Agility

This fascinating sport has its origins in equestrian show jumping. A group of dog trainers was asked to provide entertainment in between classes during a horse show. They created a smaller version of a jumping ring and guided their dogs through the course as a rider would guide his horse. It was a great hit with the crowd and such fun for the participants that they added obstacles from police and schutzhund training and the sport of Agility was born. Agility demonstrates how dogs can work as a team with humans to negotiate an obstacle course.

In Agility each team of dog and handler starts with 100 points with points deducted for handler errors, going off course, and failure to complete the course within the alloted time. The team must finish with at least 85 points to receive a qualifying score. Three qualifying scores  under two different judges wins the dog an Agility title. AKC offers two course types: standard and jumpers, and three Agility levels: Novice (Novice Agility or NA, Novice Jumpers or NJ), Open (Open Agility or OA, Open Jumpers or OJ), and Excellent (Agility Excellent or AX, Jumpers Excellent or JX). AKC titles are added to the end of a dog's registered name such as, Rosie Coyote NA NAJ OA OJ AX AJX.

AKC Obstacles

• Dogwalk--approx. 3 ft. high and 24-36 ft. long including an on and off ramp
• A-frame--approx. 6 ft. high and 8 ft. wide, two ramps attached at the top to form an inverted "V"
• Weavepoles--a series of poles spaced approx. 18" apart in a straight line, the dogs weave through the set of poles
• Table--approx. 3 ft. square, the dog lies or sits on the table for a count of 5 sec. by the judge
• Teeter--similar to a child's teeter-totter, approx 12 ft. long and 2 ft. high at the fulcrum, the dog walks up and over the teeter
• Tire jump--a suspended tire through which the dog jumps
• Window jump--a suspended screen with a hole in the center through which the dog jumps
• Bar jump--a bar across two standards
• Panel jump--a group of panels between two standards, it appears solid
• Wing jump--a bar jump with two wide, often decorative standards
• Broad jump--wide, raised boards over which the dog jumps
• Spread jump--bar jump of two or three bars parallel or staggered to create a deep, high jump

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