Yellowknife (Sep 06/06) - The dogs were out in full force Saturday to participate in the Rruff Diamond's first fun meet.

Members of the agility dog team, which consists of nine dogs and their owners, have been meeting for the past five. The agility runs are a chance for owners to spend time with their dogs and keep their pets active.

They hold their practice sessions, as well as the fun meet on Saturday, at the Fred Henne Park, with nearly 40 people observing from the sidelines.

Saturday's fun meet was a chance for owners and dogs to get a feel of what a dog agility competition would be like, guiding their dogs with voice commands and treats to go over jumps, weave through bars, through large tubs and over see-saws.

With the promise of treats and praise the dogs were usually on their best behaviour.

Jake, Trudy Wisnoski's German shepherd, stopped in the middle of a run to sniff something interesting on the ground. "He's never sniffed the ground so much," she said.

Jake is popular with the other dogs, Wisnoski said. "Jake has a harem, 'cause the majority of dogs here are female."

Gay Kennedy, who helped start the organization, had her dog Maddie running the course.

"She's had a little more experience, so she can do the weaves better than the rest of them," she said.

After running the course Maddie is given her favourite treat. "She likes hot dogs, so she gets cheese and onion hot dogs."

Anne Wilson had her hands full, with a mother and son duo of Australian shepherds competing.

The mother, Diva, is "really steady," Wilson said.

But her son, Joey, gets extremely excited and barks the entire way through the course. "If you watch it on tv, the working breeds just really get excited.

"They're mother and son and so different in temperaments."

Joey and Diva are nearing retirement age however, and Wilson is already thinking of training Diva's great-grand daughter in agility.