The Louisiana Capital City Obedience Club, Baton Rouge’s oldest ongoing AKC dog club, might be best known for its obedience classes, but the club also offers a unique program called Red Stick Agility that helps owners teach dogs how to hurdle, leap and race around a course.

Member Andrew Groome says, “One of my friends mentioned agility to me once I got [my dog] Millie, so I took her in for a couple of lessons and then just got hooked. After the first lesson, I was going every week.”

The club isn’t just for the dogs. Agility training, club members say, helps foster a healthy relationship between pup and owner. Patience is key to teaching the dogs how to wind their way through tunnels and dance over the see-saw, but the triumph of seeing pets perform perfectly is ultimately rewarding for the handler as well.

To learn more about the fun dogs and owners are having in the Red Stick Agility program, check out this article from the inRegister August issue, available on newsstands now.