Robyn Taylor from the Armidale Dog Training Club and her team of agility dogs recently returned from a highly successful campaign at the 2012 National Agility Championships held at the Sydney Equestrian Centre last week.
There were over 6500 entries and Robyn and her four dogs came away with three gold, five silver and two bronze medals.
Robyn has competed in agility for over 10 years and was overjoyed at how well her best mates performed.
“I am so proud of how well my dogs performed against some of the best dogs and handlers from across Australia,” said Robyn.
Getting a dog to perform agility at the elite level takes years of training.
“You can’t start a dog in agility until they are about 18 months old. I start my pups at an early age, just getting them to follow me around; this is what you tend to want them to do in agility.
“For an event like this I took my dogs out about a month before, to get them really fit. We did a lot of hill work and they followed me around on my horse.
“My oldest dog ‘Tamewynette’ is a Koolie cross, she is 10 years old and will be retiring at the end of the year, after having a brilliant career.
“Our other dogs are ‘Totullyorsum’ a Kelpie Cross, ‘Tori’ a Pomeranian cross Poodle and my youngest ‘Tonic’ a locally bred Kelpie from Uralla.”
Working dogs are mostly suited to agility, however Robyn believes that any dog can do it.
“My little Pomeranian cross Poodle, who competed in the Australian Championships, has beaten Border Collies, she is very fast across the ground, she think she is a Border Collie,” said Robyn.
For more information on the Armidale Dog Training Club, visit www.armidaledogtraining.com.au
Story: Jo Harrison
