The world of the dog performance show is coming to Kent County, courtesy of a group of local canine admirers.
But this won’t be a hoity-toity presentation with a script lifted from the Westminster Kennel Club’s dog show. This will be a much more entertaining and, yes, fun event designed for dog lovers of all ages.
Gene Thornton, a longtime canine trainer and publicity chair for the Blue Heron Agility Dogs of Delaware, said the free show, which runs Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 13 and 14, was planned to be entertaining as well as informative.
“A trial is where dogs compete against other dogs, and there are placements as to first, second, third or fourth-place,” she said. “These are very exciting. This kind of event can take only 30 to 60 seconds for the dogs to run their course. They’re really fast.”
The event will see the animals running an obstacle-like under the direction of their owners or handlers, with American Kennel Club-certified judges. Points will be given based on the animals’ performance and how long it takes them to complete it.
“It’s a lot of fun to take part in and it’s a lot of fun to watch,” said Diane Jester, chairwoman of the event. “It’s totally different from a show like Westminster. We’re laid back, it’s not that formal or structured.
1. There will be different breeds of dogs competing, with problems based on their height and training.
“We’ve got categories from novice to expert, where the course becomes more complex,” Thornton said.” The animals will be put through an obstacle course in one of the two competition rings; the other ring will have a course of jumps and tunnels plus a setup requiring the dogs to weave in and out of a row of poles.
“It’s a very fast course,” Jester said of the latter event. “You’ll see dogs run those courses in 20 seconds or so.”
2. The courses also include problems called traps, which the dogs must avoid to earn points.
This requires close cooperation between the dog and its handler, Thornton said.
“They’ll see it right in their path and they’ll want to jump over it, but they’re not supposed to jump,” she said. “The dog has to listen to its handler not to jump it.”
Some of the jumps are as low as four inches, for the really small breeds, to as high as 26 inches, she said.
