Jess, 15, with her purebred border collie Zoom, is headed to Wellington for the New Zealand Dog Agility Champs to compete in the ‘Champ of Champs’ class — the most elite — where she will go up against the best in the country, most of whom are twice her age.
It will be the third time Zoom, 4, hops on the plane — "he usually gets excited about the journey, and I can hear him bark from inside the plane," she says.
The annual champs attract over 5670 dog agility competitors from across the country. The ‘Champ of Champs’ class features two key rounds — jumping, where Jess and Zoom will compete against 53 of the country’s top jumpers; and agility, where they will face the top 32 competitors from across NZ.
If the pair manage to get a first-place finish in a nationals class, the pair will qualify for a final where all the best dogs run together to determine the winner.
To make the most of the weekend, Jess and Zoom have also entered in the jumpers, senior and ‘junior dog training’ class.
Jess, a student at Wakatipu High School, holds the South Island secondary schools crown, among others, and is used to being the one to beat in South Island competitions.
She says she’s filled with "nerves and excitement" to face new competitors from the North Island.
To prepare, the pair have ramped up their training schedule to five days a week, practising in Jess’ small agility setup in her backyard, and at the Queenstown Dog Agility Club grounds at Lake Hayes Pavilion.
If Jess is successful in the national champs, she will be one step closer to achieving ‘Grand Champion’ status — which is awarded to a dog after it has won 20 ‘agility challenge certificates’, at least 10 of which are for first place.
Jess is over half-way to reaching the milestone.
Live results from this weekend’s national competition will be available on the NZ Dog Agility Club website.