BERRIEN SPRINGS — When Danielle Lamb, 18, of Dowagiac, shows her dogs, Molly and Parker, she has not only the competition in mind but also a potential future of helping others heal with therapy animals.

Lamb showed her dogs Thursday at the Berrien County Youth Fair and earned several titles to boot. With her dog Molly, she claimed several major titles, including grand championship title for overall showmanship; second place in showmanship; reserve grand championship for rally and grand champion in agility. Her dog, Parker, a 12-year-old sheltie, also won a first place award in rally and a second place award in agility.

Lamb is an incoming sophomore at St. Mary’s College, where she is studying communications and disorders and theater. With her studies, the teen said she could see herself in a job where she uses therapy animals to help children. She also said she is interested in training animals for movie sets.

Lamb’s 10-year-old Golden retriever, Molly, is a certified therapy dog. Lamb has worked with the dog since she was 9 years old and has been showing her dog for 10 years. This is her first summer showing animals at the Berrien County Youth Fair.

On Thursday, Lamb and Molly rested after completing the rally competition. For rally, Lamb had to teach Molly to obey a series of commands. During the competition, Molly had to respond to cues from Lamb to complete an action on a sign, such as “sit” or “down.” The event is timed and competitors earn points for completing the action on the sign.

Lamb said training Molly is a constant if she wants her to compete well.

“I’m constantly working with her on anything and everything,” Lamb said.  “Because even though she may get something perfect, you still have to work on it. Otherwise, they could lose it. No run is perfect. There is always something to improve upon.”

Lamb said training her to compete in shows, like the Berrien County Youth Fair also helps to keep aspects of Molly’s therapy dog training sharp.

“Knowing all the basics of obedience and the bond with your dog helps a lot,” Lamb said. “Your dog has to obey you and [know] what’s right and wrong around other people.”

Lamb also puts her love and knowledge of dogs to good use by bettering her community. She is a volunteer for Best Friends 4-H. The organization is made up of youth with disabilities. Lamb helps to teach them about interacting with animals and she brings Molly with her. The youth also get to show Molly.

“It helps them build up their confidence and interact with others,” Lamb said.

Lamb is also a volunteer at Reins of Life in South Bend, where, disabled youth work with horses in a seven week class.

“It’s rewarding to be in that kind of atmosphere,” Lamb said.

With this background knowledge, Lamb said she could see her studies at St. Mary’s potentially leading to a career where she gets to help youth.

“My goal is to get to know all the disorders so that I can work with children and how they can work around what may be holding them back,” Lamb said.

Training therapy animals could further help her in the profession, she said.

This year at the Berrien County Youth Fair, Lamb also showed her draft horses and claimed several winning titles. She won grand champion titles for draft horse halter and draft horse showmanship and draft cart classes. She also earned the reserve grand champion title in pleasure driving.

While Lamb said she does not know if her schedule will allow for her to compete at the youth fair next summer, she said she enjoyed the first-time experience.

“I just love how welcoming everyone is,” Lamb said. “It is rewarding to help others and share what I know with everyone else.”