Anna DeLaittre is pictured together with her three heelers: Tippy, Charcoal and Lady.
When Anna DeLaittre talks about animals, she merely lights up.
She is a walking encyclopedia of animal information and know-how, revealing in a single dialog a few of the canine breeds which have webbed ft – otterhounds and retrievers – and the perfect eating regimen for a hen to make sure her eggs have a robust shell.
Anna’s home in Minnesota Lake, in the meantime, homes a veritable zoo of animals. Apart from roughly 40 hens, Anna and her father, Mark, care for 2 roosters, a goat named Coconut – who’s anticipating – a duck named Nibs, and Pepper the Siamese cat.
Then, there are the DeLaittres’ three heelers: Lady, Charcoal and Tippy.
Anna not too long ago demonstrated the sturdy connection she has together with her dogs on the 4-H State Dog Show, which was held on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24.
Her senior yr efficiency at State was a hit. Anna introduced home crimson ribbons in Intermediate Agility, Agility Jumpers 1B and Beginner Obedience. She additionally collected a blue ribbon in Rally.
Despite all of the ribbons, Anna says, “I didn’t care what I placed – I just had fun with my dogs.”
Mark agrees, including, “If you’re not having fun, you shouldn’t be (at State). It’s all about the kids, and the connection.”
This was really Anna’s third journey to the 4-H State Dog Show. She certified with Lady for the primary time in 2019, after which, after taking day without work through the pandemic, she returned to the competitors final yr and this fall.
Anna’s path to State started with eight days of coaching with an expert coach, adopted by participation within the Faribault County Fair 4-H Dog Show.
Participants who’re named Grand or Reserve Champions on the county stage, like Anna, then earn a slot within the 4-H State Dog Show.
Showing a canine via 4-H includes a number of completely different elements, every of which is designed to show completely different expertise possessed by each canine and handler.
Obedience, Anna explains, focuses on the canine’s skill to reply to instructions.
“You can’t touch (the dog),” she provides. “It’s more judged on what the dog knows.”
Rally, in the meantime, is an occasion the place indicators are posted alongside a course. The handler and canine cease at every signal and carry out the duty it asks of them.
Agility is a dynamic impediment course together with jumps, tunnels, weave poles and a teeter totter.
Finally, Agility Jumpers includes a course made up completely of jumps and tunnels.
“You turn a lot, so you have to have a good connection with your dog, and good body language,” Anna explains.
She is ready in that division.
Anna’s dogs are fairly actually household, as Charcoal and Tippy are each Lady’s descendents. Anna has been deeply concerned in all three dogs’ lives – from delivery, within the case of Charcoal and Tippy.
Lady, the eldest of the three dogs, joined the DeLaittre household in 2017 when Mark purchased her as a birthday reward for Anna.
Later, Lady turned a mom, and Anna helped delivery and lift her puppies.
“If you get dogs when they are puppies, you protect them,” Anna observes. “Then, they grow up, and they protect you.”
Anna stored one of many puppies – Charcoal – and she or he is ready to checklist the properties the opposite puppies discovered after they have been old sufficient to depart Lady’s facet. One puppy lives simply down the road from Anna and Mark, for instance, whereas one other has discovered a contented home on a dairy farm.
“We’re always in touch with our dogs,” she explains.
Another litter produced Tippy, Anna’s third canine. Tippy remains to be fairly young, however she made her debut at State this yr within the Obedience class.
“We expected to bomb,” Anna admits, “but she just blew us away.”
Anna labored with Charcoal within the remaining three classes – Agility, Agility Jumpers and Rally – as Lady is retired from the 4-H Dog Show circuit.
At home, Anna and her trio of dogs are inseparable.
“They know exactly what time I’ll get home every day,” Anna says, including that each one three dogs, together with the chickens, duck, goat and cat, give her a heat welcome every time she pulls into the driveway.
However, following her commencement from Maple River High School this spring, Anna will probably be leaving her home in Minnesota Lake to pursue her dream of turning into a veterinary technician at Ridgewater College in Willmar.
“It’s the oldest vet tech school in Minnesota,” she says.
It appears a becoming profession for an animal lover.
When requested what she likes most about animals, Anna replies, “They’re not humans. They don’t judge you.”
She provides, “That’s why I want to be a vet tech. I’ve always had a connection with animals.”
