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By Art Jester - Lexington Herald-Leader Staff Writer

130 dogs compete in 'Olympics' benefit for Woodford Humane Society.

VERSAILLES - Helen O'Leary is a long way from Tipperary, but she's made a home for herself in the Bluegrass -- and a home for a whole bunch of dogs, too.

One of them is Stiffler, a 5-year-old Lab-greyhound who eagerly jumped through a hoop on the obstacle course yesterday at the 2006 Canine Olympics at Woodford County Park.

"This is my 13th foster dog," said O'Leary, a native of Tipperary, Ireland, who runs a doggie day-care center for workers at Ashford Stud horse farm. "He's another rescue case."

Lying by her side was another of her foster dogs. Tiger, a 2-year-old American Staffordshire mix, was found with an injured front left leg that had to be amputated.

"We had no choice," she said.

O'Leary is on the board of the Woodford Humane Society, a non-profit that staged its 20th annual Canine Olympics on a golden afternoon yesterday, with clear blue skies, a 70-degree temperature and a slight breeze that gave a hint of the autumn chill to come.

More than 130 dogs were entered in one or more of the Canine Olympics' 10 events. The event seemed to be an even bigger thrill for the dogs than for their owners. The pooches of all sizes and varieties got to stare and bark at other canines -- and, if the signals were friendly, cozy up for some getting-to-know-you sniffing around.

The Canine Olympics is a fund-raiser for the Woodford Humane Society, and the spirit of the event seemed best expressed by Katie Graham, a 15-year-old sophomore at Woodford County High School who had entered her 2-year-old Shetland sheepdog, Dash.

"This is all about helping dogs who have loving homes come out and help dogs who don't have one," she said.

Diane Kops, executive director of the humane society, said: "We have more than 200 animals waiting for homes -- dogs, cats, kittens and puppies; big dogs, little dogs and every breed of cats."

"We are blessed with getting foster homes," Kops said. "Through the first eight months this year, we placed 90 percent of our animals in homes."

All that said, this was still the Canine Olympics, and some of the Olympians deserve special mention.

You've got to admire Kaitlyn Wooton's 3-year-old basset hound, Sarge, who has developed the trick of singing. A singing dog?

"You take a natural trait like barking and use a clicker," Wooton explained. "After they learn it's OK to bark with that clicker, you give them a treat. It just kind of evolves into a trick."

Yesterday, the floppy-eared crooner barked, or howled, Do Your Ears Hang Low? Wooton said his repertoire also includes You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog and Mr. Mom.

"He's on my cell phone, barking," Wooton added. "He's my ring tone."

Then, there was a Dalmatian, Dozer, age 4. Your heart had to go out to Dozer. Like many other dogs, he was entered to run a dash almost 50 yards through a path set off by farm gates made of metal bars.

Dozer got close to halfway through the race, abruptly hit his brakes and slid through an opening in a gate. Then he took off -- fast. His owner, Kathleen Stewart of Versailles, was standing at the finish line. She thought she'd never see him again. But he turned back and ran to his owner.

"I think he didn't see me at the end and was scared," Stewart said.

Lydia the Tattooed Lady didn't win the prize for friendliest dog, but she was still one of the friendliest dogs there. Lydia, 3, who has a big brown spot around her right eye, is part Dalmatian, part rat terrier, said her owner, John Ward.

She's also a therapy dog -- a canine volunteer, so to speak, who visits patients in nursing homes and hospitals. She's admirably suited for the task, Ward said.

"It's just her love of people," he said.

Lydia stood beside him as he recalled the day he got her from the Woodford Humane Society. She was 9 months old.

"She winked at me," he said, looking down at Lydia, "and that was it -- wasn't it, honey?"