Agile dogs put on show in Perry

PERRY -- Inga Petaisto's 11-year-old border collie, Poika, is a senior citizen on the dog agility circuit.

Jumping speedily over, under, around and through various obstacles is more of a young dog's game. But when Petaisto tried to retire Poika two years ago, the dog wouldn't stand for it.

"I started giving away his equipment and he cried," she said. "So I knew he still wanted to do it."

Poika has won three championships, including one in February.

Poika is one of about 150 dogs competing this weekend in a dog agility show at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry.

Dogs of a wide range of sizes and variety of breeds worked to quickly navigate courses set up in Reaves Arena. Petaisto and Poika, of Juneau, Alaska, made the farthest trip.

She said she may make another attempt at retiring him in a couple of months. But it still may not be easy, as she found out when she tried to leave the competition Friday night.

"He didn't want to leave," she said. "He wanted to stay and watch the other dogs."

Bill Fuqua and his Shetland sheepdog, Baron, did not have to travel so far. Fuqua is a retired Air Force KC-135 pilot who lives in Warner Robins. He also was a commercial airline pilot for 19 years.

Fuqua started doing agility dog training about 11 years ago.

"It's fun to work with the dogs," he said. "To them it's a game that they are doing with you. The second part of it is the friends. We travel all over the Southeast and everywhere you go you meet some of the same people."

He has a full agility course set up at his house. He has thought about starting a training business, but he said doing regular classes doesn't fit into his schedule. He does help people on an individual basis.

He said training the dogs is challenging and takes patience.

"It's just like anything else you learn," he said. "It's a step-by-step process."

The show is a U.S. Dog Agility Association event, put on by Sirius Dog Agility, a training center in Atlanta. The competition continues Sunday from 8 a.m. until about midafternoon and spectators are welcome.

It is a qualifier for the Southeast regional championship to be held at the fairgrounds in June as well as the national championship.

The American Kennel Club will have an agility dog show at the fairgrounds Jan. 28-31.

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Agile dogs put on show in Perry ."