NEW PALESTINE — Scrunched up face, tongue hanging, tail wagging — she’s nothing but a big bundle of joy. The large, fluffy friend is packed with energy and has a sweet disposition for fun and adventure.
Zen Laya is a 3-year-old St. Bernard, and she’s one of the more talented dogs in the United States.
The agile girl is the recent winner of the Best of Breed in Orlando, Fla., where she took part in the American Kennel Club — Fast CAT invitational. Her owners, Emily and Chandler Curtis of New Palestine, say their girl ran over 22 mph en route to capturing the top speed and finishing first in her category during the competition.
Emily and Chandler own Indy K9 Services, a pet training business they started a few years after graduating from New Palestine High School in 2013. They’re elite dog trainers — behaviorist who work with all kinds of dogs to help them with obedience, reactions, aggression and other animal issues so the dogs can avoid trouble and live happy and productive lives.
“It’s not always puppies and rainbows because we do work with some aggressive and reactive dogs, but we wouldn’t change it for the world,” Emily said. “We love working with the animals.”
They also train athletic dogs, something they’ve done with Zen Laya since they got her when she was a puppy. Zen Laya is one of three high-drive, working-breed dogs the couple owns. They also have two rescued pit bull dogs; one they discovered on social media after it’s owner said he had lots of behavioral issues, and another they rescued from a shelter in Indianapolis.
“Zen Laya is the only one we’ve had right from the beginning of her life who doesn’t have a sad start,” Emily said.
One of their clients who breeds St. Bernard dogs reached out to the couple a few years ago and told them they could have one from the litter. They went to visit the pups and picked Zen Laya from the group.
“We were very blessed in getting her,” Emily said. “She’s been spoiled since the minute she got home.”
The couple knew right away they had a working-breed dog with Zen Laya and started training her while she was a puppy.
“She never had that lay around personality,” Emily said. “That’s a big misconception about St. Bernard dogs is that they’re a lazy dog and it’s hard for people to imagine them doing sports, but most of them are built to do that.”
The couple noticed right away Zen Laya was able to keep up with her older, high-drive pit-bull brothers and started challenging her.
“She’s got that ‘I want to please’ personality and she’s very athletic,” Emily said. “Zen Laya is a once-in-a-lifetime dog.”
In addition to having great speed, Zen Laya is also a dog diving champ. She broke the record for her breed in dog diving in her first competition when she was only one year old.
“She became the farthest dog diving St. Bernard in North America,” Emily said. “She literally flew off the dock and we knew she was special.”
The record jump at the time for St. Bernard dogs was 18 feet, but Zen Laya jumped nearly 21 feet, blowing the competition away.
The recent competition for speed, the AKC-FastCAT Invitational in Orlando was a highly competitive event where the dogs are timed in the 100-yard dash. Chandler held Zen Laya at the starting line while Emily waited at the finish line for her as Zen Laya chased what looks like a white bunny.
“She competed against her breed and won,” Emily said. “She competed against the best runners, and Zen Laya held onto first place the whole week.”
The best part about working with Zen Laya, Emily said, is the fact she loves training more than anything. The couple plans to let her run races for a few more years, but will only let her do less impactful competitions like the dog diving and agility runs as she ages.
“She really is an athlete and she understands there are times and places,” Emily said.
Zen Laya is also a highly trained service and therapy dog who visits patients at Eskenazi Hospital where she’s a true champ. That’s something she’s done since she was 2-years-old.
“She’s just a really well-balanced, well-rounded dog,” Emily said. “We are so thankful that we got her out of that litter because she needed owners who would give her a job.”
The couple trains other dogs throughout the week and then takes their dogs to competitions on the weekends. Emily said there is nothing like helping dogs reach their true potential including their own.
“It’s a very rewarding job and we love that we get to do our passion,” she said.
The couple was married in September and had all three of their dogs in the wedding, making it a perfect day — dog hair and all.
“We really do feel blessed,” Emily said.
And, so does Zen Laya
