Dog Agility: A Competitive but Fun Sport

In the past few years, dog agility has gained ground in becoming one the best-loved animal sports in America and Europe. While performing dog agility, the handler will guide the dog in progressing through the course in the shortest amount of time possible while racing the clock.

During a competition, the dog has to complete many obstacles, such as going through pipes and jumps, as time ticks away and spectators watch from the stands.

Dog agility sports is a cousin to equestrian stadium jumping, however it now has its own rules and scoring outlines, as well as its own obstacles. Today there are many organizations that accommodate the participants of dog agility competitions.

These organizations stick to unyielding international rules of agility performance in dogs. You should be able to locate an organization that holds trials through local U.S. dog training clubs.

For the duration of a dog agility competition, the contestants are judged on physical performance during the obstacle course, as well as on their speed while completing the course. Every country has its own set of domestic rules that are used in determining the winner, such a scoring performance based rather than handler based and vice versa.

When at all possible, the handling organization of the trial competition will ensure that the agility obstacle course is not only safe but well designed as well. For instance, all surfaces are roughened up to insure that the dogs will not slide or slip during the agility competition. Also, the jump bars are detachable so that if a dog miscalculates the wrong distance it will not be in danger of injury.

The handlers and dogs will take part in several obstacle courses that present various levels of challenges based on the dog’s level of ability during an agility competition. The handler must maneuver the dog through the designated course with no reward or leash, when the trials begin to beat the complicated course in the smallest amount of time.

Typically, as the handler and its dog take part in more agility trials, they will move up to the higher levels of competition.

There are standard time calculations and, if a dog experiences difficulty during the competition, it is called a fault. All faults carry a calculated penalty, as well. Dogs of equal size are in competition with one another in divisions. Once the tally is totaled, the animal that participates in the agility training and acquires the shortest time and least number of faults wins, along with its handler who helped guide him through the course.

Winning a dog agility competition offers the dog and its handler a fun and exciting experience while raising the self-esteem of the dog.