Obstacles fail to derail these dogs

Charlotte Wenger and Luke negotiate the obstacle course. (Photos by ZACHARY KAUFMAN/The Columbian)

Dog handlers walk the agility course to familiarize themselves with the obstacles before the start of competition inside the Horse Arena at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds during the Portland Agility Club trials on Sunday.

Charlotte Wenger of Vancouver gives Luke, her 13-year-old basenji, a turkey meatball treat after his race through the agility course at the Portland Agility Club trials on Sunday.

Waiting in 40-degree weather for her dog’s turn, Charlotte Wenger pondered how the basenji would fare at the agility competition.

“He’ll either be brilliant or very entertaining,” Wenger guessed. “If he’s attentive, he’ll probably finish in 35 to 45 seconds. If he’s creative, it could be longer. He’s been doing agility since he was 4.”

“He” would be 13-year-old Luke, a perky black and white fellow.

Wenger, 44, of Vancouver’s McLoughlin Heights, was among 257 dog handlers who braved the weekend cold in the Horse Arena of the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds for the Portland Agility Club trials.

Those dogs ranged from papillons and Swedish Vallhunds to a Great Dane.

“The dogs that are the crowd favorites are the border collies, German shepherds and poodles,” said Barbara Persson, the trial secretary. But she said the shelties and Jack Russell terriers shouldn’t be counted out.

The object is to race through an obstacle course with few or no mistakes. Some dogs Sunday breezed through the cold with nary an error. Others got waylaid, taking wrong turns and doing their share of sniffing the ground. A few had to be picked up by their handlers and carried off.

Why does Wenger bring her dogs to these contests? “Cause Luke loves it. He absolutely loves it,” she said.

“I love the teamwork,” Wenger added. “The teamwork with the dog is phenomenal, You have to communicate with the dog to get around the course.”

Sounding like a movie director, Wenger said she tells Luke, “Have fun and work with me.”

Wenger, who does accounting work for OHSU, also owns 3-year-old Sam, also a basenji, and a 14-year-old rat terrier, Madji. She is particularly proud of Luke and said he is the No. 2-ranked agility basenji in the country. Formerly competing in the top category, called excellent, Luke on Sunday was entered in the novice preferred class.

Think your dog is agile? Wenger gives agility lessons through K-9 Agility of Vancouver that cost $90 to $100 for six to eight weeks. But realize: “They need to have some basic obedience (classes) first.”

Dogs at the trial displayed varying degrees of obedience. Many gave their owners worshipful stares, perhaps hoping for a dog treat.

The 146-yard novice course Sunday had 16 obstacles: jumps, tunnels, an A frame to negotiate, a dog walk, weave poles — and that toughie, the pause table, where dogs must get down on their bellies for five seconds.

And finally, it was time for Luke to race.

He broke well, cleared the first jump with ease, had a tad of trouble with the weave poles but looked the veteran he is. Until the pause table.

“We lost some points there because he wanted to hover (instead of putting his belly on the table) and hovering doesn’t count,” a winded Wenger said at the end of a run of 53.83 seconds. He finished second in class.

“He had a couple of bobbles. He didn’t want to go down on the cold table,” she said.

But it was a love-in after the competition between dog and owner as Wenger popped turkey-meatball treats into Luke’s mouth.

“You’re a good boy,” Wenger said.

“He’s a great dog,” she said, beaming.