interview with a PRO: Christa Savolainen

This month I have selected an unusual character for this section, she's not very present at major competitions, but when she is makes the difference. A demonstration should be that she become the Agility World Champion in the 2010 at the FMBB in Cottbus. A very kind girl and full of determination.
Now, I leave you to the interview


First of all some warm up questions :D


Which is your favourite cartoon character?
The Simpson's family


Describe yourself in a single sentence?
Outgoing and social person :)


What's the coolest dog name you ever heard?
Actually can't decide, I have heard so many cool names... But one of the strangest is definitely Satiainen (engl. crab louse) :D


Ok ,I think is enough ,let's be more serious and begin with the interview 


Introduce yourself  for the readers
Hello, I'm Christa Savolainen, a 21-year-old veterinary student from Espoo, southern Finland. I have two groenendael feamales, Dara, age of 9 and Dara's „puppy“ Wicky age of 5. I work during the summer as a security officer at the Helsinki international airport, but hopefully next summer I could work with animals which would be closer to my future profession.

How is began your career in agility?
I started agility with my older dog Dara. The year was 2005, so I was 15 years old.
We got the chance to participate in our local kennel club's beginner's course, and from there it all began.


Do you remember your first agility lesson?
I remember that we trained jumps and tunnels. Dara was really good and that's why our start with agility was quite easy. I guess Dara was a natural talent and quite easy to handle for the young and unexperienced girl like I was.


Do you practice other sports besides Agility?
With Dara we have competed in tracking and obedience. Wicky has as well competed in obedience but agility is our main sport at this time.



How do you maintain concentration during a competition ?
I try to focus on the next course and not to stress too much. Of course little excitement before own run is always good but it should not be paralyzing.. If I have time I will watch some courses of others and then take a walk with the dog before our turn.


What do you like most about the FMBB?
I really enjoy the athmosphere of the FMBB; it is relaxed and people are cheering each other. It is nice to meet other competitors from different countries and share ideas with them. It is also nice to follow different sports during the day, such as IPO and Mondioring.

What is your most treasured memory of the FMBB?
Of course our championship in 2010 in Cottbus with Wicky. It was our first time when we were competing abroad and I could never had imagined or hoped that kind of success :)


Explain us how goes a typical day in your life
During summers, when I'm not at school, I go to work. Usually the days are long and I get home quite late. If I happen to have a day off I like to take a long walk with my dogs and train. If there's a race on weekend the day is usually very long as well, because we have so much dogs competing. On summer I am spending pretty much all my weekends at the agilitycompetitions.


How much time you devote to training during the week ?
Too little. I try to train twice a week, once only techniques and on the second time I will train the whole course. But last year was so busy with the school, that I had chance to train only once a week.



What is your dog's favorite toy?
Defenitly a fresbee :)


Do you like to travel? Which was your last trip?
I love to travel! Last trip was to Nice and of course we had our FMBB -trip on June to Belgium.


The top 3 most beautiful moments in your career
The most beautiful moment is definitly FMBB WC with Wicky. When I was younger and competeteing with Dara we won the Open Junior Finnish Championship and some smaller prizes. It sounds like a cliché but I think every moment is a beautiful one, if the co-operation between the dog and the handler succeeds in the way it was wanted.

Where do you see yourself in the 2014
Hopefully I have done well with my studies and I am doing agility as passionately as I am now :)


If you were granted three wishes from an angel or genie what would you want?
I hope that I would continue the development as a handler, a bit more time to train and health of course. Own agilitycourt on the back yard could also be nice...


Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview! Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Happy begin of autumn for all! :)




videos
FMBB WC 2010 - Christa Savolainen & Black Master's Wicked Beauty
by reggenesi