Border collie Verb wins retooled Westminster agility title

Some are mixes made especially for sports prowess, such as Crime, a 10-year-old border collie-Staffordshire bull terrier mix.

“He is a ‘go big or go home’ type of dog,” says owner Debbie Lazaro of Howell, New Jersey (an attorney, she names all her dogs after legal terms).

Certain breeds tend to excel in agility, hence the 59 border collies that entered Friday’s contest. But it also drew some lesser-seen breeds like the mudi, a Hungarian herding dog. Kim Seiter, an agility trainer from Oak Ridge, New Jersey, was at Westminster for the first time with her dog Komoly, hoping to showcase the “super-cool, really fun, smart, hard-working” breed.

Another contestant, Stella, is part of a breed better known for snoring than athleticism — she’s a bulldog. But owner Lucy Hayes realized early on that she had a “wild puppy” that loved to play, and now the 3-year-old competes in agility and dock diving.

“I thought I was doing something to keep my dog busy, but to me, now, the message that bulldogs can be active and healthy and is a big one,” said Hayes, of Dayton, Ohio. She does extra conditioning with Stella, consulted with vets to make sure she was physically OK for the sport and is careful to keep her from overheating.

Veterinarian Dr. Maria Badamo says all dogs can do agility, if they don’t have developmental problems that prevent it and are kept in peak condition.