Tessa got her first dog, a Labrador around 1989 but did very little training with her during her 19 years. In 2006 shortly after she died, Tessa got an Australian Shepherd, Ninja, and decided to spend more time training her. Looking for a local club, she joined CPDC when Ninja was 8 weeks old. A couple of years later she got her second Aussie, Kujo, and was so hooked that she became a trainer, whilst continuing to work with her own two dogs. Ninja died in 2018 and Tessa now has another Aussie, Tikka. Being retired has given Tessa more time with her dogs. Tessa teaches all levels of Obedience and is also a Flyball judge. Both her older Aussies have successfully competed in Obedience and Flyball competitions. Ninja loved agility as does Tikka. Tessa has three children: Chris who lives in Belgium, Rob who lives in Italy and Kate, who trains with our club.