Hundreds of dogs strut their stuff at Valley agility trials

An emphasis should always be on having fun and enjoying the sport, participants said.

By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTONVILLE — If you watched Barbara Glover’s 3-year-old dog, Ziva, you likely saw her running in circles — but definitely getting somewhere.

The animal, however, wasn’t so much determined to remove obstacles from its path as to run on, in and through them.

“[Ziva] has a mind of her own,” said Glover, who drove about 175 miles with her large gray dog from her Friendsville, Md., home to be in a dog agility competition Saturday at the Four Seasons K9 Athletic Center, 2 Painters Path, here.

The free event, which ended today, was put on by the Youngstown All-Breed Training Club and is sanctioned by the American Kennel Club. It was open to the public and ran Saturday and Sunday at the athletic center.

An estimated 200 pure-bred dogs were entered for the agility competition, which is one of the nation’s fastest growing dog sports, officials with the local club say.

Agility is an athletic event that requires training, teamwork, concentration and conditioning. In a typical agility trial, a dog follows cues from its handler through timed obstacle courses with objects such as A-frame devices, chutes, tire jumps, teeter-totters, dog walks and tunnels.

Dozens of people watched one dog and handler at a time run through a course that featured 20 such devices. With more than a touch of choreography, the dogs on cue performed feats that included skirting a table and climbing up and down the teeter-totter as their handlers ran alongside. Many participants were from the area; others came from as far away as Illinois, New York and other states.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.