Heights don't seem to bother even the small dogs in the Agility competition.

LAKE PLACID, N. Y. — A slippery course didn't stop Jean Lavalley and her Shetland sheepdog, Taz, from taking an aggressive approach on their way to the gold medal Sunday in the Small Dog Agility Trials of the ESPN Great Outdoor Games.

Taz completed all four rounds of competition with a perfect score. But it was an aggressive run during a wet, first round that allowed the team to cruise in the final.

"I didn't take the first round conservatively," Lavalley said.

The no-holding-back strategy gave the team an almost insurmountable lead over eventual silver medalist Barbara Davis and Shimmer.

"With a three-second lead, there's no need for me to push Taz for speed. All I have to do is run clear," Lavalley said.

Running a "clear" round with no faults is critical in the agility trial. Perfection rates higher than speed.

The fastest times are bumped down the list by the perfect runs. With Taz's fast times and perfect rounds, all he had to do was cruise through the final round.

"We could make up as much as one second, maybe," Davis said. "But being behind by three seconds, there's just not much I can do. We'll go and try to run clean to keep our silver."

Since the start order of the forth and final round is determined by the cumulative times through the three previous rounds, Davis would run the course just before Lavalley. Shimmer ran flawlessly, posting a clear round with a time of 34.40, the fastest of competition.

Last to enter the course, Lavalley and Taz had two goals: finish clear, and with a time not more than three seconds slower than Davis' time. With 37.40 as the time to beat, Taz ran deliberately and finished with a mark of 35.30 and a clear round, giving her the gold.

Lavalley and Davis completed all four rounds without faults and thus recorded the only two perfect scores in all four rounds.

The bronze went to Barbara Lombard and her Shetland sheepdog, Turbo, finishing the four rounds just one fault short of perfection.