When you look across the AKC Rally rings, one junior and her dog are hard to miss. Junior handler Ellie Dalton of Franklin, Massachusetts, was one of two 11-year-old handlers at the 2024 AKC Rally National Championship: the youngest to compete on the nation’s biggest AKC Rally stage. But Ellie’s dedication and commitment to the sport aren’t the only thing that makes her stand out. The Golden Retriever at her side, “Ben,” Mardovar Mucciarone’s Ben Franklin Fire Brigade RA CGCA TKAI, is her town’s police therapy dog.
A Fated Meeting for Ellie and Ben
Ben is the Franklin Police Department’s therapy dog. Ellie co-owns him and helps keep his mind sharp by working with him in sports like AKC Rally, obedience, and Junior Showmanship. While Ellie takes on a big part of his training, her mom, Nicole, says he’s essentially the “town dog.” Ben is mainly a therapy dog for the Franklin Police Department, providing support and comfort to the officers. But he also goes to other places, like schools and the citizen center.
Ellie and Ben’s partnership may have been the stars aligning. Nicole works at the “MasterPeace” training center in Massachusetts, owned by Fran Masters. Masters funded Ben’s therapy dog training and integration into the police department. “The Franklin Police Department would not have been able to bring aboard any type of outreach job because cost would have gotten in the way,” Nicole says. “They donated two years of training, and they’re continuing to donate towards the type of training that Ellie does for Ben.”
Ben was coming to MasterPeace every Tuesday, so Ellie and Ben got to know each other that way. She knew of him since he visited her schools, but she got to work with him on a new level when Masters asked if she wanted to watch their training. Soon, she took an interest in the dog sport and started training Ben.
Incredible Support From the Community
When Ellie got the invitation to compete at the 2024 AKC Rally National Championship, it was “unbelievable.” Master and the team at MasterPeace, who backed her the whole way, took their support of Ellie and Ben another step further. Masters set up a fundraiser to get them to Ohio for the championship. “Otherwise, I would have never been able to get here,” Ellie says. “So that was just a huge moment. I was so happy and so grateful.”
The entire Franklin community was backing Ben and Ellie. Because of the support of the people around them who believed in Ellie as a handler, her family was able to rent an RV to drive from Massachusetts to Ohio with Ben in tow. They broke up the over-12-hour drive at RV campgrounds, something they had never done before. “The whole family, two dogs, and we were able to do all of that because of that fundraising,” Nicole says. “It’s incredible — otherwise, we could not have been able to do this.”
An Unbreakable Bond
Finding ways to motivate Ben was initially the most challenging part of training for Ellie. With an instructor’s help, she was able to figure out the best way to get him to want to work. “He’s a great dog,” Ellie says. “Because he’s a therapy dog, he’s really chill and laid back and everything. The hardest part was getting him to get up and start moving, but as you can tell, we’ve come far,” Ellie smiles. She says that they work on things Ben likes, as well as things he doesn’t like so much, to find a balance. “In the end, he did all of it because we would do a mix of everything.”
When school is out in the summer, Ellie trains with Ben for about eight hours a week. “It’s just fun. The bond between us is so strong,” Ellie says. “Nothing could break it.”
Veterans of the sport saw Ellie’s grace and patience with Ben, both in training and in the ring. Obedience and AKC Rally judge Karen Tucker and obedience judge Esther Zimmerman donated their time to help Ellie learn the ropes. MasterPeace had continued funding Ben’s training, now through Ellie, and Masters worked with her once a week in private lessons.
“They see her talent and her dedication and her love and passion,” Nicole says. “She asks questions and wants to learn more.”
Representing Junior Excellence
Ellie competed at the AKC Rally National Championship for the first time in 2024, and the big stage didn’t stop her and Ben from excelling in the AKC Rally Novice ring. They got a perfect score on their second run, something Ellie couldn’t have expected. “I don’t have a big goal,” Ellie says. “I feel like I just need to keep on working with him and being happy and bonding with him. That’s my next goal.”
On top of being involved in dog sports and school, Ellie also stewards from time to time. “She’s always helping everybody, she’s very special in that way,” Nicole says. “I’m not saying that because I’m her mom. Everyone who comes in contact with her sees that.”
And as if that didn’t already put this team on the map, Ellie was representing junior handlers everywhere. She was one of nine Juniors competing on the national AKC Rally stage. “There’s not enough juniors, and everyone knows that,” says Nicole. “I’m incredibly proud of her.”
If you missed the 2024 AKC Rally National Championship, catch the highlights on AKC.tv. Congrats to “Zuko” and Kim Berkley, the 2024 AKC Rally National Champions!