A competitor navigates the field in the Large Dog Agility content.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Julie Daniels and her border collie, Spring, found themselves in familiar territory on Sunday as they entered the final round of the Large Dog Agility competition in first place.

A crash on the first jump of last year's final run knocked Daniels out of the race and off the awards podium.

It was a different result this year, as Daniels and Spring ran a flawless final round to win the gold in the ESPN Great Outdoor Games Large Dog Agility competition.

"This is like a whole different planet," Daniels said. "This is the planet we like to be on. All year I've been thinking of last year's crash. I wanted to come here this year and show the world that Spring and I deserve the gold."

The same aggressive stride and long jumps that caused Spring so much trouble last year gave Daniels a commanding five-second lead entering the final round this year. The times were not only fast but perfect, with no registered faults.

	“	This is like a whole different planet. This is the planet we like to be on. ”
		— Julie Daniels, in comparing Sunday's victory to last year's disappointing result

With only one other dog recording a perfect score through three rounds, Daniels could concentrate on running Spring through the course without risking a crash.

"All I have to do is make it past the first jump and I'll have made it further than last year," Daniels joked.

Secret and Blitz, Border Collies owned and handled by Stacy Peardot-Goudy, won the silver and bronze, respectively. While it is difficult to own two dogs good enough to enter the GO Games Agility Dog competition, it is a rare feat to have both place so high competing against the best field in North America.

"This is beyond my wildest dreams to be able to bring my two dogs to the Games and have both medal," Peardot-Goudy said. "This is the way it should be; I can't believe it."

At the beginning of Sunday's final round, Secret and Blitz sat in forth and fifth position. Each posted clear rounds in the first course of the day.

But when both the second and third place dogs faulted in the first course, dropping them well down in the standings, Peardot-Goudy's dogs moved up to just behind Daniels and Spring.

Seizing the opportunity to medal with both dogs, Peardot-Goudy chose to run Secret and Blitz conservatively.

"I am already too far behind to run for time to catch Julie's dog. So there's no point in running for time," Peardot-Goudy said before the final round. "As long as I run clear, I'll preserve my positions."

In the finals, the dogs run in inverse order of their placement at the end of the third round in the final round. So Peardot-Goudy had to run both dogs back to back. In third place, Blitz was up first. Originally, Blitz was the dog of Peardot-Goudy's husband. But when Stacy saw Blitz's potential a year ago, she "stole" the dog for Agility training.

"I have to be more conservative with Blitz. We've only been working together for a year," Peardot-Goudy said. "He's also had a shoulder injury in the past, too, so he likes to bail on the 'A' frame early. I'll have to really watch him so we don't fault."

Blitz ran smoothly, and at both "A" frames Peardot-Goudy slowed Blitz down to a crawl to avoid a fault, but wasted precious time. At the finish, however, Blitz finished clear and fast enough to avoid a time penalty, thus insuring the bronze.

Peardot-Goudy and her more experienced dog, Secret, ran the course deliberately and without hesitation, finishing clear and taking the silver medal.