National Agility Competition - Gryphon's Success

Linda Howie, owner of Gryphon sent me these pics that her neighbour took and wrote me the following. They are from the agility competition on the Aug long weekend, held here in Ottawa.

Gryphon had some top notch runs this weekend. He came in 5th for the 16" specials on Saturday in his jumpers run and 3rd place on Sunday! Because of his height Gryphon should jump 22". He had a small nagging injury so the decision was made to drop a jump height putting him in "specials" at age 8yrs.

Gryphon & his house buddy Duncan

When Gryphon arrived in my home one of the first things he did at age 10 weeks was to leap over a little wooden structure I had put up to barricade him in the kitchen. I said to myself "Yes, he will be a great agility dog!" He has been just amazing. He is fast and and has tons of drive. He absolutely LOVES to work and agility is his favourite! So for us to finally arrive at the AAC nationals and do well was an exciting occasion! Certain jump heights such as 16" and 10" are dominated by our favourite breed, the sheltie. They are great to train and excel at the sport. The Canadian world agility team has many shelties who will compete in Austria this October. If a person wants to seriously compete, ( it was not my plan but my great dogs led me down this path) it is important to have a puppy that has sound structure, a confident personality and the drive to work. Other shelties who are maybe not as sure of themselves, will gain confidence through the sport and love the activity and stimulation it provides. The bond between the handler and the dog becomes very close, it is a very fulfilling relationship.

Gryphon in the Steeplechase