Trigger’s coming at you through  the circle before getting to the next obstacle on an agility course. Trigger barks at Krystal most of the time he is on the course. She insists he’s telling her what a great job he’s doing.
 

The Dog Days of Summer arrive in the Heights on Saturday, July 31, at The Park on Hacienda Road. Dog Days are the event Phil and Krystal Emery have staged for the past four years which are packed with much action and more information. It will take visitors the rest of the summer to absorb it all.

Krystal and her new Aussie, Trigger, along with many others who love the event, will demonstrate Agility trials. That’s where the dog walks up a seesaw, through a tunnel, weaves through poles, jumps obstacles, and climbs an A-Frame  at the fastest speed the dog can manage.  Meanwhile the trainer is also running with the animal and giving it hand signals.

New this year will be sheepherding. For those of you not into the world of dogs and their owners, you need to accept that owners can pass up no opportunity to show off their dogs and prove which one is best. Sheepherding, along with being a perfectly respectable occupation for a herding dog, is also a competitive event in which dogs may herd cattle, sheep, goats, and ducks and other poultry. Furthermore, owner and dog frequently attend camps to perfect their training.

Susan  Graham and her dog Sarge will demonstrate the art of getting four sheep to bunch up and then follow a path around obstacles, past a human, and through a gate.  She will also test dogs brought to the event to determine if they have the herding instinct. Even among Aussies and border collies many are totally uninterested in where a group of animals choose to go.

Herding and agility are skills to develop after a dog has the basic obedience skills down pat.