People of Pantex: Anne Marie Wilkerson
Information Release Office Lead Anne Marie Wilkerson is a self-described “reformed competitive horse-showgirl.” While horses may have been her obsession early on, it is the Australian shepherd dogs that she grew up with as a child on the farm that play such a big part of her life today.
“We've had this family of dogs since I was an infant, and I decided in 2012 that I wanted this puppy my parents raised named Lightning,” she said. “Australian shepherds are highly productive, versatile dogs that are driven to please their owners and are very task oriented. And like me, they crave a lot of structure, which is probably why I enjoy the breed like I do.”
Structure is cornerstone to Wilkerson’s position at Pantex, where she and her team ensure documents are examined thoroughly to prevent the release of sensitive information. Wilkerson’s experience at fact gathering and naturally inquisitive mind have come in handy as she thoroughly researches the bloodlines of her dogs. Lightning’s lineage can be traced back to the original Australian shepherds on both his mother’s and father’s sides. In order to save the bloodline of the dogs her family had for generations, Wilkerson established a kennel, Code Red, with the Australian Shepherd Club of America. Her goal is to breed the dogs to be structurally correct to meet breed standards, while preserving their brain power.
“Australian shepherds are smart. They can learn up to 3,000 words and are very instinctive animals,” she noted. “They’re able to perform almost any task that you want them to, whether it be working your cattle, bringing your chickens up, or asking them to perform in shows for fun. These dogs can achieve all the tasks you give them.”
Wilkerson’s competitive nature eventually led her to showing the dogs from her kennel, Code Red. She craves competition and strives for excellence with each run she does with her dogs. Though she grew up showing horses, she finds that dogs are much easier to haul around. And she has developed close friendships with many of the people she has met at competitions around the country.
“I crave the competition and I love the people who go to the shows,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of good-hearted people who share my love of dogs and love showing them as much as I do. It’s a great community of which to be a part because they all want to see you succeed.”
Though fun is the primary goal of competing for Wilkerson, winning titles for her dogs is a close second. The more titles behind each dog’s name, the more the dog has proven what it can do. Lightning, who passed away in 2022, has a legacy of winning that is continuing through his daughter, Ritzy (or her official registered name: Code Red’s Initial Public Offering).
Wilkerson and her husband have a daughter, named Claire, who is growing up with Ritzy’s puppies that arrived not long after she did. Wilkerson plans to teach Claire to compete as a junior handler with these dogs in both the Australian Shepherd Club of America’s Agility and Stock Championship Program.
“Staying close to this line of dogs is very much a family task for me since I’ve had them all my life,” she said. “I don't have a particular puppy picked out for Claire, but she will be raised with this herd of dogs, and it's interesting to see how they interact with her.”
"It is a constant puzzle as to how I communicate with my dogs. It is all about managing personalities —whether it be verbally or with my body language. In order to be an effective leader and trainer, I have to be flexible in my approach and tailor my approach to the individual dog.”
While it requires a considerable amount of time and effort to raise, care for, and train them, the joy Wilkerson—and now her young daughter—get from her Australian shepherds makes it all worthwhile.
“It’s a second job. It is a lot of hard work, and a lot people can't or won’t do it,” she said. “But I'm passionate about saving the breed, about saving and maintaining the Australian shepherd. So it’s well worth it to me.”
To find out more about Wilkerson and her dogs, watch this video.