Champion canine has overcome setbacks

A 65-year-old will be competing against 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds in a physical competition this weekend in York.

Duncan, a 13-year-old border collie, is 65 according to a formula that equates five dog years to one human year. He will be competing today through Sunday at the York Expo Center in the fourth annual All Star 2005 Obedience, Agility, and Rally Championships against younger competitive dogs across North America.

Duncan's trainer, Jan Mayr, 41, of Hannastown, says he is up to the challenge.

"He always has his game face on," Mayr said, adding that his competitive spirit has stayed strong over the years. "He's never given me a reason to doubt him."

At the three-day event, 300 dogs of 62 breeds from the United States, Canada and Bermuda, will perform in a wide range of events, such as heeling, jumping, retrieving, scent discrimination, and responding to signals.

Duncan will enter the rally competition, which is a timed course of 16 activity stations in which the dogs must perform low-impact physical tasks with their handler.

Mayr hopes Duncan will place in the top 10 at the championships, a place that she considers a good end to his competitive career. This weekend's competition will be Duncan's last.

"We're going out there to have fun," Mayr said. "He deserves to retire."

Duncan is a veteran of obedience and freestyle competition, which both include jumps, but he was recently retired from those events after developing spinal cord problems.

Duncan's health problems began in 1998 when a blood clot was found in his spinal cord. For six months, Mayr worked with Duncan in physical therapy. He returned to competition soon after, but the initial clot and subsequent clots caused paralysis to the canine's right and left hindquarters.

"He was quite an elegant jumper; unfortunately, bad things happen," Mayr said.

Duncan periodically gets a spinal adjustment from Dr. Dina LiVolsi, a chiropractor certified by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association to treat dogs, cats and horses.

"He's done very well," LiVolsi said. "He's fabulous. Duncan is very well-behaved."

Mayr said Duncan's health issues haven't stopped him competitively. In fact, six months after his first spinal clot, Duncan was competing again in freestyle competitions.

"God had other plans for us. He's opened a new window," Mayr said. "He's doing well for his age and all the problems he's had."

Duncan is trained at least twice a month by Mayr on a backyard course and on the street. She said Duncan is so precise in his movements that he needs minimal training.

"He knows his job after all these years," she said.

Duncan's good behavior during training is rewarded by pats, petting and verbal praise.

"He works with me because he loves doing it," Mayr said, adding that he has never been trained using food as an incentive, but at the end of competitions he is treated to a bowl of sliced hotdogs.

Mayr and Duncan have collected hundreds of plaques, ribbons and trophies in their 11-year competitive career, but last November Duncan received one of his highest honors when he was named Sassy Senior Musical Freestyle champion.

Mayr, an emergency medical technician for Mutual Aid in Delmont, and her husband, Bob Mayr, 62, have three other border collies.

Mayr has owned dogs since she finished college. Her first dog, Jessie, a border collie mix, started her love of dogs and competition, which she said is addictive.

"They're kind of like potato chips," Mayr said. "These dogs are like my kids."

"It's something I got into and I've always loved."