Atlas and Paula Beasley win the novice obedience section at Nationals. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
PAM GRAHAM
Atlas is a truly obedient dog, who jumps and runs really fast as well.
The three-year-old border collie bred by Paula Beasley and her husband won the novice class in the obedience competition at the Black Hawk National Dog Show held at the NZ Kennel Club in Porirua this month.
About 1000 dogs were entered across all the competitions, and Atlas saw off more than 30 of them from around the country in her class.
Beasley and Atlas are also in Feilding this weekend to compete in the New Zealand Dog Agility Championships.
Yes, that’s right Atlas, also known on formal occasions and in dog documents as Global Sensation At Mordor ADXB JDX GD, competes in both obedience and agility competitions at the highest of levels and she’s one to watch.
In April Beasley took Atlas to Melbourne to compete in the Australian Agility Nationals 2018 with a group of Kiwi dogs dubbed the “Paw Blacks”.
Their escapades are recorded in the July edition of NZ Dog World, where the intricacies of the differences in dog agility jumps, hoops and other bits of equipment are discussed in detail as was the challenge of finding a rental car to comfortably accommodate the Paw Blacks and entourage.
It’s all good fun.
Beasley competed with dogs in obedience competitions in the 1980s and had two champions. She stopped about eight years ago to concentrate on agility as her husband is an agility judge and trainer.
She only recently started doing obedience competitions again and the Nationals were the fourth show Atlas had competed in in that discipline.
The test Beasley and Atlas did involved heel work on a lead and off a lead, a recall, a retrieve, a one-minute sit/stay and a two minute down/stay.
The handler has to walk away from the dog and look away from it during the stay tests.
Beasley said she was “bitten by the bug again” and wanted to do more obedience competitions. She uses private obedience trainer.
“We would be away at least two weekends a month or more competing,” she said.
Beasley grew up in Carterton, but she and her husband moved to Masterton from Rotorua just two years ago. She works for Masterton District Council.
“I just love being here,” she said.
