Doree Donovan

Doree has loved dogs all her life, and growing up owned a Toy Poodle mix, Tina, who would ride on her shoulders everywhere she went, and an Old English Sheepdog, Mandy, who accompanied her to college classes and helped raise her oldest daughter Karen.  Shortly after marrying Kevin, they purchased Brandon, a Golden Retriever, and then two years later, after Megan was born, they bought Rags, an Old English Sheepdog.  Her life with dogs was fairly normal for the next ten years, but as Megan grew older, that was soon to change.  Megan grew up totally obsessed with dogs; dog was her first word, she wanted to be outside with the dogs instead of playing inside, and she was sometimes found with a tennis ball in her mouth.  Doree supported and encouraged Megan as she got involved in Delta Society therapy work, though the family dogs were aging by this point, and not able to complete the training process.  After Brandon passed away, Megan started talking about wanting a dog to train and show in Jr. Showmanship (which she discovered when her father took her to a local dog show).  Once Megan decided on a Border Collie, Doree helped her find a breeder, and on Valentines Day in 1999, she and Megan took a trip to Dallas, TX to pick up their first Border Collie puppy.

Doree continued to support Megan in her pursuit of the dog fancy, and along the way became interested in Search and Rescue training.   She started training two of the family’s Border Collies to do Search and Rescue, and certified both dogs with FEMA after a few years.  This interest slowly became a full time passion, and she now travels around the country for Search and Rescue trainings and seminars.  She has recently started training other Border Collies for SAR, with the hope that they will be able to be paired with another handler once trained.

She continues to support her daughters, Megan and Kelsey (who was also bitten by the dog show bug), in pursuing conformation showing, as well as a variety of performance events.  She has shown in Rally and Obedience, and has been taking agility and herding lessons with both Faith and Sadie.