For many dogs competing in the 2024 AKC Rally National Championship, it’s all about placements, cues, and coveted titles. But for 16-year-old All-American Dog “Kate” (Hrh Katherine Elizabeth Roonie RN FITB), this year’s competition isn’t about winning; it’s a celebration of life. Kate will be the oldest dog competing, and after this final run, her owner Amber Yelton says Kate’s looking forward to a retirement filled with “sniffy walks and snackos.”
Yelton shares one of the many reasons for competing at Nationals. “I hope that someone there sees a senior dog and goes, ‘maybe I could get my old guy off the couch,'” she says. “I hope other people take the gamble that I did and get as much out of it as I have with her. I hope she’s an inspiration. I hope somebody else is able to experience this kind of just pure joy.”
From No Expectations to Fierce AKC Rally Competitor
When Yelton got Kate in Wake Forest, North Carolina, she thought she knew what she was getting: a middle-aged, mixed-breed dog eager for a new start. However, a DNA test revealed that Yelton knew less about her dog than she realized. For instance, Kate wasn’t 6 or 7 years old as advertised; she was 14. What’s more, her hearing registered 90 decibels, meaning that she was deaf. What the test didn’t reveal was that, despite her advanced age, senior dog Kate had the makings of a AKC Rally champion.
But how does a senior dog, especially one who’s 16 going on 17 years old, get into AKC Rally? Yelton recalls that it was totally by chance. In 2022, Yelton was training her other dog, “Edie,” to compete in AKC Rally competitions. On one day that they were meant to have a training lesson, urinary stones briefly sidelined Edie. Yelton didn’t want the lesson to go to waste, so she brought Kate instead. She didn’t have any expectations for the lesson. Yelton figured that since she’d already paid for it, they may as well go and have fun together.
“And Kate was a natural, and it was so fun for her. Her little tail was up the whole time, she was like, ‘I got this, yeah, I got this, this is good.’ She had so much fun,” Yelton quickly on to get her registered so she could officially compete in a trial. “Katie went to trials, and she did very well in her first one, and within like her first maybe month of it, she had qualified for Nationals. It was just her thing.”
Silence Falls Over Spectators When Kate Competes
Because Kate is deaf, Yelton doesn’t rely on verbal commands with her. When participating in AKC Rally competitions, her technique relies on a mixture of sign language, positive reinforcement, and Kate’s natural desire to please. Over the years of competing with Kate, Yelton has noticed an interesting phenomenon.
“Usually when people are in the ring, they’re talking like, ‘Hey, little dog, come around, sit, do fronts.’ I’m silent, because it doesn’t matter,” she explains, “and the whole room goes quiet. It’s like, ‘Well, you guys, just start talking, please, say things, this is kind of nerve-wracking.’ But it’s super fun. And I love her.”
Yelton admits that while she looks forward to spending time with Kate, she’s feeling a little nervous about the upcoming AKC Rally National Championship. Time isn’t always kind to senior dogs, and within the last year of qualifying for Nationals, Kate has experienced some cognitive decline. But in Yelton’s eyes, the upcoming competition is more than a sporting event; it’s an opportunity for Kate to have fun doing what she loves.
“I think Kate is always the happiest dog in the ring,” Yelton says. “She’s got this big fluffy tail, and she’s just happy to be here. She just thinks it’s the greatest thing ever. And she’s not the fastest, and she’s not always the most precise, and she’ll lose a point because she’s a little crooked sometimes, but she’s just so happy to be there.”
Old Dogs and New Tricks
Yelton says that she has many tales about her “granny dog.” Kate’s had her share of adventures over the years, and she’s still learning every day. “You know, because when you get a senior dog, you don’t expect this…I was like, ‘How did you do this, Grandma?'” Yelton marvels. There was the time Kate mistakenly ate a mushroom, for example, driven by puppy-like curiousity.
And then, of course, there was the family reunion with Kate’s littermate that Yelton discovered through the DNA test. She shares, “I think meeting her sister was this like super-magical, amazing thing. Her sister lives in Pennsylvania. We ended up meeting halfway, got an Airbnb with a big dog park outside.”
One fact remains: there are plenty of adventures left in this Kate’s future. Just hopefully none involving any more exotic cuisine!
Not Quite Retired — Yet
Nowadays, Kate is basking in the afterglow of her retirement party, where she received cake, balloons, and a tiara to celebrate her career as a dog athlete. She resides in Clayton, North Carolina, with two other dogs: Edie, a fellow AKC Rally competitor, and “Jade,” a Miniature American Shepherd who’s a new addition to the family.
Regardless of how Kate performs at the AKC Rally National Championship this week, Yelton is confident that she’ll have a good time being in the spotlight and spending time with her favorite person. “Kate’s not competitive,” Yelton says. “She’s just out there having fun with me, doing fun things with me, she’s with me, and I’m with her, and it’s all about her, and she just thinks that’s the greatest thing.”
Don’t miss the AKC Rally National Championship on July 18-19 in Wilmington, Ohio! You can livestream all the action day-of through AKC.tv.