KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic SunDogs Agility Club members Jan Farley and Lewis, a 5-year-old dachshund, race through their agility course in Selah in February. Despite his stubby stature, Lewis is an unquestioned master of the agility course, with six titles under his belt and attached to his formal name.

Jan Farley was always a dog person, particularly favoring dachshunds, those clever little hounds bred originally to hunt badgers. Dachs is German for badgers.

So when the family pet died in 1998, Farley went to a breeder in Vancouver, Wash., and came home with Bradley.

Bradley went to obedience training with a well-known dog trainer in Yakima, Tammy Benetti, who has since passed away. At the time, Benetti had just started dog agility classes and pressed Farley to enroll Bradley.

Farley visited a class and watched the mostly larger dogs negotiate -- at high canine speeds -- an obstacle course of hurdles, tunnels and other types of doggie playground equipment.

"I remember watching them and thinking, 'This is nice, but you can't do this with dachshunds.' "

She tried anyway. Bradley, bless his heart, did what his owner asked, but he didn't really love dog agility.

Then in 2001, along came Lewis, another dachshund Farley acquired to keep Bradley company. From his earliest days, Lewis watched Bradley and other dogs compete, and he developed a knack for the sport, short legs, long back and all.

Today, Lewis' accomplishments are reflected in his formal name: Officially he is "CH Sausage Stables Lewis SS RA MX MXJ NF JE."

Except for SS, which stands for his standard smooth coat, the letters are abbreviations of titles he has earned. CH = Champion, RA = Rally Advanced, MX = Master Agility Excellent, MXJ = Master Excellent Jumpers With Weaves, NF=Novice Fast, JE = Junior Earthdog.

"Of course," Farley said, "we just call him Lewis."

 

KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic Farley and Lewis have a "talk" before their turn on the agility course. Farley tried agility training with her first dachshund, Bradley, but he didn't take to it. When Lewis arrived in 2001, she knew she had a champion.

In agility competitions around the Northwest, Lewis has especially shined by going farther than any other dog in Yakima agility history. In February, Lewis appeared on cable TV's "Animal Planet" with several hundred other canine competitors.

The show featured a competition held in December in California where Lewis went muzzle to muzzle with 82 dogs in the 8-inch-height category. It was Lewis' and Farley's first national competition.

Alas, Lewis didn't make the finals and ranked 53rd. Farley chalks it up to a case of nerves. Her own, not the dog's.

"I think I had the jitters, which affected him," she said.

Lewis, who is in his prime at age 5, isn't giving up. Neither is Farley. After all, she's debunked a common myth that the best dogs for agility are border collies.

"A lot of people think you have to have a big showy border collie or similar breed. But that's not true."

Just watch Lewis fly over those hurdles in a single bound.