Above: A resident shared news about her dog’s achievements and his upcoming competition. (contributed photo)
This weekend, an energetic, young Southborough resident will be competing in a prestigious “Agility Championship” in New York, that the public can live stream.
Five year old Jack-Jack will be accompanied by his “Mommy”, owner Pauline Ryan, when they compete at the Westminster Kennel Club on Saturday.
Ryan reached out to share some photos and details about her very “Good” boy.
Ryan described Jack-Jack, a 5-year-old Coton de Tulear, as her “empty nest dog”. The pup is already an old pro at competing in national and international agility competitions. And he is also a certified (and quite active) therapy dog.
According to Ryan, three years ago, the duo began entering competitions around New England, most frequently in American Kennel Club trials. She shared:
last December, Jack-Jack and I earned our “Masters Agility Championship” title (MACH). He is currently the #2 Coton de Tulear in AKC Agility in the US, and we have been invited to the AKC Agility Invitationals in Orlando, Florida the last two years. . .
We also compete in US Dog Agility Association (USDAA) and last November traveled to Tucson, Arizona because we qualified to compete in Cynsoport® World Games which was an international competition.
Competing in these national/international events is a huge thrill for us, as Jack-Jack is not only my first agility dog but my first dog ever!
In addition to his many agility titles, and a Trick Dog title, Jack-Jack has racked up some titles for his regular therapy dog work.
Ryan explained that her husband Terry and Jack-Jack work as state volunteers and went through extra training in order to visit memory units.
Jack-Jack was certified through Therapy Dog International. He’s a “Canine Good Citizen”, with “Therapy Dog Excellent” (for over 200 document therapy visits), and has a TDIRVA (Therapy Dog International Remarkable Volunteer Award) for over 250 visits:
Jack-Jack regularly visits named hospice patients weekly at New Horizons in Marlborough, Marie Esther Skilled Nursing in Marlborough and Salmon Health and Retirement in Westborough. He also makes visits weekly to groups at Sevita AgingWell adult day care in Marlborough in addition to several groups at Leonard Morse Hospital biweekly. He has also made occasional visits to Westborough schools.
Jack-Jack has his own Instagram account where he shares updates on his achievements and experiences. (OK, I suspect it’s actually his family that is writing up the posts, but I didn’t ask!) Scroll down for a couple of his posted videos from recent competitions.
The 12th Annual Masters Agility Championship Preliminaries are scheduled to be streamed live on the Westminster Kennel Club’s YouTube channel (here) on Saturday, February 8th from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm. If “MACH Jack–Jack Ryan” makes it into the Finals, you can watch that between 4:30 – 7:00 pm.
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