HUNTINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) A Vermont dog trainer and her fury friend recently appeared on a new cable TV show. On A&E's America's top Dog, four police K-9 teams and one civilian team face off as they complete a series of tasks and take on an obstacle course.
Scott Fleishman headed to Huntington to meet Jill Viggiani and her boxer, Moto to talk about the experience in Los Angeles and MotoDog training.
Scott Fleishman: Jill, America's Top Dog. What a great experience for you. Tell us what it was like.
Jill Viggiani: It was really great. It was a really cool opportunity. I feel really honored that they selected Moto and I to be a part of the show. I believe they found me through Instagram. It was pretty neat. It was sort of like, basically like America Ninja Warrior and adding in dogs, but the cool thing is the obstacles were pretty challenging for humans and for dog. A lot of them involved agility, they involved some footwork, they involved teamwork for sure, navigating through the course and it was really great, because it also worked on the dog's sense of smell. It worked on the dog's sense of teamwork and basically training."
Fleishman: You were telling me that you really didn't have a watch party so much, but you had some friends that had a watch party for you.
Viggiani: Yeah, I was a little bit nervous, because I didn't get to see how it was going to be edited, but I was so excited that I was basically pacing for an hour before the show aired and my brother actually had a bunch of friends over to watch the show. Everyone was calling and texting when the show was on and Moto had a great time and he did so awesome. I'm so proud of him.
Fleishman: So tell us about Moto, training and being out here in Huntington.
Viggiani: Moto is six-years-old. I got him when he was a puppy. I flew over to Belgium to get him and we've been training the whole time. He's trained in a couple of different sports. He's trained in agility. He's trained in a sport called I-G-P, which is basically a three tiered sport that involves tracking, obedience and protection. MotoDog Training has been officially in business for two years, but we've been doing it part time before that. We basically train everything from puppies, to dogs that have behavior issues, to dogs that want to get focused and involved in any type of sport training and everything in between.
Fleishman: What is it about dog training for you?
Viggiani: I think it's just the connection with the dog and really watching them thrive and watching them figure things out and the teamwork and the bond. It's just really special.
Fleishman: Moto, it's great to meet you, Jill thanks for having me come out today and congratulations on everything.
Viggiani: Thanks so much and Moto thanks you too.
Moto did not win the competition, but the exposure for MotoDog training was the real win. MotoDog takes on a handful of dogs at a time for training.
2020-02-09 16:29:51Z
https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Vermont-dog-competes-on-cable-show-567709931.html
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