Agility Event Report-Summer Issue 2006

AGILITY EVENT REPORT
By Kathryn Ananda-Owens, Northfield, Minnesota, USA

On June 28, 2006, demonstrating perseverance, fortitude, and an uncanny resemblance to the Energizer BunnyÔ, Aldebaran Tisla (Viva) became the first Icelandic Sheepdog to complete the Clean Run Ultimate Weave Pole Challenge, establishing a breed record of 20.84 seconds at an event sponsored by the Agile Canines Training School in Burnsville, Minnesota.


A descendant of Canadian ISD Pineridge Elska, Viva began her agility pursuits by happy accident at a local puppy class, one that introduced elements of foundation training in order to foster trust between dog and handler. On the day the tunnel was introduced, Viva nonchalantly trotted through it, collected her treat, and immediately ran back to the opening of the tunnel, staunchly refusing to let the next puppy have its turn. Having thus declared tunnels in particular and agility in general to be her passion, she never looked back. Her first trial, a CPE event on New Year’s Day 2005, was nonetheless chosen due to the absence of weave poles in the novice standard class. How far we have come!

The Ultimate Weave Pole Challenge, conceived and sponsored by Clean Run magazine, is a competition designed to crown the fastest dogs to weave sixty weave poles in each breed or height category. It is intended to be a recreational event and not an event for which handlers specifically train. Indeed, those who actively trained for the event in Minnesota as often as not saw their dogs pop out of the weaves with only one or two poles remaining, to the collective groans of the audience. For a handler whose dog had not succeeded at weaving twelve poles as recently as January of this year, staring at ten contiguous sets of poles running the length of a soccer field was more than a little daunting. Would Viva even enter correctly? Would she make it past a dozen poles?

She did. In fact, as a team, we seemed to get a rhythm going, what with me issuing a fresh "Weave!" command with each new set of poles, and Viva exhaling audibly each time she wove left. In the silence of the indoor arena, I felt like a coxswain. With each passing pole, my respect increased for the loyalty and resolve of my teammate. She kept going, and going, and going. Somewhere in the range of forty poles, I remember thinking, "She may actually do this!" And then immediately tried to put the thought out of my head, recalling a recent trial where my body language, anticipating success, had pulled Viva out of a set of twelve poles with one to go. We finished. We finished?!? Somewhere, someone announced a new world record for Icelandic Sheepdogs.

Life is back to normal now, after an article in the local paper and a spate of is-this-the-dog-that-completed-the-sixty-weave-pole-challenge moments of brief fame at area trials. We’re working on our weave entries, since they’re not so hot, and I’ve promised Viva she won’t have to try to defend her record. Her time wasn’t extremely fast, so consider letting your furry weave-a-maniac in on the fun the next time there’s a Clean Run Ultimate Weave Pole Challenge in your neck of the woods. You too could come away with a world record! Just remember to save an extra good treat for your teammate – it’s a long way to weave.

P.S. In the weeks since Viva set the CRUWPC breed record, she subsequently became the first Icelandic Sheepdog to earn AKC titles in agility. Further news of her exploits may be found at www.agilityspaz.blogspot.com.