H.O.T. Dog Club
Agility |
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| Agility is one of the newest and fastest growing canine events. The American Kennel Club officially began Agility Trials on August 11, 1994 in Houston, Texas, at the Astro World Series of Dog Shows. In addition to the AKC, NADAC, UKC and USDAA offer agility trials and titles. | ||||
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Border Collie, "Molly" takes the tire jump with ease. |
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Through these various organizations,
agility is open to every pure-bred or mixed-breed registered dog of at least 12 months of
age. The purpose of an Agility Trial is to afford owners the opportunity to demonstrate a
dog's willingness to work with its handler under a variety of conditions. The program begins with basic entry level agility. As the handler and dog progress the course becomes more complex, the number of jumps and obstacles increase, and the time limits and number of faults allowed decrease.
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| "Austin", a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, flies through the tire with room to spare. | ||||
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In an Agility Trial, dog and handler work together as a team combining athletic ability and training to negotiate a course of obstacles within a prescribed time period. As the dogs negotiate the course they must constantly be alert to the verbal cues and body language of their handlers. | |||
| "Summer" a Portuguese Water Dog scales the A-frame with ease. | ||||
Agility trials are divided into three classes: Novice Agility, Open Agility and Excellent Agility. Within each class, there are five jump height divisions for dogs of different sizes. In each of these classes a dog must complete a prescribed course of "obstacles," and is judged on how it negotiates each obstacle and completes the course. As the classes become more challenging, the dog is required to demonstrate higher levels of training and interaction with its handler.
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| "Indy" a Pembroke Welsh Corgi is fearless on the seesaw. | ||||
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The obstacles on an agility course include the a-frame, dog walk, seesaw, open tunnel, closed tunnel, weave poles and pause table. Jumps include the tire or window jump, broad jump, panel jump and the single, double and triple bar jumps. | |||
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Robin,
a German Shorthaired Pointer shows off the form that earned her an Agility Excellent title! |
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The newest trial (class) is the fast-paced Jumpers With Weaves. This agility class is intended to be fun yet competitive way to demonstrate a working relationship between dog and handler. Jumpers With Weaves is divided into three classes: Novice, Open and Excellent Jumpers With Weaves.
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| It's easy to see how much fun "Calvin" is having. | ||||
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In this class dogs are not slowed down by the careful performance and control required by the contact obstacles and pause table. Dog/handlers teams can therefore race through a course composed primarily of jumps demonstration a dog's speed and jumping ability. | |||
| "Dancer" a German Shorthaired Pointer flies out of the chute. | ||||
| The maximum attainable score in any class is 100 points. The qualifying score (for placement) is 85 or above, with no disqualifying faults such as displaced bars on jumps or missing a contact zone (the area on an obstacle within which the dog must step). The higher the level the fewer faults allowed. |  |
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