Category Archives: Beagles

Ziti the Noodle Dog Gets Her Very First C-ATCH Title!

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Ziti has been running in both AKC (American Kennel Club) and CPE (Canine Performance Events) agility trials. CPE has more “games” classes than AKC, and one that is particularly difficult for handlers (as least newbies like us) to figure out is Snooker. A Snooker course has 14 obstacles (jumps, tunnels, or 6 weave poles), but often one of the obstacles involves multiple jumps or tunnels, and you have 45 seconds to finish. The obstacles are labeled 2 through 7 and you get 2 points for taking obstacle #2, 3 points for obstacle #3, and so on. Then there are four red jumps worth 1 point each. You start with a red jump, followed by any numbered jump, and you do this three times, with a different red jump each time. After three red-number combinations, you run the numbered course in order, #2 to #7. If you knock one of the red jumps, you have to find another red jump to continue. If you knock two red jumps, you’re out. The team with the most points wins first place. The maximum points you can get is 51 by doing the #7 obstacle three times, but it can be tortuous to find a new red jump between each #7 obstacle. If there’s a tie in points, the team with the faster time wins.

To earn a C-ATCH title (CPE Agility Trial Champion) Ziti has to complete all lower levels and then complete all classes at Level 5, which means five each of Jumpers, Colors, Wildcard, Full House, Jackpot, and Snooker, along with 10 Standards. Ziti completed everything by 2025 except for the fifth Snooker. Charissa and Ziti ran a very conservative (minimal points) Snooker on January 17, 2026, and Ziti received plenty of meatball treats! Click  here for a video of her successful run.

   
Left: Ziti smiles as she sails over a jump on the agility course. Right: Charissa and Ziti with judge June Ritchhart with rosette and memorial pole for her C-ATCH title.

Ziti the Noodle Dog Continues to Recover from Back Surgery

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We continue to be incredibly thankful that Ziti is still healthy and active after her surgery almost 2 years ago. In the last few months, the cooler weather seems to have made Ziti even more wound up than usual that even a weekend of agility trials plus agility class once a week can’t seem to dissipate. Ziti ran in the 2025 AKC FastCAT Invitational in October, where she also passed her Fetch Intermediate test, and then ran her fastest time in White Post, Virginia. In her spare time Ziti goes to the park. If you would like a copy of Ziti’s 2026 calendar, click here.
      Left: Her expression says it all in this Mark Baer photo from the Invitational – Ziti loves to run! Right: Ziti posing by a colorful tree in Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park.

Ziti Returns to AKC Agility!

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In August, Ziti ran in her first AKC agility trial since her back surgery in January 2024. She was entered in four events each day and was able to qualify in two on each day! Not bad for being out of practice. Her next two-day agility trial took place in Iowa at the National Beagle Specialty, where she earned four 1st place ribbons. She then successfully ran in two days of FastCAT events in Iowa. Ziti also had a great time hiking around in Iowa’s state parks.
     
Left: Ziti powers through the weave poles with Charissa urging her on. Right: Ziti poses with two of her ribbons.
This photo by Dean Lake of Ziti at the FastCAT event in Iowa just shows how happy she is to be running!

Ziti Cools Off in a Park and Runs in a Speedway Trial

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It’s been too hot and humid in June and July for gardening outside. On July 4, we took Ziti to Prairie Oaks Metro Park and made her swim in the river for therapy and to cool off. The next weekend, Ziti ran all the events over two days in air conditioned comfort at a CPE Speedway trial. There are no weave poles or contacts she has to hit in Speedway, she just gets to run fast! A larger super fast border collie named Zing picked up most of the first-place ribbons in their size category, but Ziti managed to hold her own!
     
L: Ziti and Charissa cool off in a rock in Big Darby Creek at Prairie Oaks Metro Park on July 4. R: Ziti poses with all the ribbons she won over at the CPE Speedway trial at ARF.

Ziti Resumes Running in Agility Trials!

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Ziti happily going over a jump at a recent CPE trial (left) and posing calmly on a sunny day in the park (right).
Ziti has been recovering so well and racing around the yard and parks like crazy that she has started attending agility trials again to dissipate that energy. We started her off in late summer 2024 with just one weekend day and a few events, moving to two weekend days with a few events each day, and finally moving in March 2025 to running all 9 or 10 events on both Saturday and Sunday. After such a weekend, Ziti goes in for some massage therapy and acupuncture. As the weather gets warmer she will be back on a FastCAT run as well! But sometimes, Ziti loves nothing better than just going to the park to run around (or pose) in the sun. Agility photograph by Deanna Norwood Photography.

Ziti the Noodle Dog Improves with Every FastCAT Run!

