. Gabe is also very special to me. He is 7 years old and Air Bandita’s son and the offspring of Levi who was Todd Duncan’s old world champion and an amazing, amazing, amazing Frisbee dog. Gabe is a joy in my life and the sweetest soul you ever want to meet. Gabe is a huge jumper and anybody who knows Gabe knows what big air he gets. Then we have Psych who is Gabe’s son and Air Bandita’s grandson. It’s pretty cool that I have three generations of disc dogs. Psych is a ray of sunshine. Psych is a dog that every single day I look at that dog he makes me smile. I can be in the worst mood or have the worst thing happen and that dog is going to make me smile. I believe God put him in my life to make me aware of the happiness in life and to make sure I realize that really the reason why we are here is to enjoy life. He’s an amazing dog and he keeps me in a great mood. Psych’s favorite move is the Flippin Butt Vault if you’ve ever seen it. One cool thing about Psych is he has awesome tracking ability and he can catch anything. He is an amazing tracker.
HCFDC: Do you prefer the AWI, Skyhoundz, UFO, USDDN, QUADRAPED or some other competition format?
PM: I wouldn’t say I prefer any of those. I would say they all offer something or bring something to the table in terms of what they offer competitors. I would say that I probably revere the AWI as the most prestigious. If you win the AWI it is the granddaddy of them all. It is the organization that started this sport. I would feel the most fulfilled winning an AWI title. However with that being said, the UFO is made up of an amazing group of people who I have a very close relationship with—a lot of camaraderie. I love that the UFO scoring system is made up of cumulative points throughout the whole year. You get a real feel for who is the most consistent dog out there. It’s not a one shot competition where one dog wins. It’s over a year’s period of time you gather points from all the competitions you go to. That’s what I love about UFO. USDDN, I love their great judging format. Skyhoundz puts on the best and most amazing world finals event in terms of how they make the competitors feel and the actual venue that you go to. I also love the Quadraped even though I’m not a huge long distance competitor because it strips the sport all the way down to the basics—someone throwing a disc and a dog catching it. So, I’m a competitor and I’m going to take advantage of every organization out there. I’m going to every disc dog competition I can no matter what their initials are or the organizational title
HCFDC: Would you rather participate in a disc dog demo or a competition?
PM: Twofold answer. Competitions we talked about that a minute ago. That fulfills it for me. It validates and confirms all the time I spend with my dogs and I get to actually see where we rank among our peers. You can’t get that at a demo. At a demo on the other hand it is all about having fun with your dog and it puts a smile on everybody’s faces. I’m not going to tie myself to one or the other because I can’t. But I guess if I absolutely had to chose it would be competition. That’s my thing. I also want people to know that there is a lot we give the community and I don’t want that to be missed.
HCFDC: Do you have a favorite type of disc that you prefer to compete with? Do your dogs?
PM: I prefer to use a Hero disc and I don’t think my dogs give a flip less what I throw to them. I think I could throw a piece of wood and they would love it. But I prefer Heros.
HCFDC: Would you rather judge or compete?
PM: I would rather compete. I do like judging I’ll tell you. Anybody who is a serious competitor is missing out if they don’t judge because it’s only going to make them a better competitor. But as far as what I want to do, I would rather be on the field playing with my dogs.
HCFDC: If you could compete in just one event or venue with your dogs in a year, but you could pick any one of them, which one would you choose and why?
PM: Good question because for me the question is asking about what venue I would like to compete in. Not necessarily win, but compete in. Absolutely hands down the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge (IDC). I can’t even explain to you. When you go to IDC, you and your dog are treated like a stars in front of huge crowds. It’s only freestyle. You get to be on TV. It is very prestigious and has been around for years. It is the most fun and the best venue you will ever go to. I love the AWI but the one I would love to compete in is the IDC.
HCFDC: I guess you have kind of answered this question. But along those same lines, do you recall any specific competition or event venues that you thought were especially great?
PM: Again. It is definitely the IDC.
HCFDC: What do you see for the future of the K-9 disc world?
PM: I see it growing rapidly now. I see it becoming more and more mainstream in terms of dog sports. I see huge growth.
HCFDC: Really?
PM: Yeah. I’ve been doing it for 11 years and what’s happened with this sport since we started has been mind blowing. The person who wants to go travel and compete, the venues out there, the number of events, the quality of events, every year it grows leaps and bounds. I just see it getting bigger and better.
HCFDC: What do you think of the new Skyhoundz competition titling system?
PM: I think it is something they (Skyhoundz) brings to the table nobody else has. I just wish all of the organizations would get together so when a dog is titled for disc it’s not just for one organization but for the sport itself. I would like for it to be a little bit more broad. As far as Skyhoundz—kudos to them—leading the sport. They are a pioneer in this area. I believe eventually there will be a universal titling system for the whole sport. I think it is a great thing. I’m happy that our dogs are becoming recognized in this sport like all of the other mainstream canine sports out there.
HCFDC: Do you participate in any other K-9 activities with your dogs such as agility, flyball, therapy dog work or tracking?
PM: I do. I do herding, and I also play with agility a little bit but mainly herding and Frisbee. I do dock diving too and my dogs have dock diving titles.
HCFDC: For those who might be looking to adopt or foster a potential disc dog, what characteristics or attributes should they consider in a dog?
PM: I would say that the very first thing I would look for is a natural instinct to retrieve. You need a dog that has a natural desire to fetch. I look for a dog that is obviously structurally sound. Any dog can play Frisbee but if you’re looking for a dog that is going to excel and really compete then I would suggest that a person make sure it is physically capable of doing the job. I like a dog with a great attitude, a bright dog that gives me a lot of eye contact. This means that the dog is very much willing to take my leadership and work with me.
HCFDC: How many disc dogs is too many for one person to have?
PM: It depends on how much time you have to spend. If this is what you’re going to do for a living, or you’ve got time to do it all the time then how many can you work in a day? How many can you keep happy? How strong of an arm do you have? I don’t necessarily think that any one person can have too many as long as they are giving their dogs what they need and fulfilling their needs.
HCFDC: What advice do you have for those just starting out in disc dog competitions?
PM: Don’t rush yourself, be patient. It takes time. Season your dog and know that your dog is going to win the world at home and when you take him out of that environment he will perform differently. That is normal. Give your dog time. Have fun, your dogs can read it don’t get to serious about it. Know that you are embarking on journey to take up a sport that is a judged, and it is subjective judging. Be a good sport and keep your head up.
HCFDC: How do you know when it is time to retire a dog from disc dog activities?
PM: You know, I think as long as the dog is sound and having fun they can play. I have known of disc dogs that have played up until just days or hours before they died. As long as dog is physically capable they can play as long as they can. When the dog shows a lack of interest or is going to hurt itself trying to play is when you know it is time to retire them.
HCFDC: Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
PM: I can’t stress enough how the sport of disc dogging has literally changed my life. It fulfills me and completes me like nothing else can. It is very unique and I love what I do.
HCFDC: Thanks for a great interview Pennie. We probably don’t tell you this often enough but thank you so much for all you do and have done for our organization and we are all very proud to be associated with a champion disc dog competitor like you. You and your dogs have been an inspiration to us all.