Local canine team earns high-level AKC honor

Thursday, October 30, 2014
Timber clears a hurdle as he goes to retrieve an object thrown by Blonshine. The agility test is one of many events the two of them have practiced over the years as they prepare to compete in AKC events in Boise and neighboring states.

It took less than a minute for Timber to correctly single out the fist-sized object from the 11 others. His owner, Karla Blonshine, was testing the German Shepherd's ability to spot which one she had held in her hands just a few minutes before.

To complicate the search, each of the three-sided objects were mixed together before they were placed in a small cluster on the rain-dampened ground. Knowing the game was about to begin, Timber tried to sneak behind his owner's back before Blonshine issued a command for him to look away.

Timber's keen sense of smell swiftly ended this canine version of "hide and seek." As part of a routine he had rehearsed countless times before, the canine picked the object up with his teeth and returned it to his owner.

It was just one in a series of lessons that Blonshine and her canine companion had mastered over the past few years. His growing ability to understand and carry out her commands recently earned him one of the American Kennel Club's highest honors.

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