JuJu

* Very silly girl

* Queen of the house

* Excellent rooer

* Senior Courser

* Field Champion

* 2004 Grand National

Best of Breed winner

* Simply JuJu!

Born December 6, 2000

click here for her pedigree

JuJu became a member of our family and the founding member of Team JuJu on May 12,2001. She was a little 5 month old puppy who didn't know much about toys and who didn't want to stay home alone. We started obedience classes and to further her education, she went with me to all the summer classes I was taking for my Communication degree at ULM. She was a perfect student, curled up in my lap, who was simply happy that she didn't have to be left alone at home.

No matter what she does on the lurecoursing field, we consider JuJu's victory over her separation anxiety her greatest accomplishment ever. She's our very special girl.

Picture: Don with JuJu in her first weeks with us

After moving to Colorado in 2002, we tried agility for about a year and embarrassed ourselves in the agility competition ring twice. JuJu had a blast - she started with two victory laps around the ring, then did a couple of obstacles, then she repeated the tunnel and the A-frame, because they were real fun, and then found a clump of white hair on the floor, picked it up, shook it, and exited the ring victoriously, tail wagging.

However, JuJu's true passion is lurecoursing. Nothing stops her in the pursuit of the plastic bag - not a cactus, not a nasty rollover at high speed, not a nip from a fellow courser.

At 21.0 lbs, she's a lot to handle when going to the line. She loves to do a series of 'death rolls' when I carry her, moving from side to side, trying to escape.

We end up at the line with a series of jumps and back leg scratches.

JuJu says it's more fun that way...

Photo: Don Dixon

This is when JuJu thinks of strategies for upcoming lurecoursing trials. If you've ever seen her run, you must admit she's very inventive!