AGILE DOGS
From herding to hurdling: my favorite images from Agility Trials this past Saturday. All sizes, all breeds, dogs love agility work. Here there are the usual suspects — the brilliant Border Collies (flashing around the course so fast they’re difficult to photograph) and Australian Shepherds; but also dogs we are not inclined to think of as athletes: short-legged Corgies, the sedate Clumber Spaniel, the tiny black Schipperke (which translates to sailor in Dutch because they were bred to be barge dogs), the little curly coated PBGB (Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen), the dainty King Charles Spaniel, the serene Keeshond, saucy French Bulldog. They are joined by more likely breeds such as the Weimaraner, Vizsla, English Staffordshire Terrier, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Jack Russell Terrier, English Collie, Blue Heeler. It is glorious to see dogs running a complicated course, intense or smiling or barking, as they jump, tunnel, weave, teeter-totter, run up, over, and down a fairly steep A-frame. I have included a series of photographs of dogs managing this particular task.
