The Zoe Memorial Achievement Award

On November 27, 2004 at the Boston Terrier Club of Western Washington Agility Trial, an achievement award in the name of MACH Windemere Zoe was given to honor the Agility Achievements of Karla Kimmey and her Jack Russell Terrier MACH  Windemere Zoe.

MACH Zoe was attacked and died tragically on July 18, 2004.

Zoe doing what she loved on July 18, 2004

Some Background Information:

I never saw Zoe when she first started competing in Agility, but I have been told that several people who did see her run,  wondered why on earth Karla Kimmey had chosen to work with a dog that appeared so .... .. How shall I put this???   ...... unsuitable!! 

Zoe was the "cutest Jack Russell Terrier in the World".  This was an ongoing and fun debate between Kathy Sheeran and Karla Kimmey at each agility trial as to whose Jack Russell  (Zoe or Gidget) was the cutest.  It was a ritual they always had, and in order to keep the peace, they finally agreed that both dogs were equally "cute".  I suspect that both Karla and Kathy each truly believed, when they walked away from each other, that their JRT was indeed the cutest. 

I can't imagine a dog being any cuter than Zoe!!

                                    Zoe at Halloween                                                                                                        Zoe at Christmas 2001                  

Apparently, Zoe,  when she first started competing in Agility, found some inventive and often funny ways to have a disaster on the course.  Even though little Zoe was stressed and frightened, she never ran off a course.  She often wondered about the Judge though, and often made sure that the Judge was OK before continuing on with her run.  If there was a Course Steward on the other side of a jump she might stop and freeze, until she was sure it was OK.  Noises near or far were a distraction that could interrupt her run.  And then there were the weave poles that required far too much of her attention, but were eventually mastered.  

At one point when Zoe had advanced to the Excellent Class, she started to shut down, and wouldn't come off the start line.  Karla kept working with Zoe.  Her strategy was that Zoe couldn't do anything wrong.  In a Trial, Zoe left the start line and took 4 obstacles with total Terrier enthusiasm, Karla was ecstatic.  All 4 obstacles were not part of the course, but that didn't matter.  This was a turning point for both Karla and Zoe. 

Karla's patience and love, and her relationship and the trust she developed with her dog, resulted in Zoe  becoming one of the Top competitors in Agility.  Once Zoe decided to go for it, her transformation didn't take long, and gathered momentum every time she ran.  At the end of her life, Zoe was at the top of her form, she was running fast and was earning Double Qs and MACH Points almost every time she ran.  Only a couple of months after earning her first MACH Title, Zoe was half way towards earning her second MACH title (Something that most dogs never earn and if they do, it takes years).  She earned her MACH in May 2004 and by July she had 10 of the required 20 double Qs!!   These were achievements by a sweet little dog that some people might have left at home. 

That is the basis on which a Achievement Award in the name of MACH Zoe was awarded. 

Karla Kimmey, has spent a lifetime working with all kinds of dogs in all the dog venues.   Karla had never really planned to get Zoe, and the day she brought her home, she had no plans to bring any dog home.  Something special happened the day Karla and Zoe met and they were each other's from the first moment Karla held her.  This is still true, even though Zoe is now gone. 

Why had Karla chosen to spend her time working with a dog that appeared so timid?  A dog that liked a lot of things much more than she appeared to like Agility.  Karla knew something that others didn't.  She saw it every day when they played, trained and lived their life together.  Karla also felt it when she slept with her Zoe at night.  Zoe had what it took, it was Karla's job to find the patience and the way for Zoe to get the confidence to get out in the ring and do Agility the way Karla knew she could;  and for Zoe to have fun doing it in competition.

Karla gave me a lesson in life, that she learned from Zoe. 

"One of the most important things that Zoe taught me was that I had to find out what made her tick, what was her game and then use that as a reward for running.  Once I learned to look to her, she opened the door to her world and then welcomed me in!"

When this happened, they never looked back!!

