Tuscarawas County Fair dog show showcases obedience, scent work and freestyle routines

It’s important to have a well-trained dog and 4-H can help with that. At the annual Tuscarawas County Fair Dog Show Aug. 23, participants showed off their skills in obedience. The show is held before the fair each year.

Advisor Marcie Dryden was pleased with the progress of the dog program this year.

“I am extremely excited because we have added some new classes,” Dryden said.

The activities won’t necessarily be at the annual show.

“We do them individually and logistically, we just can't do them here. The new thing that we've added is scent work,” Dryden said.

Scent work is offered to returning dog program members because they have already trained with their dogs.

“For the first-year kids it’s very important to do obedience and to get an idea of what you need to do,” Dryden said.

The advisors try to make classes fun too, including the costume class and a heeling activity with a dog biscuit on a spoon. Members attend a one-hour workout class on Mondays during the summer to practice.

“We work on various things, especially if they're beginners. We start from the beginning. You can bring your dog that knows nothing, and we will help you teach it how to be obedient,” Dryden said.

Scent training is interesting work because it is used by law enforcement to find drugs, objects or even people who are lost.

“I gave all of our kids who are going to participate in scent work a kit that had birch imprinted on cotton,” Dryden said. “We had two classes. We had a container class, so there were 10 boxes, and the scent was hidden in that container.”

The dogs also performed perimeter searches to find the scent.

 The advisors were pleased with the results of the new activity.

“Once you start with one scent, you can keep going with others and build on it,” Dryden said. “I hope to build the scent trial program within our county, because it's a lot of fun for the kids, and it's an activity you can do inside with your dog.”

A dog’s superpower is scent. Finding scents helps a dog work its mind so it can make them tired as well as the physical activity of searching.

“The way their scent works is if you had a pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove at home, you smell it when you walk in the room,” Dryden said. “A dog smells every component that you may put in the spaghetti sauce, garlic, tomato, oregano, the various things that you put in your spaghetti sauce, they can smell each component.”

In another new activity, Lydia Raber and her dog, Faith, a standard poodle, participated in the state fair this year in Freestyle. The category is movement that owners and dogs do together and it’s a mix of obedience, tricks, and dance set to music.

Dryden helped Raber and Faith put together their Freestyle routine.

“I've been watching YouTube videos on it about (freestyle.) I didn't know they offered it at the state fair,” Raber said. “We got the routine together and every Monday we'd go and practice.”

They used the song “We Lift You Higher” by Fearless BND.

“It took some work and some practice. It was four weeks before the show, we were putting this together and got it done in four weeks,” Raber said.

Faith enjoyed the jumps and tricks that were in the routine. Together the pair won ninth place in the state, and they plan to go again next year.

Some of the moves in freestyle include having the dog weave between your legs, spins and jumps, and more.

“I had a great time,” Raber said. “It’s all about the bond between me and my dog. It’s a team effort.”

Participating in the show were Lucille Adams, Kaisyn Amore, Vada Bandy, Caylee Conkle, Lucille Miller, Scarlett Wheeler, Gemma Dotts, Ashton Troyer-Swihart, Lucy Brugger, Emma Lee, Kinsey Walker, Aria Dotts, Rachel Sigler, Sophia Wheeler, Lydia Raber, Ashyton Scott, Isla Dotts, and Cora Dotts.

Others in the 4-H dog program are Stella Shalosky and Amelia Brown.

Advisors in addition to Dryden are Carrie Brandt and Joe Wheeler.

More information is available at the Ohio State University Tuscarawas County Extension office at tuscarawas.osu.edu.