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K9 Corner – Employee Spotlight
By Russ Fox, Master Trainer
ASP Canine division is so fortunate to have such a diverse and talented group of members involved in a variety of activities and private ventures.
Every handler brings their own experiences and expertise with them, benefiting all of us here.
I would like to focus on one of our members in this article, Anne-Marie Paré, who is currently handling EDD Ylva and is based out of Quebec City. Anne-Marie is very active in the dog sport world where she competes and trains both in IGP dog sport as well as another sport called “Canicross”.
For those of you that have not heard of Canicross, it is basically a cross country race conducted with your dog. The competitors are connected by bungee cord to their dogs’ harness, and then they run a timed course. The course can range anywhere from 2km to 15km, but usually falls into the 4-5 km distance.
Although the sport is popular in Europe it is relatively new to Canada and was officially introduced in Quebec in 2006. Since then, it has steadily grown. The sport is recognized by an international Dog Sport organization (FMBB) which organizes dozens of dog sports and 1000’s of competitors.
Anne-Marie has been involved in CaniCross for the past 7 years. She has quickly risen to the top of this sport, first qualifying for the world championships in 2020 with her first dog Zimbabwe. Then, along came COVID and a serious car accident, side lining Anne-Marie with 4 cracked vertebrae.
After a lengthy recovery with physio, Anne-Marie trained for a comeback and has become Canada’s first representative for the FMBB World championships to be held in Greece in May.
Anne-Marie and her running partner, 2-year-old Belgium Teverun “Jigsaw,” will compete over 2 days, running a 2km course on the first day and a 5 km race on the second day.
