Maplewood Flat Coated Retrievers & Cardigan Welsh Corgis

Sharon, MA

katrin@maplewooddog.com

Agility is a dog sport that first became popular in England in the early 1980s. Shown to the public first during an intermission at Crufts, agility has grown in leaps and bounds and is now considered one of the most popular dog sports. If you've ever seen horse jumping or steeplechase, you might be able to see the origins of this fantastic sport. But, seeing how dogs are much more agile and flexible than horses, agility involves more than just jumps. On the course, dogs go through tunnels, walk over ramps, jump over jumps and through tires and move through weave poles.

 Nearly every one who becomes involved in agility stays, and many go on to compete. In the US there are three main agility organizations: NADAC, USDAA and AKC. Each organization has its own style of courses, course design, and titles that teams can earn at different levels. USDAA is considered the original venue in the US and has been around the longest. NADAC has been sponsoring trial since about 1989 and AKC has only been involved in agility for a few years. Out of all, Regal, James and I have the most experience with the NADAC venue and we are so happy with the organization we have really no need to move to other trials.

If you talk to any seasoned agility competitor, you will learn that the most important thing in this sport is the bond, trust and relationship you build with your dog. During competitions dogs must run without leashes and be under complete control. As a handler you must trust that your dog will come when you call, go to the obstacle you direct and work with you in a safe and positive manner. The dog must trust that you know what you are doing and that the game will always stay as upbeat and fun as possible. Many, many, many handlers cannot praise this team relationship enough and become overjoyed at how this bond that agility helps to build transfers over into daily household life.

In order to build this relationship, most people use positive reinforcement and positive training methods. Most instructors encourage the use of food, toys and games when teaching agility. Agility should be fun for both the human and the dog half of the team.

Hopefully this little overview has given those interested in this sport a little background and information to move on with. If you'd like more info on the sport, please visit the agility section of my Links page.

Send all comments to katrin@maplewooddog.com

Copyright (c) 2007-2008 Maplewood Flat-Coated Retrievers

No artwork, photos or writings to be reproduced without author permission