Agile celebrity hounds Eugene event.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

It's hard not to feel a little sorry for Tigger's siblings.

Well, maybe not 14-year-old Star, an Afghan hound who lounges in her owners' well-appointed, 40-foot Monaco motor home on weekend trips to dog competitions, her sporting days long over.

But for Bling, Vixen, Keno and Zinger - all young contenders in their own right - it can't be easy living in the shadow of a silky-haired slip of a pup with ridiculous ears.

Tigger, a 5-pound papillon (that's French for butterfly, and it refers to the breed's butterfly wing-like ears), is among the tiniest dogs participating in this weekend's dog agility trials at the Lane Events Center, but he's surely the biggest celebrity: He's clinched the championship title in the American Kennel Club's national trials in three of the past four years.

His handler, Robin Kletke of Woodinville, Wash., attributes Tigger's success to the bond of trust between the two of them and the dog's uncanny ability to focus.

"We like to say we take the course maps, fold them up, feed them to him just like a little robot and let him go," said Kletke, a self-employed software consultant who, with his wife, Robin Cohen, travels to agility trials about 40 weekends a year.

Kletke is the primary handler for the couple's dogs - the one who sprints alongside them, giving verbal commands and signals as they sail over jumps and negotiate obstacles such as a tunnel, a seesaw, an A-frame and weave poles.

While Bling, also a papillon, and Zinger, an Afghan, have yet to break into the circle of champions, Vixen, a border collie, and Keno, another Afghan, have collected a boatload of points and ribbons on the circuit.

On Saturday afternoon, Tigger, Vixen and Keno all took turns on the F.A.S.T. course, a relatively new event in agility trials in which teams must finish the course in a set period of time.

On one part of the course, the handler must stay back behind a line of tape while the dog negotiates obstacles on its own.

Vixen and Keno faltered a bit, failing to finish the course before the buzzer sounded, but Tigger turned in a characteristically strong performance, if perhaps not his best.

"That's Tigger for you - he's running good," Kletke said.

Kletke and Cohen are surely at the extreme end of the spectrum when it comes to involvement in dog agility trials, but the sport seems to attract people with a similar passion for their dogs and a willingness to devote countless hours - and dollars - to training and travel time.

Carol McInnes, whose black standard poodle, KC, is nicknamed "the flying poodle," travels to one or two agility trials each month, mostly in Oregon and Washington, and works with a trainer at home in Hood River.

"It's just so much fun," said McInnes, a retiree who discovered agility trials about six years ago. "It's great exercise, it's a great way to bond with your dog. The dogs love it. When else do they get to spend the whole day with you?"

There's also the social aspect, she added.

"I 'll cheer for everyone's dog," she said. "It's just the neatest group of people."

On Saturday's afternoon F.A.S.T. course, KC, a lithe, 7-year-old female who seems to suspend herself in midair, was the only dog whose leaps were set at 26 inches - six inches higher than most dogs her size.

"KC's a real crowd-pleaser," said McInnes, who has a second standard poodle in the trials, Toby, a former guide dog who needed "a career change." "She jumps so high that it's not real efficient. We waste a lot of time in the air."

Monica Bryant of Prineville was celebrating the victory of Kosmoe, an 11-pound Brussels griffon who had just nabbed his first Master Agility Champion (MACH) title, which involves accumulating points over time and completing both a standard and jumper course flawlessly. By mid-afternoon, two dogs had earned MACHs - as many as are typically earned in an entire weekend.

A full-time quality control manager for a lumber mill, Bryant attends only five or six trials a year, and drives to Bend weekly to see a trainer with Kosmoe and Picabo, another Brussels griffon.

"They know when we're packing our bags and our typical agility stuff goes in, they get excited," said Bryant, who feeds them a diet of raw foods. "That's one really cool thing about agility - you can't force your dog to do it. If your dog didn't like it, your dog wouldn't do it."

Ann Jensen, chairwoman of the trials, said participation levels in the annual event climb every year. Some participants said they believe exposure on cable television, including Animal Planet, have piqued interest among dog owners.

"It's getting to be a very popular sport," said Jensen, whose own dogs, French bulldogs, are not in the trials. People are realizing how much fun it is for the dogs, she said, including those that may be whip-smart but lacking other traits valued in traditional conformation-style dog shows.

While the AKC-sponsored agility trials accept only registered breeds, they welcome all shapes and sizes - pint-sized Yorkshire terriers, hulking Saint Bernards and everything in between.

Border collies and shelties, with their inherent intelligence, energy and herding instincts, are among the most popular, Jensen said.

The agility trials are sponsored by the Eugene Kennel Club and the McKenzie Cascade Dog Fanciers.

IF YOU GO

Where: Lane Events Center

When: Today and Monday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Free admission.