For newlyweds Jessica Ajoux and Perry Dewitt, dog agility is more than what brought them together; it’s a way of life. Residing in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, the couple have nine dogs – four of which are competing in the 2024 Agility Premier Cup. Together, the pack will travel more than 17 hours to this year’s competition in Blaine, Minnesota, hoping to place in the 20-inch division.
“We are excited to get to go to compete at the event,” Ajoux shares, whose 6-year-old Border Collie, “Hallelujah” (NAC MACH Pride Creek’s Now We’re Talking MXB MJB) won 1st place in the 20-inch division in 2022 and again last year. “All of [our] dogs are in the same category, so that doesn’t happen all the time,” adds Dewitt. “I guess we could [place] 1,2,3,4, but that’s very difficult to do.”
From Backyard Training to Global Competitions
Ajoux and Dewitt have traveled all over the world competing in agility competitions, from Finland to Belgium to the Czech Republic. Among their many accolades and achievements, one of their most notable is representing the U.S. on the AKC European Open Agility Team. However, the road to training and competing with dogs didn’t happen overnight. In fact, the duo first got their start with dogs long before they even met.
Dewitt, a self-described “dog-obsessed kid,” first trained her family’s Border Collie to weave through poles and clear obstacles in her backyard. She shares that the week after graduating from college, she purchased her own Border Collie, who she began formally training. “That was about 15 years ago, and now, let’s see, I’m on dog number five now. So I kind of just caught the bug and keep doing it,” Dewitt says.
Ajoux, like Dewitt, also cultivated a love of dogs from an early age. “I saw agility on TV, and the way I describe it, it was like one of those ‘ahh’ moments. And I just said, like, ‘I need to do that.'”
Today, when Ajoux and Dewitt aren’t traveling the world to compete in sporting events, they’re helping trainers refine their skills at UDog Agility, their joint enterprise founded in 2019. However, UDog Agility is more than an agility school. They say it’s also a safe space that encourages growth.
“What I love hearing from our students is how nice and how happy and welcoming everything feels at UDog,” Ajoux shares. “That’s the environment in which you’re actually going to be able to not only enjoy training your dog, but be able to learn and feel comfortable making mistakes and learning and experimenting and being vulnerable sometimes. But you really have to be in a comfortable, safe place, and I’m glad that is what we are able to provide.”
Two Owners, Four Dogs, One Competition
Training, traveling, and competing with four dogs is a feat in and of itself. But which of Ajoux and Dewitt’s dogs are running at this year’s Agility Premier Cup?
The first is Ajoux’s Border Collie, Hallelujah. Weighing 20 pounds and standing 19-and-a-half inches at the withers, she was invited back to this year’s competition after winning first place in the 20-inch division for two consecutive years. Hallelujah is also the mother of Dewitt’s Border Collie, 4-year-old “Genuine” (Fast Talk Words Are Wind), who is competing in the Agility Premier Cup for the first time.
“Optimus Prime” (MACH Optimus Prime MXS MJS OF) is Ajoux’s 9-year-old Border Collie who won third place in the 2023 Agility Premier Cup, also in the 20-inch division alongside Hallelujah. Dewitt is also running 6-year-old “Wit” (Pride Creek’s Walk It Like I Talk It), who is Hallelujah’s littermate.
In the future, another dog may join these four competitors: 10-month-old “Spike,” Dewitt’s Border All-American Dog. This affectionate merle puppy was present during the interview, unable to decide whether to rest in Dewitt or Ajoux’s lap. With time, she too could join the others competing on the national stage.
Same Breed, Different Personalities
Despite being the same breed, Ajoux and Dewitt’s Border Collies each have their own personality. Optimus Prime in particular is known for being a wildcard. “Optimus is a little bit more on the tail end of his career. He just turned 9,” Ajoux says. “I’d call him my ‘Steady Eddie,’ but I don’t know that that’s actually true. While we’ve been doing agility for a long time together, he does some unpredictable things sometimes.”
Hallelujah, on the other hand, loves the glory that comes with being at the top of her game. A two-time winner at the Agility Premier Cup, she’s hoping to snag a three-peat this year. “I think she loves the show. She does the best at the competitions,” Ajoux notes.
While living in a house with nine dogs comes with its share of dog hair, Dewitt says it’s a mostly harmonious lifestyle. “We kind of have it worked out that they know what their boundaries are, and they know that if they have conflicts with one another, it’s up to us to sort it out,” she explains.
What Goes Into Competing in Agility?
Training for an agility competition isn’t something that can happen overnight. For starters, the Agility Premier Cup uses a different course than other events. Every course has its own “flavor,” and training involves understanding the unique twists and turns, along with judges’ expectations.
“Some courses lend more to that dance feeling where you feel like you’re flowing the whole time, and it’s nothing gritty,” Dewitt says. “Then other courses and other dogs, you feel like you’re fighting the course the whole time, where you and the dog together are trying to figure out how to defeat it, where it’s almost trying to trap you at every corner.”
While some crash courses promise to transform an uncoordinated dog into a nimble-footed pro, if you ask Ajoux and Dewitt, agility training isn’t just clearing hurdles quickly; it’s about the relationship between dog and owner. Ajoux notes that it’s important for the handler to understand how to bring out the best in their dog. For example, she shares that Hallelujah and Optimus Prime require different handling styles to succeed in competitions.
She says, “It feels like it’s more on me not to let my dog down … I have to always remember that with Optimus, because he’s not historically done well, if I am more focused on the course, I just have to be his friend, like ‘Buddy, I’m your friend, I’m here with you. We can do this.'”
So, what’s the secret to succeeding in agility competitions? Ajoux echoes one of Dewitt’s sentiments: “Put the right emotions for the right dog.”
The 2024 AKC Agility Premier Cup is coming to ESPN2! Tune in on Sunday July 28 from noon to 2:00pm ET for all of the agility action. You won’t want to miss this!