Trainer grooms feral canine to become award-winning agility competitor

Happenstance intersected with Centennial Hills resident Denise Beckwith twice this summer.

First, luck was at her side. Second, her 3-year-old border collie, Keno, was there.

Immigration officer by day, dog trainer by night, Beckwith has trained hundreds of dogs to obey their masters or excel on agility courses in her four years' experience.

She spotted Keno online via a rescue organization based in San Diego. He was 10 weeks old and soon to be hers.

"He just had a special look about him," Beckwith said. "He just kind of called out to me and looked like he needed me.

"I looked at hundreds of dogs, and when I pulled up his picture, I just had to have him."

The pup was feral when she retrieved him, and he had never been touched by a human. Beckwith brought him to work at Smarty Paws Canine Coaching, 4161 N. Rancho Drive, Suite 120, and soon he was her teaching companion rather than student.

Keno was on the Smarty Paws Canine Coaching track with her in June when their story took a twist.

"I was working and having trouble breathing," Beckwith said. "I couldn't run my dogs. I was gasping for air."

Although she suspected the onset of asthma, doctors had a different diagnosis.

"They did an MRI, and both my lungs were full of blood clots," she said. "I was in critical condition. I was in bad, bad shape."

Blood thinners and a four-day hospital stay helped ease her pulmonary embolism, but Beckwith was sidelined from training for two months.

As was Keno.

For two months, Beckwith restored her health and assumed that Keno was falling out of shape.

In August, Beckwith decided to dip a toe back into competition with him at a North American Dog Agility Council agility trial in Parks, Ariz.

"The reason I went to Arizona is because I didn't want people to see me," she said. "I thought if I sputtered or failed tremendously, nobody would know me."

But the pair didn't stay unnoticed for long.

"He ran his tail off ; I could barely keep up with him," she said. "We kept getting first places."

The pair won nine of the 12 events in which they participated. Beckwith and Keno clinched second place in two events and a third place in another to round out their awards.

Keno also was honored with the distinction of "high in trial," which goes to the best dog of his class.

He was a scrappy feral who had just bested purebred animals, Beckwith said.

"When he was a puppy, I thought agility training would help him become more brave," she said. "That weekend was the bravest he's ever been. It was just a phenomenal thing for both of us."

Keno's successes breathed new life into Beckwith, she said.

"When you get a health problem like that, you feel like life is over almost," she said. "I was thinking I wouldn't be able to do things I want to do. My dog proved to me we can still do these things."

He teaches with her four days a week at Smarty Paws Canine Coaching, an indoor dog training and agility center.

Beckwith and Keno have entered other agility courses since his big wins. She said they show no signs of stopping yet.

"As long as that's where he wants to continue, that's where we'll go," she said.

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.