Agility

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Agility is a control sport, the handler must negotiate their dog around a course of 17-21 obstacles that has been set by the judge, the handler is only permitted to use their voice and body movements, they must not touch the dog. No training aids such as toys or treats are permitted in the ring and the fastest clear-round wins! Over the past decade the sport of Agility has become more popular with the speed and standard of dogs and handlers increasing.

There are classes for small (up to 15“), medium (15“-17”) and large dogs (over 17“), the jump heights differ depending on the size of the dog. There can be 800 dogs or more entered in some classes, these are split into parts with 200 - 300 dogs in each part. There are 7 grades in Agility with Grade 1 being the lowest grade; all new handlers with new dogs will start in this grade. Dogs in grade 1 can compete in classes just for their Grade and they can compete in combined classes for Grades 1-2 or Grades 1-3, each show will hold different classes. Grade progression can be achieved by winning 1 Agility class or 3 jumping classes (compulsory progression) or point’s accumulation (if a dog gains 75 points they can progress to the next level but it is not compulsory). Once a dog, handler or owner has won out of Grade 1 and 2 they can never compete at this level again, all new dogs will start in Grade 3 and progress through to Grade 7.

Dogs can start obstacle training from around 1 year old but the basics such as sit, down, wait and turning left and right can begin at 8 weeks old, they can start competing from 18 months old. It can take around a year to train a dog so that it is able to negotiate all obstacles and complete a course, Aussies are a slow maturing breed and it can take them a bit longer to get to the desired standard, patience is required with a young Aussie to maintain enthusiasm.

Border Collies are the dominant breed but there are several other breeds showing that they can keep up with them such as Belgian Shepherds, Australian Kelpies and of course the Australian Shepherd.

The number of Aussies competing in Agility seems to increase each year, and the standard is rising but those who get an Aussie thinking that they are a tailless Collie soon realise that they aren‘t, the difference in attitude, style and build make them truly unique. The Aussie is a very agile dog, they can jump from a standstill and turn on a sixpence which makes them ideal for Agility, you often hear an Aussie doing an Agility round before you see one!
Catherine Fuller