Deirdre Crofton discovered the sport of dog agility 25 years ago, when she began training her Labrador Retrievers, a breed that she loves for their versatility and friendly nature.
Deirdre lives in a very rural part of the upstate of New York, on Canandaigua Lake, one of the Finger Lakes, a group of 11 glacier formed lakes, with her husband of 38 years. Recently her husband has had significant health issues, which has meant that Deirdre has not been able to attend the few trials in her area.
She currently competes with her 3 labs, and has found that the opportunity to compete at home and earn titles has helped her dogs immensely. Kea, who is 10, approaches competition with skill and enthusiasm in her own unique way. Having titled in 7 sports, she has completed her IAC with At Home Trials. Kinzi, aged 5, also finished her Novice Speedstakes title, but can find competition stressful, despite having good skills. Treva, is 2 and had elbow surgery at 7 months. Deirdre has found the At Home Trials, to be a wonderful way to help Treva and Kinzi to build skills, and be a huge confidence builder to them.
Deirdre has enjoyed her dogs, which have been her main hobby and passion for most of her married life. She began in obedience before finding agility, also participating in tracking, scent work and especially enjoying Dock diving. Luckily as her dogs have a lake just 20 feet from their front door, one of them is usually begging for a swim.
Having had the opportunity to judge a few UKI trials, Deidre is also an AKC Agility judge. She loves watching all teams compete no matter the breed. She can be seen cheering for everyone, but also feels badly when they fail, but hopes they still are having a wonderful time with their dog. Deirdre is a lifetime member of her local club, DOTCORNY. Dog Obedience Training Club of Rochester New York. Before her husbands’ illness they both travelled to many wonderful places around the globe. When not training or playing with her dogs, Deirdre also enjoys quilting and needlepoint.
