Dog agility show at state fair also helps find homes for dogs in need

Disc-Connected K9’s isn’t just an agility show. It’s also a good cause.

Lawrence Frederick has been training dogs for frisbee competitions for 51 years, with his very first competition at the age of 12.

Now, he’s one of the many new attractions at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.

“We always heard it was a great fair so we jumped at the opportunity,” Frederick said.

His touring group competes world-wide and travels for shows about 44 weeks a year.

“We are the most widely recognized team in the world, we do three or four international shows per year,” Frederick said.

The traveling, jumping dogs each have a unique background.

“We get them from all different types of environments. One of our best is a homeless dog off the street,” Frederick said. “We get people coming up to us at fairs asking us if we want to adopt their dogs. We get shelters and rescue groups that call us continually because they know about our program, and they know what we do with them.”

Through donations and merchandise sales, the pups seen at competitions and shows are helping other dogs find their forever homes.

Disc Dog Rescue, the group’s rescue organization, takes in dogs from all around the country, makes sure they have a clean bill of health, teaches them obedience and, of course, how to catch a frisbee. Then they match the dogs with families to fit their personality.

“We’ve been doing this for 31 years and it’s 100 percent free. We’ve never charged anybody a dime ever to adopt one of our dogs,” Frederick said.

Disc-Connected K9’s will be at the fair all week doing three or four shows each day.

“Each show has completely different dogs in it, so you can come back to all four shows and see a completely different show,” Frederick said.