Winning Big in the Dog Days of Summer
Wendy Auzqui Wins Big at the Calgary Stampede World Stock Dog Championship
As rain pounded down on the windshields of four fire trucks and a dozen vehicles in Ucross, WY on the evening of July 14th, they were all waiting on one thing. Horns started blaring as the familiar car pulled into sight. Their hometown hero, Wendy Auzqui, was greeted with a celebratory convoy home as she pulled into the county after winning the 2022 Calgary Stampede World Stock Dog Championship with her faithful dog, Quirt.
Wendy Auzqui grew up on a ranch, which is where her love for dogs blossomed. “My dad was a horse trainer and a rancher and a dog trainer. If it had four legs he was training on it. Or even if it had two, because I was included in that,” Auzqui said with a laugh.
Auzqui has always known that she wanted to try her hand at training and trialing dogs, but it took a little bit of time for the stars to align to make it happen. “It’s always been in my soul and I just didn’t know it. I’ve wanted to do it for years, but for whatever reason, timing was never right,” Auzqui said.
After spending years competing as a jockey, a barrel racer, and a team roper, her competitive side has always stayed sharp. Auzqui said that the stars aligned when Joni Tietjen moved next door, and she was training trialing dogs. After countless hours spent learning alongside Tietjen, what started as a hobby with one dog and has boomed to Auzqui owning 12 dogs, and more than a few trophy’s and belt buckles to prove her success in the stock dog trailing world.
Stock dog trials are events where working stock dogs use their herding ability to compete with their handlers to maneuver stock, either sheep or cattle, through a course of obstacles. Handlers use a basic set of commands or whistles to guide their dogs through the obstacles. Contestants are scored based on how many stock the dogs successfully take through the obstacles in the least amount of time. Obstacles can include taking the animals through gates, alleys, or getting the animals into or out of a small pen. There are usually classes for Open, Intermediate, Novice, and Nursery divisions, which reflect the handler and the dogs’ experience.
“When Joanie appeared I got dogs, and then I got more dogs,” Auzqui said. “I had a livestock background, so it was easy to put the two things together. A big part of the journey is that I’ve always been competitive, everything I did I always had to compete at. So when the dog thing came around, of course I was going to compete with dogs. I just have been so blessed to always have a dog that was talented enough to be competitive.”
Auzqui’s success in the arena paired with her kind smile and contagious laugh have attracted many people to Auzqui for her help with training their own dogs. Since 2014 she has made a successful business training dogs, giving private lessons, and even helping people across the country by reviewing their videos they send her and giving feedback. She jokes that the business side of her ‘hobby’ is what pays for the dog food.
“If you love the thing you’re doing then it doesn’t feel like work,” Auzqui said. “I get up in the morning and I can’t get outside fast enough and get started because I love it - it never feels like work at all.”
Training dogs for herself as well as others has brought much more to her life than just a hobby or income. Auzqui says that dogs have taught her a quiet patience. Her philosophy is to set dogs up to find the answer without demanding or forcing them, simply applying pressure until they figure it out and then removing the pressure.
“Giving private lessons has taught me so much about dogs and about myself as well,” Auzqui explained. “Dogs in general will teach us about ourselves if we are willing to learn and listen. I think horses do the same thing, but dogs are maybe a little more in tune. They are just that much closer to us. Well, they’re man’s best friend, right? Not only do I train dogs, but I learn from dogs, and I learn about myself from dogs - which is probably the best part about the dogs. That, and meeting literally hundreds of people that are now good friends of mine. It’s been a heck of a journey!”
Auzqui is quick to help others and lend a helping hand whenever she can. When asked what advice she would give to others wanting to try their hand at training stock dogs for trial, she shared this:
“Find someone that you resonate with, watch someone working a dog and you like what you see,” Auzqui said. “For me, that’s someone working a dog that is listening sharply. It’s a team thing, there’s no yelling or screaming. I talk to my dogs like I talk to anyone else, there’s no yelling or anything like that. So, find someone that you resonate with, get help from them, and be patient and have fun. Don’t force anything, it’s not about making the dog do anything it’s about helping the dog find his best self.”
When asked about her wins, Auzqui humbly says that it is her dogs that have had a the success and that she is just there to provide guidance to them. "I guess my success is not only talented dogs, but also the wonderful people that let me partner on the dogs. They say it takes a village, and my husband is absolutely number one on the support crew. He keeps me in the right vehicle, whatever I need to trial with, horse trailer, dog box, he makes sure that I have it. He stays home with my other dogs while I’m on the road, which is priceless. And countless number of friends that have given me advise or help throughout the years. There’s no way I could do it by myself, it’s definitely a team thing,” Auzqui said. Wendy lives with her husband, John, on their ranch east of Clearmont, Wyoming with their 12 dogs, herd of livestock, and a handful of horses.
Want to check out a stock dog trial near you? Check out the Mountain States Stock Dog Association at https://mountainstatesstockdog.com. Be sure to look for Auzqui and her team of dogs and support crew at these and other stock dog trials across the country.