Facing furry opponents

Man’s best friend became kids’ No. 1 opponent on a grassy field Friday as scores of elementary school children played soccer with a pair of border collies. It was a scene that made David Letterman’s “Stupid Pet Tricks” look uneventful.

Mark Lukas, a dog-training guru from Huntington Beach, put on quite the display at Woodland Elementary in Costa Mesa, encouraging children to block the goals and play along with the canines.

“Now kids,” he urged through a headset microphone, “Don’t ever get a border collie unless you have a lot of time to play with them, OK? They require a lot of attention because they love to get out and exercise. You need to spend at least two hours with them at a time.”

The dogs, without question, were a hit among the kindergartners, first- and second-graders, who earned the special appearance for having helped raised thousands of dollars this past year for their school, said Lea Tamblyn, vice president of fundraising for Woodland and Kaiser elementary schools in Costa Mesa.

Tamblyn said both schools, with a total of 1,100 students, sold wrapping paper around Christmas time and mixed design, eco-friendly grocery bags, raising $80,000.

“The kids worked so hard and with nary a complaint,” Tamblyn said. “This is the least we could do to return the favor. We all know how much children love dogs, and when you get a couple of border collies out here that actually know how to play soccer, well, you can imagine the excitement.”

And so, with morning dew still fresh on the ground, Lukas brought in the soccer goal posts and nets, his pair of dogs in tow — Ms. Z, who’s 6, and Bek, 3.

Both could have given professional soccer players a run for their money.

Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the collies certainly knew how to use their bodies and noses to maneuver the soccer balls into the nets, as the children took turns standing around and defending their goal posts.

The story of how Lukas came about training his dogs to play soccer stems from a personal tragedy.

About six years ago, his son, Zak, died at the age of 16 in an accident in the Gulf of Mexico.

Lukas ended up getting Ms. Z so that he wouldn’t be alone. Soon, he and the dog built a bond so great that it led to days of training and soccer-filled fun.

“Did you know that dogs are closer to humans than any other animal?” Lukas told the crowd of children. “That’s because they’re experts in body language and sometimes they know what you’re going to do even before you know you’re going to do it.”

The children played soccer until noon and, in the process, became great friends with the dogs.

For information on Lukas and his program, visit www.soccercollies.com.