Meet Kay Guetzloff
Kay will be coming to stay in Cottonwood and will be giving lessons both in agility and obedience in January and February. Since many of you do not know Kay I thought this wonderful article in the Missouri News will introduce you to both she and her late husband, Dick.
In It for the Win
Guetzloffs of Washington Are Dog Whisperers
By Karen Butterfield
A lot of people are dog lovers. But Washington couple Dick and Kay Guetzloff are dog whisperers.
They have made their living breeding, training and grooming dogs, as well as running a kennel. Additionally, they have won hundreds of awards for showing their own dogs over the years.
Pulling up to their home, a person might notice a few dog training items, the couple’s dog-related license plates on their vehicles, “BC DOGS” and “OTCH 10,” or even their border collies Scarlett and Sparky, who greet visitors.
One license plate simply names the breed of dogs they currently have, border collies. The other stands for the OTCh, Obedience Trial Championship.
According to the American Kennel Club, this title is often referred to as a “Ph.D. for dogs.” It’s a highly competitive and coveted award that few earn, fewer than 1 percent of dog owners. The Guetzloffs dogs have trained dogs to earn 10 or more of the awards.
Those are among the hundreds they have won over the years in showing dogs.
With a quick look around their home, one might not really have an idea that the couple and their dogs are known for their obedience and agility training all over the country.
Background
Originally from England, Kay Guetzloff, 73, came to America in 1967. She started showing dogs not long before, in 1966, at age 23. Dick Guetzloff, 87, is a Chicago native who began showing dogs in 1968.
The two met in 1977, at a dog tournament in St. Louis. At the time, Kay was living in Bellvue, Neb., and showing a long-haired dachshund — a pet. Dick was showing a golden retriever. He also showed German shepherds.
The two, who didn’t yet know each other well, ended up being tied at one point in the event. Both highly competitive individuals, Dick said he was convinced he’d quit showing dogs if Kay’s dog beat his.
“I couldn’t believe it!,” Dick recalled. “My golden retriever was tied with a dachshund. I was flabbergasted.”
As fate would have it, Dick won second place and Kay won fifth place in the tournament. The two met again at the regional competition in Dallas. Again, Kay was just behind Dick in the show ratings. The two became friends and married in 1979.
Both had an interest in owning their own business. Both were working as dog trainers, and Kay also was a groomer.
They started a boarding kennel, along with grooming and training facility — which they kept until they retired in 1992.
The kennel was located in Palatine, Ill. The couple also operated the kennel in San Angelo, Texas. They also lived in Arizona on and off in the 90s and 2000s.
The couple moved to Washington in 2014 to be near the Purina Events Center.
“We discovered Washington, and Washington was the place we wanted to move to,” Dick said.
The 84,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Purina Event Center, which opened in August 2010, hosts dog and cat shows and performance events year-round.
“It’s the only event center in the country built for dogs totally,” Kay said. “They can do every single dog sport there is at Purina.”
There are outdoor and indoor facilities, fields, agility rings, dock diving, lure coursing, and more.
“I can’t think of a dog sport that they don’t do at Purina,” Kay said.
“It’s a wonderful, ultra-modern facility,” Dick added.
They competed at Purina before the event center was built, when everything was outside.
Kay remembers in October 1997, Purina hosted the first border collie national specialty there.
“The event center wasn’t built, otherwise, when we sold our kennel in San Angelo we might have moved here then,” Kay said.
The couple also loves that admission fees paid to train at the center are donated to local animal charities of the trainer’s choice. Their fees are donated to the Franklin County Humane Society.
Self-Taught
Both Dick and Kay are self-taught dog trainers.
“We discovered we had talents for training. We’re like dog whisperers,” Dick said.
“We each had pets, and we needed to train them, and we did it by ourselves without classes,” Kay said. “That’s how we realized we had a talent for it.”
Once, a judge told Dick “You have God’s gift to communicate with animals.”
“That was an inspiration,” he said.
The two bred golden retrievers and border collies at one time. Over the years, they’ve had dozens of dogs.
Border collies are extremely smart, loyal and they love pleasing their owners. They love working and staying busy. The Guetzloffs’ dogs love anything they can do with their owners.
Though they “retired” in 1992, they came out of retirement to continue working and training dogs until 2008. Now, the couple focuses only on competing with their own dogs.
Competing
They’ve competed in thousands of shows, but averaged closer to 60 per year. One year, the couple competed in 108 shows, Kay recalled.
They have logged hundreds of thousands of miles on their vehicles traveling to the competitions all over the United States.
Kay has visited every single state, as well as every Canadian province except Newfoundland, mostly competing. They also did dog training clinics all over the country and throughout Europe.
“The dogs have given us a lot of travel experience,” Kay said.
Asked what they enjoy most about the competitions, there is a resounding response:
“Winning,” they chime together.
They love beating the competition, but because Kay mainly competes in agility trials and Dick competes in obedience, they don’t face off often.
But when they do, they also love winning bragging rights.
They also love the companionship of their dogs, and making friends who share a common bond with dogs.
“There are very few winners, but a lot of people compete for the enjoyment of it,” Kay said. “But we like to win. And even at my age, I win quite often in agility.”
