Photo by Vince Fedoroff
SPECIAL DELIVERY 鈥� Rook deviates from the plan and fetches a cone instead of running the course in the Whitehorse Woofers dog agility trials on Sunday.
Whitehorse Woofers display ability and agility
The Whitehorse Woofers hosted a North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC) trial this past weekend at the dog field behind the Takhini Arena.
The Whitehorse Woofers hosted a North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC) trial this past weekend at the dog field behind the Takhini Arena.
Formed in 1993, NADAC sanctions agility trails for affiliate clubs across North America.
The local club also had visitors from the Outside joining in on the trails, with two people from Fort McMurray, one from Edmonton and one from Juneau making the journey.
Ten local participants took part.
"Everyone had a great time and so did the dogs,鈥� said Woofers member Joanne Organ in an email to the Star.
"They are always so excited to run the course.鈥�
The courses led the dogs through a timed obstacle run and displayed the ability of the dogs and handlers to work together.
Three courses were set up, each of them containing three levels of difficulty ranging from novice to elite.
To get a clean run, dogs had to complete each obstacle in the course in a particular order and under a certain amount of time.
The dogs had to be precise, if bars are knocked over on jumps and if any equipment is missed and or used unsafely, penalties are awarded
If the dogs and handlers are able to execute three cleans runs, they are awarded a title at their respective level.
The level of skill on display varied with some members working their way through qualifying runs while others took home titles.
The dogs run off leash and have only the voice of the handler and their body movement to guide them.
Organ said a course favourite amongst the dogs was the tunneller, composed entirely of different tunnels that allow the dogs to run full tilt without slowing down.
The Woofers, along with several other local dog clubs, are still in the process of finding a suitable indoor replacement to host their events in the winter months.
City council announced earlier in August that they are standing by their decision to keep dogs out of the Takhini Arena.
After being a granted an extension last January to continue their use of the arena, the city declined a request to allow the clubs to use the facility for another year.
The Woofers currently do not have any further agility events scheduled.
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Comments (1)
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Kim Campbell on Sep 4, 2012 at 6:23 am
Awesome. Agility done right where the dog is a participant. Please those of you in Whitehorse and area, speak out AGAINST the Humane Society sponsoring Brad Pattison once again coming up and teaching people how to drag dogs up over parking barriers, benches and jerk on the dogs leashes pulling their front feet off the ground to force the dog to sit, not to mention the way he teaches people to jerk hard on a collar, and pull along a reluctant dog/puppy.
YOU KNOW that isn't how dogs should be treated.
Please for the sake of the dogs, and the people who will likely end up getting bitten one day for treating dogs so horribly.Surely there must be a way for them to raise money that doesn't include methods debunked decades ago?
Kim