4-H youth from Meeker County participated in the Minnesota 4-H State Dog show Sept. 25-26. In total, 260 youth and 310 dogs from across the state participated in this annual event at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
Over the two-day event, 4-H’ers demonstrate their skills and knowledge in agility, obedience, showmanship, and rally, competing against other youth in their age group and experience level.
Youth members of the Minnesota 4-H Dog Project learn to train and build a trusting relationship with their pets. Topics of study include canine behavior, breed characteristics, diseases, ethics, grooming, health, nutrition, responsible breeding, service dogs, therapy dogs, dog-related careers, and the wide array of dog sports.
“Youth learn so much responsibility from training their dog and competing in the 4-H State Dog Show,” said Kim Lambert, one of the 749 caring adults who volunteer with the 4-H Dog Project statewide. “These kids work all year long, building strong partnerships with their dogs. If they don’t work carefully with their dogs, the dogs won’t work for them. The responsibility kids learn here they can use forever.”
The following youth from our area were members of the Meeker County delegation:
Club Key
KK – Kimball Kruisers
VV – Valley Victors (none)
Ribbon/Award Key
BL – Blue
RD – Red
CH – Champion
RC – Reserve Champion
(Exhibitor Name, Club, Event, Ribbon/Awards)
• Frances Geurts, KK, Agility – Elementary – 4, 8, and 12 inches, RD.
• Frances Geurts, KK, Agility – Jumpers 1B – 4, 8, and 12 inches, BL.
To learn more about the 4-H Dog Project, contact 4-H Extension Educator Cassidy Martin at (320) 693-5275 or visit the website at https://z.umn.edu/4Hdog.
About Extension 4-H: 4-H is a youth development program of the University of Minnesota Extension. Available for youth in kindergarten thru 1 year after high school, 4-H’ers participate in hands-on learning experiences in STEM, citizenship & leadership, animal science, creative arts and much more. In this learn-by-doing process, youth obtain essential life skills such as problem solving, decision making, coping, and communicating that help them succeed in their school, college, community and career. Research shows that youth who participate in 4-H have better grades and are more emotionally engaged with school, are more than twice as likely to be civically active and contribute to their communities, and are 47% less likely to have risky or problem behaviors.