Polly Poulos-McCarthy
Polly grew up in Chicago with family dogs, but it wasn’t until she got dogs of her own as an adult that she became more active with and training them.
It started with her vizslas Buckley and Rainey. She showed them in conformation, ran them in hunt tests and even competed in obedience with Buckley. When some of her friends were competing in agility with their vizslas, she knew she wanted to do that too.
In 2003, she first met Stacey Hawk who helped her start her agility journey. And what a journey it has been! Soon after she began helping Stacey with her agility classes, and has been a Hawk City K9 instructor ever since then!
Polly eventually did end up competing with Buckley and Rainey as well as her third vizsla Bree, earning various AKC agility titles among them all, but it was Rainey who was the agility star, earning her MACH (Master Agility Champion) and a few qualifications shy of her PACH (Preferred Agility Champion) when Rainey passed at age 14 1/2 (she was still competing till the end!). Polly continued to help teach classes with Stacey, even after all of her dogs had passed. There is something about watching students (dogs and handlers alike) get the buzz, see it click and see the joy on their faces that makes it rewarding. After a few dogless years, Polly has again returned to agility training with her own dog, super fun mutt Monty!