Lane County’s quadruped competitors
From the the fall issue of Eugene Magazine. Okay, the restaurant and book reviews are fun, as I usually walk away with free eats or free swag, but there are definitely other perks to this lifestyle. Gotta love an interview in which I can ask someone about the strength of the average ferret and remain on-topic. I also love assignments that teach me new terms like dog fancy, or cattery. Expect both of those in all my writing from now on.
Special props to Eug Mag for the itty-bitty puppy hiking boots gracing the cover, a nice touch of whacked-out surreality for a magazine that's usually fairly restrained.
This article edited and endorsed by Velcro, my border collie.
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Caleb, a black and white border collie, corners and spins on his heels, jumping each of the 17 low, fencelike obstacles in turn, as his owner, Carolyn Hancock, indicates each challenge. A crowd is gathered in the Lane County Fairgrounds livestock pavilion on this Memorial Day for the Emerald Classic Cluster canine agility trials. Virtually all of them dog lovers, the onlookers cheer and applaud for Caleb, as they do for each of the competitors, even those dogs who simply bark and run around, ignoring the obstacles.
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Caleb’s not the fastest dog here at the trials, but Hancock, a petite, blonde woman sporting a pink sweatshirt, doesn’t seem to mind. She looks pleased as Caleb’s brief run concludes, snapping the lead to Caleb’s collar in a satisfied manner before retreating to a nearby folding chair to let the pooch cool down.
“He didn’t qualify,” she explains, but smiles as she says it. “He’s pretty smart, he’s easy to train. It’s his handler who isn’t easy to train.” Caleb, at 7 years old, has been competing for almost four years. The dog is in the Open class of agility categorizations recognized by the American Kennel Club.
No mistakes allowed
Hancock retired last year from human resources at the Good Samaritan Society, but recently returned to her position on a part-time basis, leaving her enough time to train with Caleb. This team is here to compete, but the trials also represent a chance to meet friends (both two- and four-legged) with a common interest. “It’s a great social event,” Hancock says of the trials. “You’re competing with your dog as a team,” and also fostering professional and personal connections.
One of those connections is Ronwin Ashton, Agility Trial Chairwoman for both the McKenzie Cascade Dog Fanciers and the Eugene Kennel Club, and the coordinator of today’s event. An unaffiliated club, Willamette Agility Group (WAG), also specializes in dog agility, but Ashton invests her energy in Kennel Club–sanctioned events like this one.
“Novice, Open, and Excellent are the respective levels of increasing difficulty,” explains Ashton. “Each increase in level has additional obstacles to perform, additional challenges, with less time and fewer allowed errors than the previous level. Three qualifying legs must be completed, at all levels, to advance to the next level.” If and when Hancock and Caleb do advance to the Excellent level, no mistakes whatsoever will be allowed in their performance.
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