Canine agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course as fast as they can and with as little mistakes as possible. In competition, dogs must run off-leash with no food or toy incentives and the handler cannot touch the dog or the obstacles. There are many different types of obstacles the dog may have to perform such as the teeter-totter, dog walk, A-frame, tunnels and jumps. There are also different events such as Standard courses, which are numbered courses that have all the different obstacles represented in it. Jumpers courses, which consists of jumps and tunnels. Gamblers courses in which obstacles are assigned a point value and handlers must try to gain as many points as possible before heading to a main ‘gamble’ where they must send their dog up to 20’ away from them and complete a short sequence. There are also Snooker, Steeplechase, Team and Challenge events. Agility is a wonderful way to build up the bond between you and your dog and to socialize with other enthusiasts. It is an amazing feeling when you complete a course fast and mistake free! But be careful…agility is very addictive! =)
Agility
