Dog Sports - It's All About Agility

One of the most popular dog sports at dog shows is agility. In this dog sport, a handler instructs a dog through a course of obstacles; it is timed and the dog must be accurate. The dog is normally leash free and incentives such as toys or treats are not usually permitted. The handler controls the dog through body language, his voice, and movement. He isn't allowed to handle the dog physically or touch the obstacles. This intense show requires high quality training of the dog. The voice commands are down, come, sit, out, go, turn, and come.

What is an agility course? The basic agility course is constructed of standard obstacles, which a judge lays out according to his wishes. The space it is laid out in is about 100 by 100 ft. The obstacles are numbered according to the order in which the judge wants the course completed.

The course is hard enough that a canine cannot do it on his own; he needs the instructions of the handler. These are the usual contact obstacles: dog walks, ramps, tunnels, and jumps. Some other contact obstacles are: pause box or pause table, weave poles, sway bridge or sway plank, hoops, and platform jumps.

Dog agility began in the 1970's in Britain. It quickly gained adherence over the world and agility competition became an international dog sport. Different organizations have their own regulations concerning scoring and clean runs. They also value faults differently.

Faults

The time fault occurs when the dog goes beyond the time allowed for the course. The dog misses a contact, if he doesn't put his paw in the contact zone while negotiating an obstacle. Knocking a bar off of an obstacle, while jumping is called dropped or knocked bar. The dog commits a weave pole fault, when he begins the weave pole incorrectly or skips poles or tries to back-weave to make missed poles. The off course fault is taking the incorrect obstacle in a sequentially numbered course.

If a dog goes towards an obstacle and hesitates too long or turns off in another direction it is called a refusal. It is a run out, if the dog trots passed the course. Handling is a mistake of the handler - he unintentionally touches the obstacle or the canine. Training in the ring is another mistake that is done by the handler. It consists of him attempting to get the dog to do something that looks like it is for the objective of training. An example of this is trying to get the dog to repeat an obstacle, if it isn't allowed in the regulations. Different organizations have rules for this fault that are opposite of other clubs. So the penalties vary.

The penalty can be being put out of the ring, no penalty, the dog and handler may be given the longest course time, and this is normally up to the judge. Some other faults include: the dog bites the handler or judge, either the animal or handler acting unsportsmanlike, the dog goes out of the ring and stays out, the dog goes potty in the ring, and the dog having his collar on while running, if it is against the rules.