That loveable little Yorkie that greets customers at the Second Look Boutique has come home a champion from the dog agility nationals in Montreal.
Little Misty-Rose came in third overall in her division in the biggest national competition ever, held recently in Sainte-Anne de Bellevue.
"There were over 500 dogs from across Canada competing and there were six rings to run in. Up until now the biggest nationals had three rings," said Emily Ball, Misty-Rose's owner.
Yorkshire terrier Misty-Rose stands just over seven inches high and was the first Yorkie to ever qualify for the nationals in dog agility.
Some doubted her ability and some laughed at her size, but she proved herself at the nationals, running six-inch jumps; weave polls, teeter-totters, tunnels and A-frames with ease.
Dogs at the nationals had to run two courses of jumps, two standard courses and two gambles, which are courses designed by the dog handler who must stay behind a set line and lead their dog around the course only with voice commands. Usually handlers are free to run alongside their dogs, giving them hand and voice commands during competition.
Misty-Rose placed in the top three in the jumping and standard categories but fell short in the gambles.
"We fell in the gamble because of my inexperience, though," said Ball.
She designed the course for her tiny pooch early in the morning of the event without realizing the stands would be full of spectators by the time Misty-Rose ran.
"There must have been about 1,000 people in the stands, and as soon as they saw her they started cheering for her," said Ball.
But the cheering distracted Misty-Rose and she was unsure what to do.
"Had I been a more experienced handler I could have changed the course on the fly and not run her right beside the bleachers, but I didn't know what to do at the time," said Ball.
In the gambles Misty-Rose placed fifth the first day and didn't place the second day.
"At the end of the first day we were only four points out of first place, but I didn't want to think about it much because I knew one bad run could knock us out of the running," said Ball.
The gambles cut down on Misty-Rose's score, but in the end she held a podium finish with third overall.
"I was thrilled with that, and we beat the other dogs in her category from B.C., so that was an added bonus," said Ball.
She says she wouldn't have been able to travel to the event with her dog if it weren't for the generous contributions by people on the Coast who believed in Misty-Rose's ability.
"The biggest contributors were Don French from Eagleridge Veterinary Clinic, Robbie Bryan and Cathy and Grant Kennedy. There were also lots of people who just stopped by the store and gave donations anywhere from $5 to $50 so that was all greatly appreciated," said Ball.
In the end, contributions from Coast residents paid for two-thirds of Ball's trip to the nationals with Misty-Rose.
Now Ball is training her Yorkie for the next national competition that will be held in Saskatchewan in the summer of 2005.
