This weekend’s AKC Agility
Competition will be a first for Hood River
By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
August 29, 2007
Carol McInnes clapped her hands together to
encourage her Standard Poodle, Toby, to bend and sway through a
series of weave poles.
The Hood River woman was training recently at
the Odell home of Sue Gaulke. Both women have two dogs each that
they run in dog agility competitions. The poles are just one of
several props they practice with to get ready.
This Labor Day weekend, for the first time,
they won’t have to travel very far to compete. That is because
Hood River County will be the site for its first American Kennel
Club Dog Agility competition at the fairgrounds in Odell.
The Columbia River Agility Club chose Odell
after Gaulke recommended it. She said the club leaders were very
impressed after seeing photos of the fairground facility.
Dog agility meets test a dog and handler’s
abilities to communicate as the dog runs the course according to
its handler’s directions.
“Right there, Toby, right there,” McInnes
said.
She pointed to a portion of the teeter-totter
for Toby to step on. Agility contests require the dog to make
contact with certain portions of the props or they lose points.
Each competitor doesn’t see the layout of the
course until the morning of the event. Then they have only 10
minutes to walk through and figure out their strategies.
Dog agility has several levels of difficulty
including novice, open, excellent and masters. There are two
classes in competition, standard and jumpers with weaves. Dogs
compete against each other based on their height.
The standard class includes contact objects
such as the dog walk, the A-frame and seesaw. Each of the
obstacles has a safety zone on which the dog must place at least
one paw. The second class has only jumps, tunnels and weaves
poles.
McInnes and Gaulke are both at the excellent
level, which means they don’t lose points but simply disqualify
if their animals make a mistake.
“You and your dog are competing for time,”
Gaulke said.
She got into the sport after her daughter,
Lindsey, graduated from high school. She had been in 4-H dog
obedience with their now 11-year-old Shetland sheepdog, Calvin.
Lindsey had already achieved a lot in dog agility and Gaulke
said that put her on the fast track right away.
“I was a beginner thrown in with a super-fast
champion dog,” she said. “Calvin lives for this, so that is one
reason I took it up. But I also wanted to compete.”
Four years ago Gaulke took on a new dog,
Indyman, whom she also began working with in dog agility. She
said he has learned a lot from training and watching Calvin,
whom he could do well to emulate. That is because Calvin has
earned two master agility championships, or MACHs, and Gaulke is
intent on earning a third.
“When a person earns their MACH, the whole
ring just stops at an event,” said McInnes. “It gets so quiet
because it’s such a big deal.”
To earn such a championship, the competitor
must get 20 perfect days. Those are earned when they compete in
20 double-Qs, or classes where they are perfect, and earn 750
speed points.
“A speed point is the difference between the
time required for the course and how much quicker your dog can
run it,” said Gaulke.
The winner takes a victory lap with a huge
rosette ribbon and final pole from their jump, which has been
autographed by all the competitors. McInnes admires the
achievement but readily admits her dogs, Toby, and KC, are in it
for the fun.
“It’s something fun to do with my dogs but
once you go to a trial, you get hooked; especially once you get
that first ribbon,” McInnes said.
Her poodles have, in fact, drawn a lot of
attention for their performances — but not necessarily because
they win. McInnes said spectators love to see the two jump
because they loft over the poles, which loses time.
Both encourage spectators to turn out for the Labor Day
event, which is free and starts Aug. 31. There are a few rules
about attending, including not bringing a dog to the fairgrounds
that is not competing (see below).
