Countryside Agility

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Our Story

Countryside Agility was started in 1994 by Denise Thomas as an agility training business and agility trial secretary service. In 2002 we moved to Edinboro, PA - leasing 20,000 square feet of space in the local mall plaza. After twelve years of growth, we purchased the 34,000 square foot facility on 38th Street in Erie, PA to allow for business expansion and easy access to the thruways for our out-of-town customers. Thanks to an extensive renovation (and the support of many volunteers!) we moved into our current location in January 2015. This location has allowed us plenty of space, both inside and outside, and the most recent addition of an indoor heated swimming pool for the dogs, has finalized Denise’s vision of an agility dream center!

Denise has trained and shown dogs since she was nine years old. She started a grooming and boarding business while in college but after working for GE for a short period of time, she quickly realized that the corporate world was not for her, and returned to her first love - DOGS! For fifteen years she operated The Village Groomer and Countryside Kennels, as well as teaching obedience classes. She has bred Champion Springer Spaniels and Smooth Fox Terriers while successfully showing various breeds professionally for many years in the conformation and obedience rings. But once Denise was introduced to the sport of agility - it quickly became her passion - and after teaching agility for several years, she opened the Edinboro facility to train and host trials.

With the sport quickly growing, AKC became involved, and in 1995 Denise became one of the first AKC judges and actively judged for 13 years. Along the way, she became an AKC licensed trial secretary and currently hosts around 50 trials a year for Clubs in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Her husband, Howard got involved building equipment and runs his own business renting and selling agility equipment.

Denise has trialed with Shelties, Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, Portuguese Water Dogs, Doberman Pinschers and Smooth Fox Terriers, earning 27 MACH titles, and has competed in 20 finals at USDAA and AKC nationals. Her top honor was being selected for the AKC sponsored FCI Agility World team in 2009. Denise and Border Collie “Zippity” traveled to Dornbirn, Austria to compete on the USA Agility Team in the individual and team competitions.

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