Ashley Vicklund and her dog Magnus fresh off their run through the agility course. (paNow Staff/Nick Nielsen)

By Nick Nielsen

Dog days of summer

VIDEO: PAKOC hosts dog agility trials

Jul 13, 2025 | 2:00 PM

Over the course of the weekend, the Prince Albert Kennel and Obedience Club (PAKOC) held their dog agility trials at the Prince Albert Exhibition Grounds. The event allows dogs and their handlers the opportunity to showcase their conditioning and ability to work together, all while having some fun and giving the dogs a chance to earn some ribbons.

Ashley Vicklund and her dog Magnus competed for the first time, but she’s been around the sport for a while.

“My family’s always taken dog classes and been really interested in dog training, so we’ve been a part of things like this for a while, just never at a competitive level. I was retiring from tackle football and powerlifting, so I was looking for something else to do, and I came across dog sports.”

There are three levels to dog training that depend on a dog’s skill level; starters, advanced, and masters, but then those categories get broken down into ‘regular’ for dogs that are in good health, and ‘special’ for smaller dogs that may not be able to jump because of their size, or for dogs like pugs who have short noses and some breathing issues.

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Vickluand and Magnus were competing in the ‘advanced specials’ category. They have competed in the ‘starters’ category before, and this trial was their first in the ‘advanced’ category.

“I actually started training my dog in 2022, but we’ve been competing for just over a year now and then you should start constantly training throughout the year. You’re not necessarily ever trying to peak and just always kind of want to be able to go.”

For Vicklund, the atmosphere around the dog training and the powerlifting circuits shared a lot of similarities that helped get her invested in dog training. Even though you’re still technically competing with each other in both cases, your success doesn’t take away from anyone else’s, so everyone’s cheering each other on.

“The atmosphere is very similar to powerlifting. Everybody’s on your side. Everybody’s cheering for you. Everybody’s helping each other out. So it’s a lot of fun to do these things.”

The Prince Albert Kennel and Obedience Club is starting a fresh set of classes in the fall.