Fairplex hosts four-legged friends
Campus Times
March 7, 2003
Hunter, a Bedlington Terrier, comes to the competition with the title
of No. 1 dog in agility in the country. Melody Guiver, Hunter's owner, has
known since she was a young girl looking through dog books, that she would
one day own a uniquely non-shedding Bedlington. The Bedlington, known as
a working terrier, originated in the north of England.
Obstacle courses. Excited barks. The whooping cheers as dog trainers
exiting the rings with ribbons in hands.
These were the elements encountered at an exhibition barn March 1 and
2 at Fairplex.
The Belgian Tervuren Club of Southern California hosted a dog show.
Dogs of all breeds, registered and recognized by the American Kennel
Club, were accepted into this competition of agility performance.
Dogs adopted from rescues were able to be part of these shows if they
had an Indefinite Listing Privilege number, which grants rescued dogs and
their owners access to all AKC events except conformation (breed) classes.
For the agility performance, dogs were led off-leash through an obstacle
course. This was originally modeled after the equestrian stadium jumpers'
competitions.
For new dog show watchers, it might be baffling as to why the dog handlers
take to the rings without their dogs before the competitions take place.
This is called walking the course, and dog handlers do this to familiarize
themselves with the layout of the course and come up with strategies on
how to best handle the dogs during the real runs.
A dog lover's dream, the barn was alive with activity as Golden Retrievers,
Dalmatians, Australian Shepherds, Bichon Frises and Cocker Spaniels took
to the rings and navigated jumps, tunnels and an A-frame, which is a ramp-like
structure set up in the shape of the letter A that the dogs must climb up
and descend.
Miki Shannon and her Golden Retriever, Wimsey, took a Masters Agility
Championship title, the highest agility title awarded, after Wimsey completed
her last run on Sunday.
Both dog and owner were showered with approving applause as they exited
the ring, with Wimsey carried off in Shannon's arms.
The pair competes in dog shows two weekends a month and travels as far
as Las Vegas for these competitions and also attends the national competition,
Shannon said.
MACH is achieved when 750 points and 20 Double Q's are earned.
Double Q's are earned by completing standard runs (all obstacles) and
jumper runs (jumpers, weave poles and tunnels) on the same day.
A Staffords hire Bull Terrier named Radar pranced at her owner Karyn
Daws' heals as they took a break and walked around the grounds.
Daws, an agility trainer, brought her AKC registered dogs and those
she rescued to the weekend show. One of her five dogs qualified on Saturday.
Agility is a good sport for dogs and people, Daws said. Even the dogs
that did not compete really enjoy the activity.
Pat Fraus, fellow trainer, said that training dogs in agility is also
a great way to build the dogs' confidence levels.
It took her a year to get one of the rescued dogs she works with to
be ready for agility competitions, but now the dog has really come out of
his shell, she said.
Within Novice and Excellent classes there are also A and B sublevels.
Dogs can go on to compete in Novice B or Excellent B when they have
received their Novice A and Excellent A titles.
Holly, a 3-year-old Golden Retriever, and her owner, Maggie Mascari,
completed the sixth leg of Excellent B in jumping on Sunday.
They will need 10 legs in Excellent B to receive a Masters.
There are three levels to the agility competitions: Novice, Open and
Excellent.
MACH is the championship level of agility competition, but even then,
dogs and their owners can continue into further levels of MACH.
At the end of the weekend, exhaustion sets in.
The dogs curl up in blanketed crates and handlers exchange tips on training.
Plans are made to attend the next competition.
