Shetland Sheepdog Duo Showcases Skills in Multiple Sports

Leslie Sparrow is double threat at Cynosport.

Among the busiest competitors at this year’s Cynosport^® World Games Presented by Purina^® Pro Plan^® was Leslie Sparrow of Pinetop, Arizona, who competed with two Shetland Sheepdogs in two different sports: 9½-year-old Shelby in agility and 2-year-old Skye in rally. While Leslie entered Shelby in her third Cynosport event in Tucson, she and Skye qualified for the L1A regular and Flash events with World Cynosport Rally Limited (WCRL).

This year's Cynosport included a special WCRL rally trial organized by Dawn Antoniak-Mitchell and CynoLogic Dog Sports (San Tan Valley, Arizona.) 

Leslie has competed in obedience since 1990, agility since 1999, and rally since 2009. Both Shelby and Skye participate in all three sports with her, enjoying whatever she wants to do as long as fun games and treats are involved. (They have even tried a bit of nose work.)

Leslie, a retired environmental engineer, has plenty of time for dog activities, including hiking the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest trails around their home. She and her dogs train for rally and obedience with a small group of friends at the Arizona White Mountain Kennel Club. They also train for agility twice a week at Ranch in the Forest LLC and take group obedience classes with local trainer Michelle Denton.

“All our training is outdoors, so winters can sometimes be challenging,” Leslie said. “We try to train year-round, weather permitting. I got Shelby as a 7-month-old rehome, and she has always been up to trying pretty much everything. Skye came from a breeder in Colorado who thought she was a good performance prospect, and she absolutely loves to train! I am so blessed to have found them.”

Leslie and Shelby first competed in WCRL in 2017, earning her L1 titles before their two local clubs stopped hosting trials. After moving to Arizona in 2022, Leslie found her way back to the sport with both dogs. 

“Rally is such a great sport,” Leslie said. “It’s fun and still challenging, and I like that you can talk to your dog throughout the course. It’s a great bonding sport, and you can pretty much start working on rally exercises with dogs of any age. We also tried Flash for the first time a couple of years ago and thought the faster-paced rally trials were a lot of fun, too!”