A prominent athlete in several dog sports, Bonnie Gutzwiler of Yorkville, Ill., was at a cluster event with her dogs in 2018 when she came across a mobile diving dock. She earned her first titles that weekend in a Try-It with her high-drive German Shepherd, who loved toys and water, and her more hesitant Border Collie, who also seemed to have fun. Now, she has four dogs actively competing with NADD: Emoji the Cattle Dog, Risky the Malinois, and her two Border Collies, Shift and Venom.
Bonnie trains at Sue & Crew H2O (Wood Dale, Ill.) in the winter and at Country Paws Canine Athletic Center (Stevens Point, Wis.) in the summer. Surrounded by her friends and patient trainers, she hopes to spend as much time competing and playing with her dogs in all three disciplines as she can.
“I absolutely love how happy the sport makes my dogs,” Bonnie said. “They don’t care if they jump 25 feet or 6 feet; they just jump because they love getting wet and playing with their toys! There’s also something extra special about NADD’s National event that makes it even more fun. I look forward to it all year long!”
Bonnie with Shift photo by Twin Eyes Photography
Risky and Bonnie photo by Twin Eyes Photography