Cowboy brings home the hardware from AKC Agility Premier Cup

Cowboy is quite quick. The 8-year-old Papillon from Hibbing is tiny, but has a tall reputation on the competition circuit. “He runs for treats and for toys,” his owner, Carolyn Swanson, told us.

The duo took home 4th place earlier this month from the prestigious AKC Agility Premier Cup. ESPN was there filming the competition.

“It’s an invitation only event, with the 100 top competitors. It was just an honor to be able to go,” she explained.

They mastered about 20 obstacles in under a minute, running clean and fast. And in his height class, which is 8 inches, they took home 4th place. “It was exciting to make it to the podium,” Swanson said.

Carolyn hopes this inspires more people to try the sport. She’s in the Arrowhead Dog Agility Association of Duluth.

“There’s a lot of great training clubs if people are interested. It’s a great sport to get involved with, with your dog and a great way to spend time with them,” Swanson added.

She and her husband Duane purchased a property near the airport to train dogs. It’s called Shadowland, in honor of her dog named Shadow.

They have a few more competitions coming up.