10-Year-Old No. 1 Youth Dog Handler

Ashley Amdor, 10, does everything with her black Labrador retriever, Napolean — sleeping, running, playing and annihilating the competition.

The duo travels around the state and country participating in hunting and water competitions. Amdor is ranked as DockDogs’ No. 1 youth handler in the world. DockDogs is a canine aquatics competition circuit.

“He is my best friend and does not judge me,” said Amdor, who will be a fifth-grader at Petroglyph Elementary School in northwest Albuquerque. “He loves me for who I am and has taught me to treat others that way.”

Today, Amdor and Napolean will try for another win as they compete in the Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge diving competition in Denver. The dog that jumps the farthest into a pool of water wins. The competition is by invitation only and consists of mostly adults, but children do sometimes compete, said Karie Gottwald, a spokeswoman for Purina.

“Ashley is much younger than most of the competitors,” Gottwald said in an email, “which is what makes her story so unique.”

Amdor was born into a family of dog lovers and competitors.

“We train retrievers for hunting,” said Ashley’s mom, Dawn, during a phone interview from Denver. “We also compete with our dogs.”

When Amdor was 6, she asked her parents about training a dog.

They told her if she did the hard work, she could get her own puppy.

Amdor choose Napolean from a litter and has trained him from the start. He is now 4 1/2 years old.

“I told her she had to do all the work, and she has,” Dawn Amdor said. “I think they have a true bond as a team. We’ve tried to jump him and have not done as well.”

Amdor practices twice a week in her grandfather’s swimming pool.

“I’ve always been competitive,” she said in a phone interview. “It’s just in my body.”

Dawn Amdor said Napolean is her daughter’s constant companion, rarely leaving her side. He even goes with her to school for the running club. If the pair wins Saturday, they will advance to the championship round in St. Louis in October. Amdor said she’s confident they will do well.

“We are both so competitive,” she said. “We both love each other and he wants to do his best, best.”