Dog agility course instructor Laurie Williams watches Buster, a Labradoodle, jump through a tire. Dogs are coaxed through the obstacles with treats at first, then respond to both voice commands and body language from their handlers.

A Jack Russell terrier named Ding finishes walking through weave poles to be rewarded with a treat (from owner Laura Mooney) during a dog agility lesson. Dogs who go through the poles straight get the best times.

Beverly Malzahn leads her cairn terrier, Charlie, over a jump. At 6 months old and very much a puppy, Charlie is one of the youngest dogs in the class.

Charlie, a cairn terrier, makes his way through a tunnel during a dog agility class held at Calypso Kennels in Stafford County.

Big dogs, little dogs all have a ball learning to run through tunnels and jump through tires. Stafford County trainer offers dog agility classes for owners who want to compete or just want to have fun.

By LUCIA ANDERSON

Date published: 2/27/2005

REYA DIDN'T LIKE that long yellow tube. The Doberman pinscher was almost too tall to fit inside, and the other end was 15 feet away. She'd run up to the opening with her owner, Joanna Lewis, but as soon as Lewis dropped the leash to run down the outside of the tunnel, Freya would turn around and come back out.

This was Freya's second dog agility training class, and it took three tries to get her to run all the way through the tunnel. Once she got the hang of it, though, she was zipping through it with great enthusiasm.

"This is dogs doing what dogs are meant to do--run, jump," said instructor Laurie Williams. She's been giving private agility lessons for the past four years, and is now offering the training on a group basis.

Dog agility is a popular competitive sport, with a national association (United States Dog Agility Association) and televised events on Animal Planet, ESPN and National Geographic channels.

The dogs are timed as their handlers send them through a variety of obstacles--tunnels, jumps, ramps, teeter-totters, weave poles and the like. They get points taken off if they don't complete the course correctly. Biting the judge or leaving the ring also bring demerits.

Dog agility began in England in 1978 as an intermission entertainment at the Crufts International Dog Show. It has since grown to international competitions. The USDAA was organized in 1986.

Williams, who lives in Stafford's Garrisonville area, started agility training with her own dogs seven or eight years ago as a diversion from their obedience training. She has been teaching dogs since she was a 10-year-old 4-H member in Allentown, Pa., with a beagle-dachshund mix named Mamie.

"She won everything I ever entered her in," Williams said.

She's always had at least one dog ever since, breeding and showing them. Right now she has three Maltese, a Dalmatian and a Pharoah hound.

She got the idea of offering agility classes because, she said, "I wanted to bring things here for dog enthusiasts."

There weren't any opportunities in the county for dogs and their owners to have fun together, she said. Sure, there were things in Richmond or Silver Spring, Md., but, "People get home after a long commute, they don't want to get back on 95 to work their dogs," she said.

Date published: 2/27/2005