Duke Does Agility

Duke has received the following agility titles:

NADAC: V-NATCH, TN-E, TG-E, O-WV-N, Outstanding Novice Versatility

AKC: AX, AXJ

USDAA: APD, AAD

Duke also has a novice obedience title from AKC (CD - Companion Dog) and received the Versatile Norwegian Elkhound certificate from the Norwegian Elkhound Association of America.

Photo by Tien Tran Photography

Hi,

My name is Duke. I don't have one of those fancy names like some other dogs. If I did, my mom says it would be Silver Streak of Lightening. I think that has something to do with how I run everywhere I go. Hey! Walking just takes too long.

My mom and dad adopted me from the Humane Society of Tucson in December 1994. I was 8 months old and my mom thought I was the most cute, cuddly ball of fur she had ever seen. She had never heard of agility before she adopted me, so I introduced her to the sport. I could run like the wind and blast through the dog door at 90 mph. I could vault the furniture and walk across the back of the couch like the kitties. If the kitties could do it, why not me, too?

My dad took me to a couple of obedience classes where I learned some english words like, sit, down, come, and heel. Come and down were really hard. It took a while, but I finally figured out that I was supposed to stop at my dad's feet when he said "come" instead of blast past him. And I wasn't supposed to stop by bouncing off his knees, either. Sheesh! So many rules!

When I was 3, my mom found out that there was a "real" dog sport called agility. Similar to my own form, but there were lots more obstacles. We signed up for a class and it was the most fun I ever had in my life! There were treats galore! Everything I did got me a treat. I loved it so much, I would bark and bark and bark all the time I was running. Sometimes I had to bark at my mom to tell her to hurry up. She was so slow!

After a few months, we started going to agility shows. That is even more fun than class! Everybody watches you and they clap and cheer when you do good. Sometimes they laugh if you do something funny. I really like to make everyone laugh. And you get treats. Treats for warming up, treats for finishing a course, and treats for getting back in your crate. What a deal! This is a video of me practicing in my training area. My mom built it just for me! It's a 2 MB QuickTime (download viewer) file so be prepared to wait if you don't have a fast internet connection. I don't know what internet connection is, but I sure do HATE to wait!

Here are a couple of more pictures of me doing agility. I think you'll like them.

Photo by Kathleen Schafer, Pup Art.

Photo by Joetta Whitehill.

And here are some of my silly pictures that my mom took for a Halloween costume contest to raise money for the John Nelsen Moosedog Rescue Fund.

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Comments or suggestions? Send email to valeryt@u.arizona.edu

This page was last updated on November 1, 2004.