What is agility?
Agility is a fast, fun dog sport which involves a handler and dog team negotiating an obstacle course. These include jumps, tunnels, weaving poles and contact obstacles such as a dog walk. In a trial, the course must be completed within the time set by the judge and without course errors.
What type of dog does it suit?
Any breed of dog can do agility. Dogs need to be fit, healthy and obedient to the handler. Formal obedience training is not a prerequisite but enthusiasm and desire to please the handler are really important. Useful foundation skills for this sport are recalls, stays, and working with your dog on both your right and left hand side. It helps to build up a repertoire of interactive games with your dog, to play with toys and to use motivating treats which reward desired behaviours.
Classes and training
Classes are currently held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Once a dog is 12 months old it can be added to the waiting list which is held in the club office. The handler must remain a financial member of BDOC to hold a place. When there is a new intake planned, the agility co-ordinator will contact eligible handler/dog teams. Dogs need to be 14 months old and pass an assessment to check responsiveness to their handler, behaviour with other dogs and people, fitness and movement before commencing agility training.
In agility class dogs generally work off lead when using the equipment. It is an exciting environment for most dogs so control and teamwork are very important. Children over 14 years old are welcome as handlers provided they are accompanied by a parent or guardian at all classes.
Agility trialling
Trialling includes agility, jumping and games courses. A course is designed by the judge and will be modified for Novice, Excellent and Master standards. There is also Open competition in agility and jumping which includes challenges in distance handling. Heights of the jumps to be negotiated are determined by the height of the dog. In order to trial, both dog and handler need to be registered with the Australian National Kennel Council which operates in each State and Territory.
Finally...
A good agility run, which is fast, smoothly executed and shows the close teamwork between handler and dog, looks deceptively easy. The team will have put in plenty of training time both in class and at home. Many dogs just love the fun and activity of this sport so the handler effort in training is well worth while. Agility may suit you and your dog too – so why not try it?
To learn more about Agility, go to Agility Dog Association of Australia website
