“This has probably been the most emotional AWC of my agility journey,” Soo wrote on Facebook.
Despite having competed at the world championship with Venus four times before, Soo told Singaporean news outlet Mothership that she still felt considerable pressure at the event in Finland, in September. “I am 60 years old, I have bad legs, and I cannot suddenly make myself run like a 25-year-old handler. So I had to find another way.”
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Soo and Venus celebrate their performance at the 2026 Agility World Championship. Photo courtesy of Elsa Soo’s Facebook page |
Soo has spent much of her career working with dogs, beginning at the Singapore Prison Service’s Dog Unit. She became the first woman to receive narcotics detection dog training and later spent a year on secondment to the Police Dog Unit, where she learned protection dog handling.
Her involvement in competitive dog agility began in 2010, when she entered her first event with a Schnauzer.
She subsequently took early retirement from the Singapore Prison Service to devote more time to dog training and international competitions. “I wanted more freedom to compete internationally, learn more, train more and see how far I could go in the sport,” she explained.
Venus, her longtime competition partner, initially showed little sign of becoming a successful agility dog.
The dog arrived in Singapore from the United Kingdom as a timid puppy, struggling to adjust to unfamiliar surroundings. “She wasn’t particularly playful, and honestly she wasn’t a fast learner either,” Soo recalled.
Nevertheless, Venus gradually developed confidence and demonstrated an ability to learn through observation.
Soo remembered how the dog patiently watched her surroundings and eventually earned a spot near the food preparation table. “She might not have been a fast learner, but she had patience, she observed, and she had the brain to work things out in her own way,” she said.