Agility Helps Rescues Find Their Stride

Care and attention lead to lasting connections.

This article was originally published in the June 2025 OVERview digital magazine.

With the right care and attention, these rescues found deep, lasting bonds with their handlers and a love for agility.

Rook and Rebecca Loveland Anastasio

“Rook was in a community shelter in Salinas, California, on death row because of severe kennel stress,” said Rebecca Loveland Anastasio. “The shelter rescue coordinator contacted me to help find a rescue for him, but he had three strikes: he showed very poorly because of kennel stress, plus GSD mix, plus black dog.

"But when I met him, I knew he had potential, so on his last day, I drove up and got him myself. He’s been the easiest dog to train that I have ever had. We are having so much fun learning agility!”

Rook

Thor and Diane Beans

“Thor is a Rottie mix I got in early 2021, and we learned agility together. He was my first dog and first sports dog,” said Diane Beans. “Because Thor is a mixed breed, and I got him as a fully grown dog who had been exposed to no prior training, it took a while for me to understand his traits, tendencies and motivators, and much longer to learn how to deploy them well for a successfully executed sequence. If I could start over, I would work more on foundations, jump grids, form and fitness exercises. I would work more on having fun and keeping us both motivated and happy rather than worrying about a specific course or skill.”

Through agility, Thor learned how to be engaged and ready to work with Diane in busy environments with other dogs and people and a lot of movement and noise.

“The level of relationship, trust and concentration that agility requires is not easily duplicated elsewhere, and it made a really big difference in our bond and teamwork,” she said. “He is now happy and confident. I would definitely recommend agility for any dog/handler team who is physically able to participate. Just remember to take it slow, enjoy the process, work on building confidence and have fun playing together!”

Thor