By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

To get the Portuguese water dogs going, Helen McNelly only has to say one word: “agility.”

Noah barks excitedly. Shelly growls in eagerness.

Five-month-old Finn pushes past both of them, dancing and nudging for a treat.

It’s obstacle course time and they know it.

“The baby’s already started. He’s been doing it for six weeks,” said Lisa Emond, Finn’s owner.

Emond and McNelly became friends six years ago when they both started training dogs for agility trials. Emond now owns 6-year-old Shelly and puppy Finn. McNelly owns 6-year-old Noah. Both are members of a southern Maine agility club.

Agility began as a way for the women to bond with their dogs. It’s turned into a passion.

“We’re hooked. It hooks you fast,” said McNelly, who has turned her back yard into an obstacle course with ramps, hurdles and a giant tunnel.

In agility trials, dogs run a course as fast as they can, dazzling audiences with tricks and speed. Their owners run beside them, directing with short commands such as “jump” or “through.”

Some attend competitions every weekend. Emond and McNelly go a couple of times a month. The closest competition is held once a year in Augusta. They often have to drive to Massachusetts or New Hampshire.

A competition can cost hundreds of dollars with entry fees, hotel rooms and travel expenses. Winners don’t get any money.

But the women have a lot of ribbons. Their dogs are highly ranked.

Emond and McNelly like the thrill of competition.

The dogs like running and jumping. And they like the treats – bits of stew beef – they get at the end.

On one recent afternoon, Emond and McNelly took the oldest dogs through McNelly’s backyard obstacle course. After a couple of false starts (instead of jumping through the tire he ran under it), Noah streaked around poles, over an A-frame ramp, down a teeter-totter. When it was Shelly’s turn, she jumped the hurdles and ran through a set of poles, growling softly in her version of a purr.

It can take about two years for a dog to learn agility, Emond and McNelly said. They began when their dogs were young. Finn, a lanky, playful pup, has started training with short obstacles.

The women said they would never force their dogs to compete if they didn’t want to or if it was dangerous to their health. Helen’s second dog, 2-year-old Ruby, doesn’t do agility at all because of heart and hip issues.

The women also never count on winning. They just count on having fun.

“A bad day in the agility ring is better than a good day at work,” Emond said.