Chimney Sweep
In the ’90s, Dick trained and competed with a dog that was inducted into the AKC Museum of the Dog, a hall of fame in west St. Louis County.
“Chimney Sweep” was the most winning dog in the history of AKC’s obedience competition. Chimney Sweep was a Heelalong border collie bred by the couple and the first border collie inducted into the hall of fame. Her official name is “OTCh Heelalong Chimney Sweep, UDX, (Utility Dog Excellent).
“Nobody will ever beat her record,” Dick said.
Shows have gotten smaller, and the records are based on the number of dogs you defeat, Kay explained.
“It just wouldn’t be possible,” she said.
Dick said that they are proud of the trophy Chimney Sweep received when she was inducted into the hall of fame.
“It’s one in a million,” he said.
Both of the couple’s dogs are descendents from Chimney Sweep’s line of collies.
The Guetzloffs encouraged people to visit the museum, located in Queeny Park.
“If they love dogs, they should go there,” Dick said.
“They’ve got the most beautiful artwork and photographs, and they change it every month,” Kay added.
Chimney Sweep was a “Purina Dog” for several years, Dick said, and even was featured on Animal Planet.
Keeping Busy
Kay said her current dog, Scarlett, is the most successful dog she’s ever had, mostly because she does every kind of competition. Scarlett competes in herding, obedience, agility, tracking and recently started barn hunting.
Barn hunting, which also is offered at Purina, features rats running through tubes buried in hay. The dogs have to find the rat just like they would on a farm. Kay noted that the rats are in aerated tubes and aren’t hurt by the dogs.
A relatively new sport, competitions are being held throughout the country.
Scarlett also is trained to retrieve and pick up items Kay drops, including the remote, and can unload the washer and dryer.
When Kay says “remote,” both dogs’ ears perk up and Kay acquiesces and tells her dog to get the remote. When Scarlett comes back with the remote, Kay has to put it back in the house and let a jealous Sparky retrieve it.
Kay’s dog recently pulled a muscle and is recovering, but before that, the couple was competing three weekends per month, mostly at Purina.
In the meantime, Dick competes once or twice each month and Kay trains her dog in things that don’t require running or jumping so her muscle can heal.
“We worked every Christmas, New Year, Easter, everything. We never had a holiday off until we retired,” Kay said, recalling a time when a snowstorm prevented people from picking up their dogs and others dropped off their dogs all at the same time.
But they both agreed that they wouldn’t have it any other way.
The couple said they remember seeing a statistic at one time that only 20 percent of Americans truly are satisfied with their job, and both said they counted themselves among that lucky percentage.
“We never had any stress and always enjoyed our work,” Kay said.
Guetzloffs of Washington Are Dog Whisperers
By Karen Butterfield
A lot of people are dog lovers. But Washington couple Dick and Kay Guetzloff are dog whisperers.
They have made their living breeding, training and grooming dogs, as well as running a kennel. Additionally, they have won hundreds of awards for showing their own dogs over the years.
Pulling up to their home, a person might notice a few dog training items, the couple’s dog-related license plates on their vehicles, “BC DOGS” and “OTCH 10,” or even their border collies Scarlett and Sparky, who greet visitors.
One license plate simply names the breed of dogs they currently have, border collies. The other stands for the OTCh, Obedience Trial Championship.
According to the American Kennel Club, this title is often referred to as a “Ph.D. for dogs.” It’s a highly competitive and coveted award that few earn, fewer than 1 percent of dog owners. The Guetzloffs dogs have trained dogs to earn 10 or more of the awards.
Those are among the hundreds they have won over the years in showing dogs.
With a quick look around their home, one might not really have an idea that the couple and their dogs are known for their obedience and agility training all over the country.
Background
Originally from England, Kay Guetzloff, 73, came to America in 1967. She started showing dogs not long before, in 1966, at age 23. Dick Guetzloff, 87, is a Chicago native who began showing dogs in 1968.
The two met in 1977, at a dog tournament in St. Louis. At the time, Kay was living in Bellvue, Neb., and showing a long-haired dachshund — a pet. Dick was showing a golden retriever. He also showed German shepherds.
The two, who didn’t yet know each other well, ended up being tied at one point in the event. Both highly competitive individuals, Dick said he was convinced he’d quit showing dogs if Kay’s dog beat his.
“I couldn’t believe it!,” Dick recalled. “My golden retriever was tied with a dachshund. I was flabbergasted.”
As fate would have it, Dick won second place and Kay won fifth place in the tournament. The two met again at the regional competition in Dallas. Again, Kay was just behind Dick in the show ratings. The two became friends and married in 1979.
Both had an interest in owning their own business. Both were working as dog trainers, and Kay also was a groomer.
They started a boarding kennel, along with grooming and training facility — which they kept until they retired in 1992.
The kennel was located in Palatine, Ill. The couple also operated the kennel in San Angelo, Texas. They also lived in Arizona on and off in the 90s and 2000s.
The couple moved to Washington in 2014 to be near the Purina Events Center.
“We discovered Washington, and Washington was the place we wanted to move to,” Dick said.
