All About Agility

“Dog agility is a sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs must run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives. The handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles, except accidentally. Consequently, the handler’s controls are limited to voice, movement, and various body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal.

In its simplest form, an agility course consists of a set of standard obstacles, laid out by an agility judge in a design of his own choosing on a roughly 100 by 100 foot (30 by 30 m) area, with numbers indicating the order in which the dog must complete the obstacles.

Courses are complicated enough that a dog could not complete them correctly without human direction. In competition, the handler must assess the course, decide on handling strategies, and direct the dog through the course, with precision and speed equally important. Many strategies exist to compensate for the inherent difference in human and dog speeds and the strengths and weaknesses of the various dogs and handlers.”

Reference: Dog agility. (2008, March 6). In
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:26, March 30, 2008, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dog_agility&oldid=196363768

Agility FAQs

How to check AKC Legs and MACH points

  • Go to www.akc.org/apps/store/index.cfm
  • Click on Points and Awards.
  • Create a login and password.
  • Click on “Search by registration number or breed & name”
  • Enter your dog’s information. Click on the results to add your dog to this page.
  • Click on “Points/Summary of the Title Progression for this dog”.
  • This will bring up a screen with legs earned at each level and, for
    Excellent B, MACH points earned. You may view or print this for no charge.
  • Please note that points and legs are usually posted about 1 month after a trial.

Search for AKC Trials

  • Go to www.akc.org/apps/events/search/
  • To look for upcoming trials, choose Companion Events, then select the type of trial you are looking for (Agility, Obedience, Rally, or Tracking).
  • Choose the state(s) you are searching. You may select multiple states.
  • The other selections are optional, so if you just select the type of competition and the state, you’re good to go.
  • Click on “Retrieve Events”.
    This will bring up a listing of all trials (by day) in your time frame. You will have to check each day of a trial separately. When you pull up a future trial, it will give you information about that trial, and a link to show the judges for each class.

Agility Obstacles

  • A-Frame
  • Dog Walk
  • Teeter Totter (see saw)
  • Table
  • Single Bar Jumps
  • Double Bar Jumps
  • Triple Bar Jumps
  • Broad Jump
  • Panel Jump
  • Tire Jump
  • Open Tunnel
  • Chute (closed tunnel)
  • Weave Poles