Her chiropractor told her she should give up competing before she gets hurt, but Angel the dog wouldn't hear of it.
View full sizeMargaret Howes of Springfield puts Angel through her paces, or vice versa, on the track at Exercise Finished Dog Training in Chicopee. Angel, with her trainer Howes, finished first in the recent AKC National Agility Championships.SPRINGFIELD – This city is now home to a national champion, a competitor who overcame steep obstacles and long odds, who battled back from potentially career-ending injuries against the advice of her medical staff, and who ultimately bested all challengers to stand triumphant – on all four legs.
We’re talking, of course, about Angel the dog.
Angel, an 8 1/2-year-old Shetland sheepdog, born and bred in Springfield, won the American Kennel Club Preferred National Championship in Lexington, Va., a week ago.
The 15-inch tall, 25-pound Angel finished first in the 12-inch hurdle category.
“My little girl did good,” said Margaret Howes.
Howes, Angel’s owner, trainer, breeder, partner and best friend, says the national title was thrilling, especially when others recommended that Angel’s best days as an agility competitor were long gone.
Seven-and-a-half years in the AKC agility circuit had taken their toll on Angel, Howes said. The continued training and competitions had led to some injuries.
“Her chiropractor wanted her to retire,” Howes said, “but (Angel) didn’t want to quit.”
Chiropractor? The dog has a chiropractor?
Howes said it may sound almost comical for people on the outside, but not for people who are involved in competitive K-9 agility training, such treatment is no laughing matter.
“Our dogs work hard for us,” she said. “It helps keep them safe and able to work.”
Regular chiropractic treatments, plus massage therapy and acupuncture — yes, acupuncture — allowed Angel to return to the ring in top form.
And, when Howes said Angel decided she wanted to keep competing, she means that literally.
“I would go to call her in at night, and she would not come in until I did agility (workouts) with her,” Howes said. “She let me know she was not done.”
Angel, she said, is not “a frou-frou dog,” or one of those pampered pooches that get all dolled up to parade around in those AKC Best in Show contests that the public most frequently identifies with the dog show circuit. She likes to go for hikes in the woods, swim, play in mud and do the things “real dogs” like to do.
Agility competitions are just her thing, Howes said.
In the competitions, dogs run through tubes and over elevated walkways. There are jumps, tunnels and obstacles to go over, under and around. Unlike the obedience shows where dogs are trained to stand still, agility competitions let a dog be a dog, she said.
View full sizeAngel and an elated Margaret Howes, left, stand in the winners circle with American Kennel Club Chief Operating Officer John Lyons and Agility Director Carrie DeYoung at the recent agility championships in Lexington, Virg.
“If you train them right, they think its the greatest thing in the world,” she said.
Howes, who works as a nurse, said the competitive world of agility competitions is not easy. She tends to compete only in events in the Northeast because of the costs.
“It takes a lot of money and a lot of practice,” she said. “But, it’s a real joy when things come together.”
The AKC National Agility Championship demonstrates the highest level of training and
teamwork between dog and handler. Dogs had to qualify at the highest levels of competition in order to compete.
The kennel club calls the event “the Olympics of dog sports,” and dogs have to demonstrate their athleticism and versatility by racing against the clock and overcoming a challenging course of different obstacles.
In the competitions, dog and trainer work as a cohesive unit. The trainer issues commands and the dog follows. The commands are given through a combination of verbal cues and body language, she said. “They are very ,very perceptive; they read us very well,” Howes said.
One can’t rely only on verbal commands because the action is too fast, she said.
“They rely on your body language,” she said. “If I say one thing but my body is pointing another way, if you make a slight twist with your shoulder, it can pull the dog off the track and that’s a fault.”
Howes said there have been times when her body positioning has been off just slightly, and Angel stopped, looked right at her and barked as if to tell her to make up her mind.
“The good trainers give the dogs all the credit and the bad trainers give the dog all the blame,” she said. “It’s a team sport.”