Residents will have the chance to catch a dog show during the Family Day weekend.
The PAWsitive Dog Sports Association is holding their annual dog agility event on Saturday, Feb. 16 and Sunday, Feb. 17 at the Cold Lake and District Agriculture Society riding arena.
“Dog agility is a sport where (a handler) and their dog navigates over jumps... through tunnels, over walls, and through hoops on a course that’s set out,” explained David Tharle, president of the club.
Courses with levels of difficulty from intro to elite are laid out for teams. As they complete each challenge, they eventually move onto the next level.
“We’ll have teams at all different levels. We’ve got some elite teams that are local here... to some novice and (introductory) teams that are just starting out. They’ve barely started working with their dogs, and are getting used to handling and communicating back and forth with their dog,” Tharle said.
They’re expecting around 50 teams to compete, including local groups and ones coming from Edmonton and Saskatoon.
The association has hosted the annual event for the past 17 years and have been pleased with the community response.
“(The attendance) depends on the weather. I never know how to call it, because sometimes it’s cold and I think we won’t see anybody and we have a good turn out because... it’s inside and warm. It’s just an event to get them out, and they enjoy seeing something on the Family Day weekend,” he explained.
Tharle said they enjoy inviting other teams to compete in Cold Lake because “it’s our home venue.”
“We train and practice in the riding arena, so it’s kind of nice to do it in our own facility. Some of us do travel to the other clubs and communities, and it’s kind of our turn to give back to the sport,” he added.
The entry fee for the competition is donated to a dog-related charity, with this year’s funds going to the Alberta Herding Dog Rescue.
“As competitors, we pay for each run or a weekend package... We do pay for the privilege to run our dog in the competition because we have to bring in a judge and different equipment,” Tharle noted.
The event is free for spectators, as a way of introducing local families to a sport they may not know too much about.
“We get a lot of kids there, and they enjoy doing something new and different, or something they haven’t seen before, or maybe they’ve just seen it on television,” Tharle expressed.
