Talented pooches soar: A pair of local dogs make national agility competition
Published 11:13 am Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Kris Iverson, right and Carrie Iverson sit with their pups Diamond and Willow Tuesday evening. — Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Sisters-in-law Carrie and Kris Iverson both made the CPE Nationals dog agility competition on the same day at the same course.
For Carrie and her Australian shepherd, Willow, placing in the CPE Nationals agility competition on June 6, 7 and 8 in Lake Elmo was a huge accomplishment.
“We don’t get to [compete] that often, but yes we do [enjoy it],” Carrie said. “Willow kind of lights up when she’s out there, you can tell she really likes it.”
To make it to nationals, a dog must be a level four or higher and get 30 qualifying scores within 12 months. About 488 dogs competed at CPR Nationals. With Willow competing against about 100 dogs, Carrie said it was a huge accomplishment for her to place.
Diamond, a border collie belonging to Kris Iverson, clears the bar during a quick run Tuesday evening. Kris Iverson and Diamond and Carrie Iverson with her Australian Shepard Willow both brought home awards from a national competition.
Willow qualified in four out of nine courses, and she took first place on a colors course, where the contestant must stay on one of two close-sitting courses, and on a full house course, where the owner creates their own course with different obstacles at different point values to try to earn the most points.
“Basically your dog has to be really fast, and you have to know what you’re doing out there so you can rack up the most points,” Carrie said.
Kris, and her border collie, Diamond, took home first place in the games competition for her class and a high in standard. At 9 years old, Diamond competed in a separate class than Willow.
“[I was] very excited, it was actually something I didn’t think I would be able to do with her,” Kris said. “We decided last November to give it a shot and we were able to make it.”
Kris was excited when Carrie joined her in agility competitions. Since Kris never had a sister, when she gained a sister-in-law who enjoyed dog competitions as much as she did, she was excited to introduce her to agility.
Willow waits patiently as Carrie Iverson, left, and Kris Iverson setup a pair of obstacles Tuesday night.
Carrie and Willow were in rally-obedience for about a year, and started competing in rally competitions at about 8 months old.
Due to the scheduling, rally competition was harder for Carrie and Willow to make the shows, so they switched to agility after being introduced by Kris.
Carrie said most dogs have to train for a few years before competing, but Willow started at 8 months old. Now 4 years old, Willow has been competing in agility for about a year and a half. Since Australian Shepherds are a high energy breed that require mental and physical stimulation, agility competition has been a good fit.
Yet while Carrie enjoys the challenge of training, Kris said that is where the two differ, as she enjoys the sport aspect more. But agility competition is about more than just sport and training.
“It’s a pretty fun sport with your dog,” Kris said. “It’s kind of like learning to be a team with another species.”
Kris and Diamond were ready to compete in 2008, but Kris spent four months paralyzed in the hospital with Guillain-Barre syndrome. After she recovered, it took time for her to be able to run and train again.
“It’s pretty exciting with all that having gone on in our lives,” Kris said about competing in nationals.
This was the first time Kris and Diamond competed at the national level in agility. Even with the break, Diamond picked up her training where she left off. Kris said the only thing Diamond won’t do anymore is use the teeter equipment, similar to a teeter-totter, with no clear reason why.
Diamond received her CS-atch, Certified Specialist agility trail champion, in the beginning of May, which Kris said is about the highest award you can get in what they compete in.
Kris adopted Diamond when she lived in Colorado, but she considers her a Minnesota dog since that’s where she was raised. Kris has four dogs, including a yellow lab named Cooper, a border collie named Jack Jack, and a border collie named Rainy. Diamond was the first dog Kris competed with, and she chose a border collie because of their speed and intelligence. She started competing with Cooper last summer, and is thinking about training Jack Jack to compete in Frisbee.
Carrie has three dogs, including a 13-year-old black lab named Kassidy and a 10-month-old Aussie named Bruiser. She adopted Willow four years ago.
“I always wanted an Australian Shepherd, [and] my husband and I felt the timing was right to bring another dog into the household,” Carrie said.