The 84,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Purina Event Center, which opened in August 2010, hosts dog and cat shows and performance events year-round.
“It’s the only event center in the country built for dogs totally,” Kay said. “They can do every single dog sport there is at Purina.”
There are outdoor and indoor facilities, fields, agility rings, dock diving, lure coursing, and more.
“I can’t think of a dog sport that they don’t do at Purina,” Kay said.
“It’s a wonderful, ultra-modern facility,” Dick added.
They competed at Purina before the event center was built, when everything was outside.
Kay remembers in October 1997, Purina hosted the first border collie national specialty there.
“The event center wasn’t built, otherwise, when we sold our kennel in San Angelo we might have moved here then,” Kay said.
The couple also loves that admission fees paid to train at the center are donated to local animal charities of the trainer’s choice. Their fees are donated to the Franklin County Humane Society.
Self-Taught
Both Dick and Kay are self-taught dog trainers.
“We discovered we had talents for training. We’re like dog whisperers,” Dick said.
“We each had pets, and we needed to train them, and we did it by ourselves without classes,” Kay said. “That’s how we realized we had a talent for it.”
Once, a judge told Dick “You have God’s gift to communicate with animals.”
“That was an inspiration,” he said.
The two bred golden retrievers and border collies at one time. Over the years, they’ve had dozens of dogs.
Border collies are extremely smart, loyal and they love pleasing their owners. They love working and staying busy. The Guetzloffs’ dogs love anything they can do with their owners.
Though they “retired” in 1992, they came out of retirement to continue working and training dogs until 2008. Now, the couple focuses only on competing with their own dogs.
Competing
They’ve competed in thousands of shows, but averaged closer to 60 per year. One year, the couple competed in 108 shows, Kay recalled.
They have logged hundreds of thousands of miles on their vehicles traveling to the competitions all over the United States.
Kay has visited every single state, as well as every Canadian province except Newfoundland, mostly competing. They also did dog training clinics all over the country and throughout Europe.
“The dogs have given us a lot of travel experience,” Kay said.
Asked what they enjoy most about the competitions, there is a resounding response:
“Winning,” they chime together.
They love beating the competition, but because Kay mainly competes in agility trials and Dick competes in obedience, they don’t face off often.
But when they do, they also love winning bragging rights.
They also love the companionship of their dogs, and making friends who share a common bond with dogs.
“There are very few winners, but a lot of people compete for the enjoyment of it,” Kay said. “But we like to win. And even at my age, I win quite often in agility.”
Chimney Sweep
In the ’90s, Dick trained and competed with a dog that was inducted into the AKC Museum of the Dog, a hall of fame in west St. Louis County.
“Chimney Sweep” was the most winning dog in the history of AKC’s obedience competition. Chimney Sweep was a Heelalong border collie bred by the couple and the first border collie inducted into the hall of fame. Her official name is “OTCh Heelalong Chimney Sweep, UDX, (Utility Dog Excellent).
“Nobody will ever beat her record,” Dick said.
Shows have gotten smaller, and the records are based on the number of dogs you defeat, Kay explained.
“It just wouldn’t be possible,” she said.
Dick said that they are proud of the trophy Chimney Sweep received when she was inducted into the hall of fame.
“It’s one in a million,” he said.
Both of the couple’s dogs are descendents from Chimney Sweep’s line of collies.
The Guetzloffs encouraged people to visit the museum, located in Queeny Park.
“If they love dogs, they should go there,” Dick said.
“They’ve got the most beautiful artwork and photographs, and they change it every month,” Kay added.
Chimney Sweep was a “Purina Dog” for several years, Dick said, and even was featured on Animal Planet.
Keeping Busy
Kay said her current dog, Scarlett, is the most successful dog she’s ever had, mostly because she does every kind of competition. Scarlett competes in herding, obedience, agility, tracking and recently started barn hunting.
Barn hunting, which also is offered at Purina, features rats running through tubes buried in hay. The dogs have to find the rat just like they would on a farm. Kay noted that the rats are in aerated tubes and aren’t hurt by the dogs.
A relatively new sport, competitions are being held throughout the country.
Scarlett also is trained to retrieve and pick up items Kay drops, including the remote, and can unload the washer and dryer.
When Kay says “remote,” both dogs’ ears perk up and Kay acquiesces and tells her dog to get the remote. When Scarlett comes back with the remote, Kay has to put it back in the house and let a jealous Sparky retrieve it.
Kay’s dog recently pulled a muscle and is recovering, but before that, the couple was competing three weekends per month, mostly at Purina.
In the meantime, Dick competes once or twice each month and Kay trains her dog in things that don’t require running or jumping so her muscle can heal.
“We worked every Christmas, New Year, Easter, everything. We never had a holiday off until we retired,” Kay said, recalling a time when a snowstorm prevented people from picking up their dogs and others dropped off their dogs all at the same time.
But they both agreed that they wouldn’t have it any other way.
The couple said they remember seeing a statistic at one time that only 20 percent of Americans truly are satisfied with their job, and both said they counted themselves among that lucky percentage.
“We never had any stress and always enjoyed our work,” Kay said.
