Denise Scanlan of Rockford decided to take a ride down to St. Charles on Saturday accompanied by a companion who didn’t talk much.
“I’ve come to this event over half a dozen times with O’Zty and my dog is in both the masters and advanced class,” Scanlan said about her canine companion as the Fox Valley Dog Training Club held its annual obedience and rally trials at the Kane County Fairgrounds over the weekend.
“I’ve been involved with dogs close to 45 years,” Scanlan said. “The best takeaway I have to share is you have to do what the dog is good at and not stress yourself over something your dog’s not going to do.”
Beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, the club held a series of competitions for dogs in a variety of categories.
Club member Loretta Lazarra, who said she was working as the chief ring steward, said the event has been going on for more than three decades and that the dog training club “is a member of the American Kennel Club and every year we have a dog show.”
“We run obedience trials. They are kind of like tests for people who train their dogs for everyday stuff and it is competition,” she said. “There are usual things like having dogs sit, heel and stay but we having agility runs and the obedience part and we now have rallies that include twists and turns and little jumps. It’s things that involve having a well-trained family pet.”
Lazarra said the event usually includes about 200 dogs and that most participants come from Illinois and Wisconsin, with others from Iowa, Michigan and Indiana.
“It all depends on how far people want to drive and compete and hopefully win prizes,” she said.
Six different forms of beginning obedience work were offered as well as six forms of “what we call the high school level – the level which includes retrieving articles and going over jumps and heeling and recall work,” she said.
“There is also the college level which involves sending your dog away from you and sitting on his own and doing directional jumping – not jumping in front of you but running off on an angle,” Lazarra said. “We have an exercise where there are three different gloves – one in each corner and one in the middle – and the dog has to pick up the one the instructor sends them to, directional retrieval like you’d find in the field.”
Saturday’s competition featured a variety of fenced-off areas where dog owners and judges put contestants through the paces.
Chris Spradlin of Wayne who attended the event said she has been involved in dog training for over 20 years and is a member of the German shepherd dog training club of Hanover Park.
“I’ve been here twice and my dog is competing is what is called ‘Utility A’ that involves a heeling pattern, walk to the end of the room, do a silent command, a scent discrimination, retrieve and more,” Spradlin explained. “The dog knows when it’s showtime. I think they sense it, there’s nerves. To me, the idea of this is to have fun. Don’t take it too seriously and do the best you can and be realistic with what you have.”
Carolyn Pearson of West Chicago brought her dog James, a golden retriever that she said was 18 months old, to the event.
“I’ve been training dogs 30-plus years. I brought my dog not to compete but just to learn how to behave at a dog show,” she explained. “I’ve been doing this since 1986 and I’ll be showing another dog today that is competing.
“As far as why I continue to do this, I enjoy the camaraderie and the people that we train and show with,” she said. “Everybody’s got a passion and they have four legs.”
Pearson said it is best to keep it simple.
“To me, what’s important is to love them and just enjoy the time together and if you have a problem … you work through it,” she said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
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