Sarah Nigbor

I never had a dog growing up, so watching my kids with their Bagle hound Trapper brings me great joy. This little Beagle/Basset mix is spoiled rotten and the sweetest, cuddliest dog I’ve ever seen. He is definitely king of the castle with multiple toys, blankets and sleeps in bed with a child each night on a rotating basis.

I am also a huge supporter of Pierce County 4-H. I was in Cloverleaf club as a child and loved it. I showed rabbits, but that was the extent of my animal projects. My daughter has shown rabbits for several years now and has loved it. She takes great pride in coming up with a unique costume each year of the Rabbit Costume project and even won grand champion last year with her sunflower/bee combo.

Because she loves the Rabbit Project so much, this year she decided to give the Dog Project a try. I’ll admit I was apprehensive. Trapper is cute but after all, he’s a stubborn hound who is easily distracted by his nose. How on earth was she going to get him to perform dog agility, which results in the dog being led around an obstacle course by their owner. When I potty-trained Trapper, it took months of perseverance to get him to learn.

These past few weeks watching Dog Project Leader Hilary Boyer and her skilled volunteers lead the classes at the new Overdale Canine Sports training facility in Spring Valley has been so much fun. The classes range in ability from beginner (on-leash) and master (off-leash). If anything will teach Carolina perseverance, it’s teaching a Basset mix how to do an obstacle course. Bassets aren’t particularly motivated by treats, so we’re lucky the Beagle in him is. The lure of tasty nuggets led him and his nose around the course, over jumps with his stumpy little legs, through tunnels and up ramps. I was astounded. They were doing it.

This past weekend the Dog Project leaders held two dog agility shows with opportunities to qualify (moving to the next class). Since Carolina’s softball tournament was cancelled due to rain, she was able to participate in both shows (her brother wasn’t so lucky – his baseball tournament was still on in the neverending rain). She was terrified that Trapper would have a bout of stubbornness, especially since treat use was not allowed. This is where their training would come in.

In order to qualify, they had to complete their course in 60 seconds, with five seconds being added for each mistake. Imagine my surprise when Trapper flew through the first time in 41 seconds! He only hesitated at one jump and Carolina accidentally tugged on his leash to pull him over it, which you’re not supposed to do. Carolina was overjoyed with her beautiful qualifying ribbon and her third-place finish in her class.

The next day, Trapper completed the course in 53 seconds and only messed up once, when he decided to get off a platform before his five seconds were up. This time, he was first in his class, so more ribbons were added to Carolina’s collection.

Many dogs qualified and did really well. I especially admired the kids whose dogs didn’t perform as planned. None of them lost their cool and all of them saw it through until the end, even if their dog decided to ignore all commands and run around the arena like a kid in a candy store. I had to laugh at the purebred Basset Hound who qualified the first day, but sat his butt down emphatically before the ramp on Day 2, refusing to go up it. He just wasn’t in the mood that day I guess. One Golden Retriever ran around the course like it was his personal playground, refusing to listen to his handler. Eventually they made it through and the crowd cheered.

Thank you so much to Boyer and the Pierce County Dog Project Committee for all they do for the 4-H kids. Just watching the classes and competitions, I have learned so much.