at their own pace. It’ s a great experience in commitment and personal growth.”
Hoy also tells the kids in her classes:“ I’ m going to know your dog’ s name before I know your name.”
She’ s not joking.
For most of the program’ s existence, it focused on obedience and showmanship( the handler’ s ability to present and handle the dog), Hoy said. Then, sometime around 2003, 4-H added agility training( navigating the agility courses seen at dog shows).“ We saw a huge boost in numbers when they brought that on,” Hoy said.“ We almost doubled in size when they brought that on.”
“ We also doubled in size about three years ago,” Hoy said.“ We didn’ t change anything.”
Since that last spike, the dog program typically has 45-55 dogs and their owners enrolled, Hoy said.
“ So we’ re one of the bigger county programs in the state,” Hoy said.“ In fact, I think the state fair dog show has close to 70 dogs, though. We’ re getting close to being able to rival that size.”
The program is open to any and all kinds of dogs, from purebred to mixed.
Sytsma first joined the dog program with her family’ s labradoodle Shadow. When Shadow died, her family got Molly, a Maltipoo, and then Sytsma took Molly to classes.
“ Some dogs like it and some dogs don’ t,” Sytsma said.“ One of my dogs loved doing the agility course, and the other dog slowly walked through it.”
Photos provided by ISU Extension
4-H member Emma Roberts works with her dog, Casper, at the Southern Iowa Fair. Both were enrolled in the Mahaska County 4-H dog training class.
RIGHT: Morgan Schippers and her dog, Harley, won reserve champion in performance and agility at the Southern Iowa Fair in 2024. They were enrolled in the Mahaska County 4-H dog training classes.
Now Sytsma uses those skills she learned training Shadow and Molly to train her own dog, Willow.
“ I just learned a lot of responsibility. Obviously, I learned to handle my dog now— I’ m an adult, I have my own dog,” Sytsma said.“ It gives you good life skills. Like now that I’ m a dog owner, it teaches you how to be responsible and to care for your dog.”
The program teaches skills that will last the lifetime of both handler and dog, Hoy said.
“ You never know when you might need it,” Hoy said.“ My brother is on the border patrol, and they used his 4-H dog training experience, and put him in the dog program.”
SPRING 2025 7