More than 150 dogs and their handlers descended upon Kingston for the city’s annual Agility Association of Canada Dog Trials.
The trials happen every Canada Day long weekend in Lake Ontario Park and attract people from all across the province and Quebec, says Christine Mandy, event organizer and member of the Kingston group called The Agility Connections.
Handler Bonnie Lambert travelled to Kingston from the Greater Toronto Area for the weekend, along with her 11-year-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Fiddle.
“He’s got his Agility Championship of Canada, he has some other titles along the way — I can’t name them all because I don’t keep track,” Lambert said.
“To me, it’s not about the titles. It’s about enjoying the friendships, having a friendship with the dog, being a team with the dog and playing with your dog.”
Dogs are divided into categories depending on experience, age and size and earn points for each obstacle completed correctly.
Mandy says it takes roughly two years to train and get a dog comfortable with agility obstacles.
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Any breed of dog is welcome to compete and many of the competitors are often rescues.
“It’s unbelievably rewarding,” said Mandy through tears as she thinks about the experience training her own rescue dog in the sport of agility.
“I have a dog that I just competed with a couple of events ago and she was basically feral when I got her. She had zero confidence and zero social skills, and now she comes out here and she’s so happy.
“That’s the reward”
As for Fiddle, Lambert suspects this will be his last summer competing before retirement. She says there’s no better way to develop a strong bond with your pet.
“It’s a journey with the dog,” Lambert said.
“The titles and ribbons are wonderful, but it allows me to be out with my dogs, so that’s what’s important to me.”