Nine-Year-Old CPT Student Defeats Adults in Obedience and Agility

October 15, 2004

Comprehensive Pet Therapy’s competition obedience team achieved some notable successes in the months of September and October. Our team earned two Open Obedience titles, one Novice Obedience title, another Novice Obedience leg, one Novice Agility Jumpers title, and several legs toward Agility titles. Our accomplishments included NINE FIRST PLACE FINISHES.

The most prolific participant was 9 YEAR OLD Sabrina Chin who in the course of two weekends completed an American Kennel Club Novice Obedience (CD) title in the minimum three consecutive shows (the average titleholder requires eight attempts) and attained two of her three required legs toward her AKC Novice Agility Jumpers (NAJ) title.

Sabrina qualified each time she participated in Novice Obedience. The average national qualification rate is 37%. Sabrina was successful on 100% of her qualifying attempts. Most notably, she did more than qualify. She medaled each time she competed. On Friday, she achieved a fourth place finish. On Saturday, she achieved a third place finish. And on Sunday, she achieved a blue ribbon for a FIRST PLACE finish! Better yet, she bested a field of 15 adults, where she was the only child.

The following weekend Sabrina duplicated her triumphs. Competing at Wills Park in AKC Novice Agility Jumpers events, Sabrina won both days she competed, including pulling off a PERFECT 100 out of 100 score on Saturday. Again, she defeated a class where every other competitor was above legal voting age. Sabrina certainly is a prodigy as is her Miniature Poodle, Zoe, who collaborated in all of the victories.

To show that her preceding accomplishments were more than beginner’s luck, last weekend Sabrina completed Zoe’s Novice Agility Jumpers title with a second place finish and achieved two legs toward her standard Novice Agility title with TWO FIRST PLACE FINISHES. She is now preparing to compete at the Open Agility level.

Sabrina’s parents, Margaret and Kingsley, first enrolled Zoe at CPT, in September 2002, with the goal of enabling her to become a well-behaved pet. They found the education so much fun for them and their children that they continued re-enrolling to progressively higher-level classes. Six months ago, Sabrina was assigned as “the trainer.” Margaret and Kingsley believe competitive dog training is teaching Sabrina valuable responsibility, leadership, and communication skills as well as providing an enjoyable lifelong recreational activity.

They appear to make many astute parenting decisions. Sabrina’s 12 year-old brother, Preston, is also accustomed to the podium. Last year, Preston was the USA’s number one ranked table tennis player in his age group.

Sabrina, a fourth grade student at Paideia, expects to continue onward and upward in the fields of dog obedience and agility. She plans to achieve higher titles and more blue ribbon finishes in the upcoming year. Judging by her recent successes, her natural gifts for handling Zoe, and her wonderful attitude, we anticipate that Sabrina will reach her goals.

Since its inception in 1992, CPT has trained the pets of over 30,000 Atlanta area customers. CPT offers group classes at six locations (Sandy Springs, Cumming, Acworth, Alpharetta, Lawrenceville, and Marietta), in-home private lessons throughout the Atlanta metro area, and a unique board-training program at 8 locations where customer pets reside at a trainer’s home as opposed to a kennel. CPT Head Trainers have placed in national competitions, won regional titles, handled pets in movies, and appeared as behavioral experts on television news shows.

For more information, please contact Mark Spivak (404) 236-2150.