Ted McCall first became involved with dog training and competition in 1980 when he acquired an 11 month old German Shepherd whose owner needed to place her. As many of us do, he decided to take "Heidi" to a local obedience class. She was a joy to work with and Ted was hooked. After "Heidi" had to retire early due to illness that made continued training difficult, Ted met and began his love affair with the affable Golden Retriever. Since that time, Ted has continued to train and has competed with several other wonderful dogs with whom he has been privileged to share his life. He and his dogs have achieved many advanced titles, including 3 Utility Dog titles; and achieving an Obedience Trial Championship, the highest attainable title in AKC competition with his Golden, "Chase". Ted has competed not only at the local level, but in regional and national competitions, including placing 6 th in the 1999 Super Dog Competition. Ted and "Chase", together achieved what only a small percentage of competitors each year are able to do, a perfect score of 200. Ted is a member of the Sandlapper Golden Retriever Club, the Golden Retriever Club of America and is active with Foothills Golden Retriever Rescue. After many years as a competitor, Ted is now an official AKC Obedience judge, and judges Novice and all levels of Rally classes. Ted has been with Companion Dog Training School for nearly 25 years, and enjoys teaching the Advanced Competition class. His training and competition philosophy is "It should definitely be fun!"