2011 AKC Agility Invitational

In the fall of 2010, I was honored to be asked to be one of the judges for the 2011 AKC Agility Invitational. I was sworn to secrecy until after the 2010 AKC Agility Invitational and the judges for 2011 officially announced.

In January 2010 I was asked to quickly provide a biography and photo for the Invitational catalog. I was not sure why the rush, but I complied. Now I have plenty of pictures of my dogs, but very few pictures of myself and certainly none appropriate for the Invitational catalog. (Most show me in my usual "exhibitor" outfit of tee-shirt and shorts.) I was judging at a trial that weekend, so I asked the trial photographer (Phyllis Ensley) to take some pictures of me for the Invitational catalog. She took some candids and some posed photographs. Below are the three photographs that I submitted to the AKC.

Picture 1 This picture the AKC refused to use. They said "picture #1 is out - funny - but out."

Picture 2 I do not bring my own dogs along on a judging assignment, so Jill Lowry was kind enough to let me pose with her Norwich terrier "Mack" (Keleven's Mccracken). This picture appeared on the the AKC web site.

Picture 3 A candid shot.

Here is the bio that I wrote:

White pants, broad jump, "all kiddies out of the pool" .... less well-known about Blair Kelly is that he has been an agility judge since 2000 and has judged so far in 30 states. While his primary breed is Norwich terriers - earning the first Norwich MACH - he has also run Border Collies (on two different continents!) and a Standard Poodle. Blair has participated in five AKC national agility events - including the first two AKC Agility Invitationals (with two Norwich both years). He breeds Norwich terriers and is an AKC Breeder of Merit. Blair trains at Oriole Dog Training Club in Baltimore, MD. In his non-dog life, Blair is an applied research mathematician with interests in computational number theory and computer algebra systems.

Photos courtesy of Phyllis Ensley Photography