what is agility?

Our Schnauzers love to be active. Have a look which activity will suit your dog. There is everything from Agility, flyball, Rally-O, Cani-X to Schutzhund.
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dannie_kl

what is agility?

Post by dannie_kl »

So you've maybe heard about this sport called agility? or maybe you have never heard of it before at all?
Agility is a dog sport where by a dog must negotiate its way around a course of obstacles directed by a handler working against the clock. the dog can incur time faults and even disqualification whilst doing a "run" so precision is key!
Agility was first introduced to crufts in 1978 and has continued to increase in popularity year on year with many dog clubs running agility classes/courses.
Your dog must either be on the Activity register or be a pedigree dog to compete at Kennel Club licensed events and there are age restrictions on training and competing.
For further information or to find a registered agility club visit:
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/agility
dannie_kl

Re: what is agility?

Post by dannie_kl »

I have a question for any agility afficianado's:
in showing we have classes etc but how does it work in agility? I know you have to be measured to make sure you're competing agianst the right height dogs but do you start in beginners and progress through levels of difficulty? and how do you qualify or whatever to the next class/level?
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Mike Jackson
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Re: what is agility?

Post by Mike Jackson »

I know I'm a bit late posting this but as no one else has answered I though I would.

To compete in KC agility shows your dog needs to be measured and will be classified as small, medium or large. When you compete you compete against other dogs in the same height classification. When you start out in agility you are a grade 1. To advance grades you need to win a competition in that grade and you advanced to the next grade. This is often termed winning out. As well as the agility courses you will also come across jumping courses which have none of the contact equipment. You can advance grades by winning in jumping classes but you have to win multiple times (I think it's 3) to advance to the next level.

The courses will be set for particular grades but at smaller shows you will often have grade 1-4 courses and grade 5-7 courses.

It gets a little more complicated when you've competing for a while as once an owner has achieved a certain grade (grade 3 I think) then all of their dogs must then compete at this grade or above.

If you're competing in the large classification you'll find it pretty much dominated by Collies but there's a fair few ABC (Anything But Collie) classes been run now to give the other breeds a chance but these won't count towards grade advancements.

I'm still competing at grade 1 but hope to take the agility world by storm some time soon.
dannie_kl

Re: what is agility?

Post by dannie_kl »

aww thanks for answering my questions, I really appreciate it! You never know, maybe sometime soon I will be at an agility show to finally suss it all out with my girl Ava, she is thorughly enjoying agility classes and is pretty speedy when she gets going!
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Re: what is agility?

Post by helga »

when we get our new puppy agility is one of the things we will be doing but sadly because i have dogs in the higher grades my new one will have to start in grade 3, there are other agility orginisations as well as kc run agility shows UKA,EMDAC (east midlands dog agility club) they all run shows, training normally starts at about 12 months old, but i start basics asap, they learn left and right, wait which is a godsend at the start line, go on to a toy or a treat so they do not depend on being with me and then in theroy with the ground work done we begin training =))
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Re: what is agility?

Post by Guinevere »

Sorry Dannie I never saw this when you posted
The classes tend to be either graded which means you are only competing against dogs in your grade or combined (usually 1-3, 3-5 , 6-7) which means you are competing against all the dogs in that class.

You have to have your dog measured twice too. The second time at least 12 months but less than 24 months after the first.

Mike is right you only have to win one agility class to move up a grade but you have to win three jumping.

Agility includes jumps, weaves, dog walk, A frame, tunnels, see saw. Jumping is jumps, tunnels and weaves.
dannie_kl

Re: what is agility?

Post by dannie_kl »

thanks to all who have replied here, its great to see all the different inputs :)
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