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Other Agility
Cool Critters
This is Khaki, a two year old sheltie and her two
favorite exercise partners, Elsa and TJ. Kids and
Agility seem to go together very well, simply because kids can run much more effortlessly
than adults.
Khaki
is a high energy dog, and the kid members of her family, namely Elsa and TJ
work very hard to give her the high level of activity that she requires. TJ enrolled
with Khaki in my Kids' Agility class and from the first day, it became
obvious that this sport was perfect for Khaki.
When TJ's
school responsibilities make it impossible for him to work with Khaki,
his sister Elsa takes over. I am a firm believer that a well trained dog
should obey everybody in the family, and Khaki is living proof. She
performs just as beautifully for Elsa as she will for TJ (she
works for Mom and Dad too!).
This illustration was on the cover of Clean
Run Magazine. It depicts a young puppy taking his nap inside the tunnel, while
leaping through his dreams, are several of the "cool" agility dogs he saw at the
show.
At top left is Emmy,
we are very proud that she ranked #1 Boxer in AKC Agility for 1998. Emmy loves to jump and
weave, but occasionally ignores the color yellow.
At upper right is Nike,
a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel owned by Jeanne Sardo of Lakeland, Florida. Nike will fly
through a course with the happiest smile on his face, but given a choice of obstacles, he
would rather spend most of his time on the teeter.
Below Nike is Debit,
a black miniature poodle owned by John and Gayle York of West Palm Beach, Florida. Debit
is a dark blur in the agility course when working at top speed with John. Debit
is also the first poodle to earn the coveted MACH title!
The Belgian Tervuren weaving at the bottom is Crystal,
owned by Rhea and Ralph Houston of Brandon, Florida. Crystal had the distinction of going
from zero to AKC Master Excellent in only 13 months, and from zero to USDAA Masters level
in only 2 months!
Winston
and GiGi are Marie Logue's "kids". Marie, who lives in
Lakeland, Florida, has been working with them in Agility for about a year and a half, and
both Winston and GiGi are now
competing at the AKC Excellent level.
To give herself a little rest, Marie allows the "kids"
to warm up together before class. Winston and GiGi
work as a unit, taking all the obstacles together as if they
were attached. They work so well as a team that sometimes we wish that they could show as
a team as well. They even touch the contacts together!
If Obedience Trials have a special Brace Class, why not a similar
class in Agility? Think of the challenges and possibilities! We could call it Agility
Tandem (or should it be Tandem Agility?)
 This is Gussie. You don't see too
many Rottweilers doing agility, probably because of their heavy frame. Gussie,
however, was very agile and loved to do the sport with her partner, Jack Bonecutter
of Pasadena, Maryland.
When asked about Gussie's
titles, Jack modestly replied that he didn't think about titles, he was just out to have a
good time with his best friend, even if Gussie had quite a
few titles next to her name.
Besides being an "Agility Cool
Critter", Gussie, who had a very gentle nature, enjoyed
socializing with anybody who was game to getting a big sloppy kiss, specially kids. Jack
lost his friend Gussie last year.
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