Power pooches: Owners, dogs form bond on agility courses

[Cassiepeia]

BY BREUSE HICKMAN
floridatoday.com

When Marie Davino and her partner, Ricky, hit the obstacle course, it's like they are skating together.

"It's like we get in a zone and we become such a team," Davino says. "It's almost indescribable when you can predict each other's moves in a split second."

Ricky is a Sheltie, and a champion when it comes to agility competition.

But Davino -- who teaches dog agility courses at Mikamar Training in her Palm Bay home -- says she doesn't do it because of awards.

"Even in competition, you can have so much fun with your dog," she says. "And I would always focus on having a fun time with my dog and never worry about getting ribbons."

Agility training isn't just a competitive sport for purebreds. It's opened up to include dogs of all sizes and speed capabilities. Any mutt with nimble feet may apply.

Many owners forgo competitions, opting to focus on taking part in a fun sport with their dog.

And, yes, it is a sport. Ask handlers who exit the course area panting in time with their four-legged charges.

"Even if you are not going to compete, it gives the dog a job -- something to do where they can please you," says Mari Hiltz, who plans to enter Sydnie, her Bishon Frise, into competitions. "For the owner, it's all about getting the dog to understand what it is you want them to do. They don't understand English. So you become more aware with how the dog relies on cues from your body."

For Hiltz, the reward comes from seeing her dogs have fun and grow less fearful.

"It's fabulous to watch a dog that may have been timid or shy gain confidence," she says.

Even though the heat was on during a recent Thursday morning demonstration, it was difficult to follow Secret, Candi Pearse's Corgy, as he plowed through above-ground tunnels and zigzaged through 12 weave poles at Rockledge's Barkingham Palace.

He's a little dog, and Pearson adjusted the course to match his height. During his first try, he did well up until the end, when he accidentally knocked off a bar he was supposed to jump over.

He went through the course perfectly the second time around.

This sort of showing off takes time and patience. During training sessions, the bars that dogs jump over are sometimes filled with sand, giving it a texture that doesn't feel good to a dog's wayward foot.

It's a challenge to get a dog to a point where it confidentially can jump and run through the paces.

"But the real challenge is breaking humans of their bad habits," says Pearce, Barkingham Palace's co-owner. "The dogs rely a lot not on what we say with our words but what we say with our bodies."

It's for that reason that Barkingham instructor Tracy Frampton prefers dogs and owners who don't have extensive obedience training.

"In obedience, the dog always walks on the left side," Frampton says. "In agility, the dog needs to work both sides of your body."

What keeps agility fun for handler and dog is that the course always changes.

"The goal is not to pattern the dog where the dog can simply learn the course," Frampton says. "The goal is for the dog to read your body language and understand what you say."

Because of the obstacles, dogs get to exercise a little brain power as well.

"Most dogs like to figure out the puzzle you are making them work out," Frampton said. "Life is more interesting when you have challenges."

To hear Suzanne Clark tell it, it was her dog Katie's idea to take up agility training.

While attending doggy day care at Barkingham Palace, Clark says Katie longed to play on the agility field with the other dogs and had a natural desire to run through tunnels.

As soon as she was a year old, Clark signed up for courses.

"We have fun together," says Clark, who leads Katie with verbal cues and hand gestures from her wheel chair. "For Katie, it's all about playtime, and she loves the equipment. She's really a spoiled dog."