Rescued dog Paige makes history as first three-time agility grand champion

Paige’s latest title came with a reminder that age does not always set the ceiling in agility. At 13, the All-American Dog became the first rescue dog to earn three Agility Grand Championships, adding another milestone in May 2026 to a résumé that already made her one of the sport’s most decorated rescue dogs.

Her start could hardly have looked less promising. As a very young puppy, Paige and her littermates were found inside a bag thrown into Oregon’s John Day River, then rescued by nearby anglers. She was severely ill, battling multiple parasites and other health problems when she was brought to safety. The dog that emerged from that beginning did not just survive. She went on to become a high-drive, title-collecting agility dog with staying power.

Flora Steffan, who founded Paige’s Second Chance Animal Rescue more than 30 years ago and has trained dogs for decades, said Paige showed unusual intelligence almost immediately. Paige learned behaviors and tricks quickly, picked up directional cues, and seemed to understand new concepts with unusual ease. Still, she did not enter AKC agility until she was about 6, a late start by sport-dog standards, largely because Steffan’s rescue work, family responsibilities and other commitments left little time for weekend competition.

That late start did not slow the climb. The American Kennel Club’s title records list Paige as AGCH2 MACH PACH12 Paige, with additional agility titles including MXP31, MXPC3, MJP29, MJPG3 and T2BP12. The AKC also identified Steffan of Ridgefield, Washington, as Paige’s owner-handler in the 2026 National Agility Championship preferred results, and the title database shows Paige earned AGCH2 on March 7, 2025, in Wentzville, Missouri. By May 2026, she had added her third Agility Grand Championship, a mark no rescue dog had reached before.

Steffan’s training site calls Paige “Old Reliable” and says she was adopted at 4 weeks old. It also says the pair won 1 MACH, 5 PACHs, trick titles and qualified for nationals together, which fits the broader arc here: a dog pulled from a river bag in Oregon, then shaped by years of training into a competitor who stayed elite well into her teens. Paige’s history-making run was not a fluke of youth, and it did not happen on a short fuse.