Clean Run Magazine - April 2008 - 66

Training Notes Tired of lugging and lifting your A-frame or having to mow around it? Training in the Park Every day when they weren’t at a trial, Kenny and Reno went to a large local park, where they engaged in some very consistent but highly unorthodox training. The park used sections of telephone poles, about 3' high, to form barriers to keep cars out of the pedestrian areas. The poles were placed vertically in the ground 2' or 3' apart in long lines. Kenny and Reno practiced weaving around these big vertical logs every day. Reno practiced his dogwalk daily on benches in the park, and he practiced jumping grids by running and leaping over one horizontal log after another. Reno kept fit by running with other dogs, and he also worked his abdominal muscles daily by going down the slide at the playground. He had no need for indoor fitness routines. When Reno went hiking with Kenny and Brenda, he would jump over rocks and sometimes weave small trees. Life was about fun for Reno, and agility was a bonus for him. COURTESY KENNY ROWLAND MOVE IT! Move It! is a revolutionary device that allows one person to move an A-frame without any lifting. Move It! works on all diﬀerent surfaces, both indoors and out. And, nothing needs to be permanently attached to the A-frame. Move It! takes seconds to use and is so easy that a child could do it. Designed to ﬁt a standard 36" wide A-frame. Custom sizes available. courses and did the best we could. I didn’t even know what was required for an ADCH or a NATCH. Then one day Brenda told me he only needed a little more to get the big titles. I really didn’t pay that much attention to the titles. LB: Describe your favorite non-agility moments with Reno. LB: How did Reno fit in to your household? KR: He was the heart of our house. Our lives revolved around him. He had such a presence, and he was always so joyful. We looked forward to coming home from work to spend time with Reno in the park. We were very proud to call him ours. LB: Would you get another dog from a shelter? KR: There are so many. I loved going on hiking trips to Mammoth Lakes and watching him swim (not so gracefully) in the lakes. Reno loved to swim, but he would always splash the water into his own face and bark and bite at the water. He had such a great time on hikes. We were even able to take him on wonderful hikes after his spleen surgery, in his last two months of life. LB: How did you make the difficult decision to retire Reno from agility? KR: Absolutely. There’s no reason to pay top dollar for a dog when the shelters are overflowing with awesome dogs. And it feels really good to save a dog’s life; it’s really appreciated. Also, you can gain so much by working with the challenges a shelter dog may come with, such as Reno’s tearing up the furniture when we first got him. That’s what got us into agility. LB: Your favorite venues? KR: Reno tore an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) playing in the backyard. He had a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) surgery and recovered well. But competing in agility just wasn’t worth the risk of another injury. It was an easy decision, really. Reno loved everything about his life, and agility was only icing on his cake. He didn’t need to do agility. Friends threw a retirement party for Reno after the Chula Vista trial. We had a barbecue, and there were lots of nicely wrapped presents for Reno. He had a good old time ripping off the wrapping to open his presents. KR: NADAC and CPE because of the relaxed atmosphere in both venues. LB: Were people helpful in encouraging you to pursue greatness with Reno? KR: Our agility instructor, Barbara Mah, believed in him—she said he was “pure.” He wasn’t bred or “wired” to be an agility dog; he simply loved to run and jump and play at agility. Agility friends were very supportive when we had highs and lows. D Author’s Note: Sadly, Reno died at age nine and a half on November 2, 2007, from metastatic hemangiosarcoma. He had a cancerous spleen removed the previous August and recovered quickly from the surgery. Kenny and Brenda enjoyed a two-month reprieve, with plenty of joyful hiking, before Reno finally succumbed. Visit our website to see a video of the Move It! in action. ® www.cleanrun.com 66 Lisa Barrett lives in Huntington, Vermont with three shelter dogs, including NATCH Jenny MAD, SCH-Bronze, JCHBronze. She has competed in agility since 1995, when she founded NOMAD, northern Vermont’s agility club. She teaches agility classes at The Dog School in Williston and Huntington, Vermont. She also teaches an introduction to agility class at her local shelter. She has been a USDAA judge since 2001. Contact her at mytmutts@yahoo.com. Clean Run | April 08

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Clean Run Magazine - April 2008

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