Phineas is a true story of an underdog rising in the ranks. Literally.
The mutt was passed along multiple owners before Oceanside resident Liz Randall adopted him. Randall, a certified dog trainer who owns Dogs Abound in San Marcos, said she met Phineas when he was just six weeks old.
Now, Phineas and his owner are just days away from competing at the third annual Masters Agility Championship at Westminster in New York City. Phineas, who was named the fastest mixed breed dog in the U.S. in 2015, will be one of the 3,000 dogs to compete during the prominent dog show.
But Randall didn’t find success with Phineas overnight. She said Randall had severe behavioral issues when she met him while working at a training facility.
“Normally, we wouldn’t have trained a puppy that young but he had severe issues like separation anxiety,” Randall said. “But as soon as I met him, I had a feeling he would be a good dog.”
Randall also soon realized he would be great at competitions.
“He was very athletic,” Randall said of her dog that is now 5 years old. “He has high energy and he’s very intelligent.”
The competitions have also given Phineas an outlet to overcome his anxiety, Randall said.
“A lot of high energy dogs just need something to do to help with behavioral challenges,” Randall said. “Because he has a job now, he feels very confident in his surroundings.”
Randall, who practices with Phineas daily, said the dog has been doing competitions since he was 15 months old. He now competes locally about twice a month and often places.
“He’s really quite easy to train,” said Randall, who has three other dogs. “He’s a very good dog.”
Randall hopes she and Phineas will make it to the final rounds of Westminster.
The Agility Trial finals will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1. For more information about the competition, go to www.westminsterkennelclub.org.
