Over the summer, 17-year-old Keslyn Kampschroeder of Canyon, along with her border collie Khloe, competed in the Junior Open World Agility Championship in Portugal. Keslyn was 1 of only 2 Texans in the competition, among the 24 handlers and 29 dogs on the American team..
Keslyn grew up in Aubrey, near the Denton area, before moving to Canyon. Around that time, at age 9, she became serious about dog training in order to convince her parents to let her keep her misbehaved dog. Obedience training led to tricks and then agility training. A homeschooled student, Keslyn now provides all three of those training services for others.
She always wanted a border collie because they are, in her words, “arguably the best” in competitions. After researching breeders and rescues, her competition dog ended up living right next door: Khloe spent the first 18 months of her life working livestock with Keslyn’s neighbor. “Khloe did not like it and she was not very good at it,” Keslyn says. As boredom took over, Khloe began misbehaving and often ran away. The neighbor hired Keslyn to train the border collie, and the two built a strong bond.
As a 13th birthday surprise, her parents and neighbor gifted Khloe to Keslyn. “Now she has a job, and she is so excited about everything,” she says about Khloe.
Keslyn’s training process starts with what drives the dogs themselves. “You want them to want to work with you and love toys and treats, so that’s where I start,” she says. Agility training, of course, involves more complexity than “sit” or “stay.” It means piecing together two to three obstacles at a time, then adding to the sequence. Eventually, a competition dog can handle 10 or 20 obstacles.
“It’s just starting with them wanting to work with you and building it up to them wanting to actually interact with the obstacles and run the full course,” Keslyn says. “Eventually, they just love it so much that it’s rewarding for them even if you don’t have toys or treats. They just love doing it.”
Keslyn competes at least once a month, often traveling several hours away on the weekends. After Khloe succeeded in obedience competitions and won trick and temperament titles, the duo turned their focus to agility. Khloe isn’t always efficient on those courses, but she’s very fast. Due to her excitement, she’s known to jump higher than necessary and make wide turns. “She does fine here in the U.S., competing against the top dogs that are turning as tight as they can, not wasting any space,” Keslyn says.
In order to try out for the junior world championship in Portugal, Keslyn and Khloe had to win at least one open title in their organization. That meant three clean runs without faults—like knocking down a bar on a jump or taking an obstacle out of sequence. When it was time to apply, Khloe had achieved only two out of three required clean runs. Keslyn began entering multiple trials, until the U.S. coach asked her to try out despite not having the title. “We made it!” Keslyn says. “Once that happened, I started trialing less and just doing more things to prepare her, like working on her skill sets and making sure that she would be ready to travel and be out in public.”
Traveling with an agility dog is not quite like traveling with a carry-on suitcase. During their trip to Portugal, Khloe was comfortably muzzled and rode in “doggy first-class” underneath the plane, Keslyn says. Khloe was overjoyed when the flight ended, but “she handled it a lot better than I thought she would,” she explains.
Like any trainer, Keslyn carries treats at all times and prefers for strangers to leave Khloe alone to prevent overstimulation. Being in new places and around new people can be nerve-racking for anyone but especially for a dog who is not used to it.
When not competing, Khloe spent a lot of downtime napping in their hotel room. Keslyn prioritized Khloe’s comfort “even if it meant we couldn’t socialize or sightsee as much,” she says.
The championship included team and individual events. Its judging process is strict—a five-point fault in U.S. competition would be considered elimination on the global stage—and courses included 20 to 25 obstacles with and without contact equipment. Although Keslyn and Khloe did not place individually, the American team competed well and finished in seventh place.
Khloe exceeded their expectations, Keslyn says, and the duo walked away grateful for the experience.
The two continue training for bigger competitions here in the U.S. while Keslyn prepares to pursue a degree in accounting in college beginning next year. Depending on where she decides to go to school, Khloe may have to stay back in Canyon while Keslyn focuses on her education. If Khloe does move with her, the two will slow down on competing. Training or not, the K-9 and her companion truly understand each other and it’s evident that they equally needed each other from the start.