I remember Zoe when she had "gathered steam" and was busily earning her MACH title. I missed her early days in Agility as Al and I were still training and not competing.  At the time when Zoe and Karla had "found their game", Al  and I were just starting to compete in AKC and unknowingly, we were very busy re-enacting Zoe's early career antics by finding new ways for Al or I to earn an NQ in the novice agility ring.   

It was always fun to watch Zoe and Karla run.  They had it together as a team, they were fast, and they had fun.  Zoe loved Agility!! 

In a strange turn of events, or fate, Karla, Zoe, Al and I were together for part of the last evening that Zoe was alive.  It was really nice to talk with Karla and to watch Zoe make her presence unmistakably known.  Karla talked about how proud she was of Zoe, and how far she had come and how she saw so many similarities between her experiences with Zoe and mine with Al.  Karla said that she was so impressed with how well Al and I were doing in Agility Competition and talked at length about her first experiences with Zoe in the Agility Ring. 

I think Karla was surprised to hear how there were many similar experiences in our lives with our dogs outside of the Agility ring.  For instance.  I had never planned to get Al.  I didn't think I wanted a dog, and had plenty of "why not" reasons.  The day I met Al, all those things that I thought  were in the way, just left my mind, and he was mine, and I was his.

The day Karla met Zoe and brought her home, she didn't even bring along her checkbook, because she was not even thinking of bringing a dog home.

Synchronicity?  I think so.

The Award

Neither Karla Kimmey nor I knew that an award was going to be given out in Zoe's name.  There was an  announcement over the Public Address system that there would be a Special Presentation at 8AM .  I took no notice and was busy in a far corner of the building memorizing the course that we were about to run (Al and I were the 3rd or 4th dog to run after the presentation, so my mind was on the course).  Then Christie Bowers, the Trial Secretary, grabbed a microphone and started to talk about Zoe and Karla and their life together.  Everything stopped in the arena and the focus was completely on what was being said, by everybody in the building (probably 200 or so people).  The arena became totally silent and there was hardly a dry eye in the whole building after Christie  began to talk about Zoe.  Then Christie explained that in honor of Zoe and the achievements that she made after having such an inauspicious beginning to her agility career, that an Award called the Zoe Memorial Achievement Award was being given out this year to another team that have followed Zoe and Karla's path.  Christie said "no one imagined that when this team first started competing that this pair would be beating us on an Agility course, but they are, and we love to watch you run." 

"The Zoe Memorial Achievement Award goes to Ken and Al!!"

I just about dropped!!  I had Al in my arms and had to walk, carrying Al, through the whole crowd as I was as far away from Christie and Karla as you could have been. 

By the time I got to Christie (and it took a while)  I had  sniffled, laughed, cried, thanked, and hugged my  way through the crowd to accept the Ribbon that represented the Award.  I was overwhelmed!  Karla was as surprised as I was and crying, I was blubbering too.

It was an incredible honor to be thought of in this way.  I am humbled by it, surprised, and extremely honored!!   I am very proud of Al for showing all that he is made of every time he goes out and competes in Agility.  He is a tremendous little dog. 

In the time since receiving this Award, I have thought about it a lot.  I have come to the conclusion, and it didn't take long for me to decide this, that this Award is what Agility is really all about.  I think Agility is more about the journey you take with your dog in learning the sport, and not the destination.  What the Zoe Award honors is the long road some dogs have to travel in order to be competitive.  The award recognizes from where we have come to where we are now, and that is more important to me than any title that Al has earned or might earn in the future.  Every dog deserves the Zoe Award.  Al and I are fortunate and thrilled to have been selected. 

Someday, Al might get a MACH title.  But I know that if that ever happens; or if it never happens, that I will still think about how far Al has come, and how hard he has worked with me to get there, and I'll think of all the fun we have had together.  I'll be proud of him. 

And I'll look at Our Zoe Award and smile, and remember. 

Karla Kimmey, Ken Kennedy and Al

Photo by Permission of Vickie Atkins (Copywrite)

I want to thank everyone who has watched us run , and taken the time to give a lesson or advice (Big or small) on agility training, competition, and life.  You know who you are, and I appreciate your willingness to share.