Poised handlers and talented canines were the first to take the Trade Center stage at the Northwest Montana Fair & Rodeo in Kalispell on Friday.  

The fifth annual 4-H Dog Show featured 21 teams of seasoned and novice trainers and bright dogs to exhibit a wide range of skills. 

The events include showmanship, which is like an AKC confirmation event, obedience, agility and rally, wherein teams walk a path that features signs they must obey. The show wraps up with a costume contest. 

The junior category is for trainers aged 8-13 while the senior division handlers are 14-18 years old. Junior and senior novice divisions are for kids in their first couple years of working with dogs, and the puppies are in their own class. 

Senior handler Lux Bain started training dogs when she got Phantom, her now senior terrier mix. 

"When I first got my dog Phantom, he was a baby and it was a good time to learn how to get discipline and how to get him really used to other dogs," Bain explained. "I've fallen in love with doing dog work and scent work. He's been doing really well, and it's grown me as a human being. 

"My dog taught me a lot about patience and communication because we're a team, and it's important I communicate to him. He communicates to me, and we've built a really good bond over the few years,” she added. 

New to the competition this year was scent work, shed hunt and barn hunt, an internationally recognized sport based on a traditional job of many dogs – ridding properties of vermin. 

“They have to find live rats that are in little rat tubes,” said Flathead 4-H Dog Project Leader Lesley Fix. “We have a little straw structure that the rats get hidden in and the dogs have to do a climb, they have to go through a tunnel, and they have to find the rat.”  

The team of Aeris Morris and brindle dachshund Spirit won grand master in the showmanship senior division earlier in the day. When the two moved to the rabbit barn for the barn hunt, Spirit sniffed out all four rats within the 5-minute time limit and seemed to enjoy the task, with tail wagging and nose working overtime. 

Morris owns eight dogs and has been involved with the 4-H dog program for five years. She uses her experience as a senior to help teach younger handlers. 

"I have been doing this because dogs are kind of my passion, and I just love watching the kids learn and grow,” Morris said. “There are so many out there that have started out just broken down, not wanting to do anything, and now they are excelling in the show ring and out and shining. It is insane.” 

In addition to training for the events at the show, Morris has trained Spirit on heart rate. 

"When it rises, he can smell it and detect it before I even can, or a machine can,” she said, then explained the training briefly. “You take a swab of the sweat sample when your heart rate is super high, and you train them to detect that smell instead of your regular smell. It's a different scent because it's a chemical change in your body.” 

She said a dog trained this way can be helpful to people with autoimmune diseases who may faint when their heart rates rise unpredictably. 

Twelve-year-old junior handler Olivia Druyvestein and 10-year-old Kenzie have been training and competing with the 4-H dog project for about four years, and this year, they took part in the barn hunt. The boxer searched, buried her nose in the hay bales, and succeeded in finding all the rats. 

"It just started with rally, obedience and showmanship, and then it slowly grew to barn hunt, shed hunt, and scent work, and then it just kept kind of growing," Druyvestein said. "I use different collars, so she knows the difference between showmanship and rally and obedience and all this stuff." 

Deputy Alex Geissler, a canine handler with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, judged the three-part scent work competition. Birchwood was the scent the dogs were seeking, and it was hidden in one of several boxes, scent cans or backpacks. 

"The dogs will have to run by and try to find the correct odor, and the handler has to correctly read the dog and call out if there's an alert,” Geissler said. “I'm going to be watching the dogs and the handlers and see what the relationship is between the dog and handler, and how well they work together, and if the handlers can read the dog, and if the dog's doing its job properly.” 

The group has held training sessions once a week since November at the fairgrounds or at one of the Three Dog Ranch locations. Volunteer professional trainers and 4-H dog project leaders teach the kids about dog behaviors and training techniques. 

"These kids have been putting in a lot of time,” Fix said. “Many of the kids have been in this project for five years, so they've committed a ton of time, and they've got a lot of knowledge. It's pretty cool.” 

Reporter Julie Engler can be reached at 406-862-3505 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at whitefishpilot.com/support.

    Australian cattle dog Kona looks to Kylee Oedekoven during the rally event at the 4-H dog show Friday. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    James McVicker and golden retriever Jolene take a break during the events at the 4-H dog show at the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Friday in Kalispell. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    Ronin Lindsted and Echo competed in the puppy division on Friday at the 4-H Dog Show. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

  

 Jaxen Flores with poodle mix Luna and Erin Hoch, Riley Paulson with Remi, and Chiara Boucher with poodle mix Bosco compete Friday in showmanship. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
 

    Riley Paulson and Remi compete in showmanship at the 4-H dog show. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    Jason Fix and Sawyer and Jesse Juhl with Scout compete in showmanship at the 4-H Dog Show in Kalispell Friday. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    Colton Oedekoven and his puppy Aspen relax after competing in the puppy division at the 4-H Dog Show. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    Teammates Olivia Druyvestein and Kenzie competed at the 4-H Dog Show at the Flathead County Fairgrounds in Kalispell last week. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    Phantom keeps an eye on the action at the fifth annual 4-H Dog Show last week. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    Lux Bain and Phantom take a break between events at the 4-H Dog Show last week. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)