Feature Story

Agility Border Collies: One Woman's Passion

by SONDRA HOLTZMAN, Discovery Feature Writer

Cascade Discovery sat down with Carol Mann (left), a registered dental hygienist and dog lover to discuss her passion involving agility border collies.

How did you discover the world of agility? I first learned about agility on television and thought it looked like fun. We had just gotten our first border collie and had no idea what they were like. They're a working breed, so they need jobs to do to keep them happy. I took some agility lessons locally to learn more and progressively fell more and more in love with it. My dog Pete was born in 2001 so he's five and a half years old now. In 2002 I participated in a few competitions through my agility club here in Bend, so we've been competing for four years now. Our club, BAAD (Bend Agility Action Dogs) consists of about 28 members who own many different breeds dogs who participate in running agility. Let's just say I've been bitten by the bug - I could live and breathe agility every single day. It's all about forming a team with your dog. Training is only half the equation - the two of you must work well together.

Please tell our readers more about what agility is. Agility means you're on a course. The handler gets to walk the course before you running it with the dog. When it's your turn to compete, the dog has never seen the course and you guide him through certain obstacles, so there a certain direction and flow to the runs. You and your dog are timed and are accountable for any faults counted against you, so agility requires good jumping skills. It also involves what is called contact equipment. The dog has to go up an A-frame and come down touching in certain areas, making contact with their feet or even a toe in that designated area. If they land outside the area they are faulted, so the dog has criteria to navigate around the course as well. The winner is the fastest, cleanest dog. It's a lot of fun and you meet all kinds of interesting people. I think I've seen almost every breed of dog participate in competition at some point in time.

What are examples of some of the breeds of dogs who compete? Border collies and shelties make up the majority of dogs who compete. Because they're herding animals, they are extremely fast so they do extremely well. You see many other dogs, most unusual I've seen so far is a basset hound. I've only seen one in all the competitions I've been involved with. Papillons are very small dogs and do quite well in agility. The size of the dog determines how high they'll jump which can be anywhere from four to 26 inches in height.

Tell our readers about your experience with competition. There are different rules for each event. Aside from traditional agility groups like the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the USDAA (United States Dog Agility Association), more groups seem to be forming out there. Cynosport is a week-long, annual competition that takes place in November in Scottsdale, Arizona sponsored by the USDAA. They run a grand prix and a $10,000 steeple chase run that is the featured event at this competition. In order to participate, you have to qualify at other regional events during the year. This year, my dog Pete and I traveled to Colorado, California and Washington to participate in regionals. If you place first and win a grand prix in a regional run, you automatically qualify for the finals in the nationals. I'm pleased because Pete made it to the finals at Cynosport this year. He flew for the first time this year on an airplane. It was five hours of dealing with an airport versus 24 hours of driving to get down to Scottsdale for the Cynosport competition. I think flying actually helped get us into the mindset for finals - we were calmer and more relaxed. In the semi-finals, he won sixth out of 116 dogs in his jump height. He jumps the highest, 26 inches. Twelve dogs got to move on to the finals and we ended up placing last in the twelve for our final run. I felt like this year our goal was to make finals, so we competed and just enjoyed the moment for where we were. There was a full moon and a wild crowd in Scottsdale, and I'll just never forget it. It was truly a highlight for us.

Tell us more about your dog Pete. Pete is five and a half years old and he's a total natural. He's my first agility dog and has done very well from day one in agility. He seems to be able to almost look at the courses, watch other dogs run them and then learn the courses. Stephanie Morris, a trainer I work with here in Central Oregon, watched him run through all the obstacles to get to the start line of the first jump by himself. He even set himself up to begin and we both just looked at each other and went, whoa, this dog is into it. Pete loves agility and is my best friend. I've grown up with dogs my whole life and this dog reads me. He is just unbelievable. Many people comment about just how special he really is. Somehow he reads what's going on around him. Most importantly, I watch over Pete's health. He's fed a raw diet which I totally believe in. I make his dog food which consists of meat, potatoes, vegetables and fruits. I puree everything and add vitamin supplements to his food. What can I say? We make a great team.

Information: 408-7065 or cdmann@bendbroadband.com

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