Dog Agility Trials In Canton, New York

The annual St. Lawrence Valley Dog Club's Agility Trials at Canton, New York was billed as the occasion where the north country's best agility dogs would compete for AKC titles. I drove there and found this great hall:

Parked outside were cars, at least half of which had bags of dog poop behind them. Folks staying in campers along the side of the building were walking a variety of dogs, including a little pooch in a wheeled support buggy:

There were license plates from all over and bumper stickers proclaiming favorite breeds. This car had the bag of poop, two stickers with pictures of Corgis on it and also the window decal which read, "My Corgi Ate Your Stick Family:"

Inside was what appeared to be a hockey arena and a judge was explaining the course and rules to the participants of the next trial:

I appeared to be the only person there as a mere observer, but I was allowed to walk around freely and take pictures. I noticed that most people smiled when I took a photo of their beloved pets. This couple had a Corgi and I wondered if that was their car outside with the bumper stickers:

Border Collies (I think):

A Weimaraner:

And Shetland Sheepdogs. The woman on the left was holding a black Standard Poodle in her lap. Needless to say, it wasn't nearly the size of my Seamus - but he's a giant:

A Doberman:

The next trial hadn't yet begun, but folks were warming up by having their dogs leap hurdles. I watched everything from a Chihuahua to this Golden Retriever to a Boxer and many more, their owners adjusting the height of the bar to give their dogs a warm up:

This Boxer could jump well but was so fast that most of the photos were blurred:

In fact, when the trial began, I quickly discovered that the indoor lighting, distances and fast movements of the dogs combined to make nearly all the photos unusable. This Corgi was just beginning:

The Chihuahua was so tiny that I could barely see it in the photos I took. This Boxer was too fast, but I managed to snap a photo before it began:

And I caught the Golden Retriever scaling the ramp. I began to fantasize about training Clover for agility trials until I realized that I am unable to travel and would be only able to enter this one event, once per year. I decided that Clover was having a good life going on hikes, and agility trials would have to be left for other folks. I didn't stay long, but was happy I got to see the action and talk to some of the dog people:

the North Country's best Agility dogs compete for AKC titles at the annual St. Lawrence Valley Dog Club's Agility Trials. - See more at: http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/upnorth/comcal/#sthash.5hQlXVPn.dpuf