Kids's best friends strut their stuff at fair
PHOTOS: 1. Lab mix Charlie crosses a great height with coaxing from owner Korinda Alexenko and 4-H leaders Teressa Clark and Tovi Naff Thursday morning.<br>2. Golden retriever Hot Shot crosses a great height with coaxing from owner Caitlyn Jones and 4-H leaders Teressa Clark and Tovi Naff Thursday morning.<br>3. Kids and canines wait in line to cross a board as part of the agility course practice Thursday morning at the Grant County Fair.<br>4-5. Laurie Kautzman coaches her Sheltie, Livi (pronounced "lee-vy"), over one of the obstacles in the agility course Thursda…
Children, canines alike put best paws forward
It's not easy to be a dog who is afraid of heights.
Especially not when trying to walk across a narrow board three feet off the ground.
But that was the scene for some of the animal kingdom Thursday morning at the 2004 Grant County Fair.
Teressa Clark, a leader for Hooves & Paws 4-H, said that the day marked the fun day for the children and the animals. They had already sat and shown and displayed their obedience skills, now was the time to show off tricks and wear costumes while racing through the agility course.
All around Clark, youth and mammal swarmed, going across long boards up in the air, leaping over poles, weaving through poles, climbing over triangular-shaped bases and clambering through makeshift tunnels — the animals more than the children, although sometimes it was hard to tell just who was expending more energy.
"We are doing this obstacle course with dogs," explained Kenton Dow, aged nine. Dow was running the course with his golden retriever, Lacey.
"I taught her to stay, go through the tunnel, go over the big thing and go through this chute," Dow said of the morning's accomplishments thus far. "Now I'm gonna teach her how to jump."
Nine-year-old Korinda Alexenko, with her lab mix Charlie, said it was her second year showing.
"(We're here) to show the public and show them how to show the dogs," she said.
Three-year veteran Kelli Clark, 11, with black Lab Mac, said that her sister showed in 4-H.
"And I like my dog, so I decided to try it," she said. "The best part is probably just practicing and doing stuff with your dog."
"We are showing our dogs how to do the jumps and stuff," said Caitlyn Jones, aged 11. "That way, if they go to nationals, they know what they're doing."
Jones said she has always loved dogs, which is part of the reason she's participating with Hot Shot, a golden retriever.
"I think they're really fun, especially when you try to work hard and when you have fun, they think they're supposed to have fun too," Jones said.
Jones admitted that Hot Shot was a little leery of that whole height thing.
"That's because this is his first time ever doing it," she said. "He's just a puppy, so he doesn't know actually what he's doing."