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Ziti poses at the FastCAT runs sponsored by the Potomac Valley Afghan Hound Club (left) and Potomac Valley Samoyed Club (right), where she earned her FCAT9 certification.
We’ve noticed that with every FastCAT 100-yard dash, Ziti’s time improves a little and her control of her legs also improves. So, for Thanksgiving, Ziti went to White Post, Virginia, to run twice a day for four days. It was fairly warm on Wednesday and Thursday, where Ziti posted the fourth fastest run for a medium-sized dog on Thanksgiving Day. Temperatures dropped on Friday and Saturday and every dog’s time, including Ziti’s, slowed as well. But, Ziti ran fast enough to earn a FCAT9 certification and move up to being the #4 beagle in the country for 2024!

Office Dogs Supporting HDC Projects

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HDC had previously posted a blog on the benefits of having a dog in the office, but what about bringing a dog onto the job site? It turns out that HDC’s office dogs have a long history of tagging along to job sites, especially those located in rural areas or near parks. Here’s a summary of the adventures of Bagle, Donut, and Ziti on job sites.

Bagle the Beagle

Bagle was with the office from 1992 to 2004. During the 1990s, HDC conducted numerous historic building inventories and evaluations for the Wayne National Forest in southern and southeastern Ohio. In one memorable trip she had to be carried over the metal pedestrian bridge over the creek because instead of a deck, it had rungs like a ladder. On the return trip, Bagle chose to cross the shallow waters. Bagle also got posed in front of numerous monuments in Washington D.C. as well as HDC’s first project with the State of Ohio and our first new construction project, the 7,000-square-foot outpatient center in Hamilton, Ohio.
  
At left, Bagle the Beagle referees a chess game in Washington, D.C. in 2000 and at right, in front of Sojourner Center in Hamilton, Ohio, in 2001.

Donut the Beagle

Donut’s tenure with HDC lasted from 2004 to 2018. During this time, HDC worked on many projects for ODOT and completed our first project with ODNR at the Day Lodge in John Bryan State Park. Donut came to many meetings in John Bryan State Park. If it was cool she stayed in the car. If it was warm she ended up under a big tree tethered to the picnic table. On warm days she could hear the meeting in progress through the open windows and barked loudly to express her displeasure at being left out. As a result, meetings finished quickly so that “poor Donut” could go for her walk in the park. Donut’s biggest contribution to the office was to bark while president Charissa Durst was on the phone with an ODOT auditor, who was demanding more paperwork to support a change order. Once the auditor was told the “noise” was the office beagle, he calmed down and mentioned he had a beagle growing up and assured us he would take care of the change order. Our payment arrived within a week!
  At left, Donut poses next to a statue of Fala at the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 2010, and at right, by the Day Lodge porch in John Bryan State Park in 2017.

Ziti the Noodle Dog

Since Ziti grew up with her littermates for 9.5 weeks, she is used to being surrounded by others. We used to joke that Donut had FOMO (fear of missing out), but Ziti definitely has a fear of being left out! As a result, she accompanies Charissa Durst everywhere she goes, even if Ziti just ends up waiting in the car in a parking garage. Fieldwork trips where Ziti was a big hit with clients she met on site at the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in South Point, Mount Zion Baptist Church in Athens, and the Lathrop House in Sylvania. Ziti loves when our projects are located in parks!
  At left is Ziti at the Lathrop House in 2020, which is in Harroun Park in Sylvania and at right she is in front of the Meade House in 2021, which is in the Meade Historic Preserve in Symmes Township.

Ziti Looks Back on a Productive 2021

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Ziti always looks as if she’s having a blast at The Gated Dock (left). Ziti looking not too impressed at the ribbons she’s racked up for 2021 (right).

Ziti participated in 32 FastCAT races and earned enough points to achieve BCat, DCat, and FCAT levels! She is currently the fastest beagle in the country with her fastest three runs averaging 26.07 MPH. Ziti, however, looks much happier actually running the races than posing with her awards.

 

Click HERE for a copy of the 2022 Ziti Motivation Calendar

Ziti is the Fastest Beagle in the Country!

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Ziti’s personal best is 7.85 seconds in the 100-yard AKC Fast CAT course. When converted to miles per hour, Ziti clocks in at just over 26 miles per hour!

Ziti’s official ranking on the AKC website

Meanwhile, Ziti also racked up more points toward her FCAT ribbon by participating in four races at the National Beagle Convention, which just happens to be in Wilmington, Ohio, this year. Although she was a little off on Saturday, only running at about 8.4 seconds, it still qualified as the fastest time of the day. Ziti was awarded a bright pink ribbon for her time!

       Photo of Ziti flying toward the finish line from official event photographer Dean Lake Photography  (left) and Ziti posing with her ribbon (right)