Meet the Team: Christina Curtis
Christina Curtis has been performing with The Marvelous Mutts since 2011.
If you have seen Christina perform with her dogs, you have seen her love of animals shining through with her infectious smile. Christina’s love of animals started at an early age. She says as a child, her family had “several German Shepherds, a Chihuahua, cats, hamsters, ducks, guinea pigs, mice, chameleons, turtles,” and whatever else she brought home. The pets were part of the family.
Like many members of our team, Christina got hooked on playing sports with dogs through her work with shelter animals. The first dog she fostered, an Australian Shepherd, was so high energy, she started looking for an outlet for him and soon discovered the Indy Dog and Disc Club (Indianapolis, IN). She and her son Chandler, who also performs with The Marvelous Mutts, adopted their first disc dog in 2005. They turned playing with their dog Jack and competing into a fun family activity, and quickly became competitive in the sport.
Captain Jack, a handsome cattle dog mix, was Christina’s first disc dog. Jack had four homes before he hit the jackpot by landing with Christina.
When she first brought Jack home he was hard to handle, but the new team got to work. Christina and Jack trained together every morning before Christina went to her office job and every evening when she got home. The hard work paid off, and the new team quickly became one of the top Frisbee Dog teams in the Midwest, and competed at many national and world championships together.
In 2006, Christina and Captain Jack became World Champions, reaching the pinnacle of success in the sport.
When Christina isn’t performing with her dogs, she works on teaching them fun tricks and conditioning. You might see them hiking, running or walking around Indianapolis. Christina also trains service dogs, reactive dogs, and teaches pet manners. Christina says her favorite things about performing with her dogs is “seeing my dogs do what they love and making people smile.”
You can read more about Christina and her dogs here: http://themarvelousmutts.com/other-team-members/
Christina at the Erie Sport & Travel Expo (http://www.eriepromotions.com/sport/eri/default.aspx) with Princess Tazer and Jetta