In this article, we're diving deep into agility, the crown jewel of canine sports. While we've briefly touched upon agility in our previous piece "What are some dog sports?", its unique blend of physical demands and mental challenges deserves a spotlight of its own. Just as agility enthusiasts eagerly seek the next competition, offering not only glory but also substantial prizes—sometimes as high as $10,000—online gaming enthusiasts chase their next big win, akin to the Stay casino free chip, which serves as a gateway to a realm of excitement and potential rewards.
Brief information
Agility is a competition where a person called a guide (athlete, sometimes a handler) guides a dog through an obstacle course. Speed and accuracy are taken into account when passing through. #Dogs must run without being rewarded with food or a toy. The guide may not touch the dog or the projectiles, even accidental touches are penalised. Thus the means of controlling the dog are voice, gestures and body signals, such communication requires exceptional skills from the animal and the guide.
Agility training can be started at any age, but it is best to start as a puppy or young adult!
At its simplest, an obstacle course consists of a series of standard obstacles, which are set out by a judge of the judge's choice on an area of approximately 30 by 40 metres. The objects are labelled with numbers showing the order in which the dog must pass them. The guide is given 5-10 minutes to warm up, during this time he must evaluate the course, remembering the equal importance of both the speed of the passage and its accuracy.
Agility rules
Warm-up
During the warm-up, all the guides can walk or run along the obstacles without their dogs, determining how to guide their pet through the numbered sequence of projectiles so that the dog traverses the course in optimal trajectories.
Warming up is insanely important for success, as the course can have a wide variety of turns and trajectories, and the same obstacle can be repeated several times.
Course diagrams
There are course diagrams provided to the athletes before the warm-up. The diagrams are needed to make it easier for the guides to strategise. The diagram consists of pictures indicating the position of the obstacles and numbers indicating the order of the obstacles.
Each pair of guide and dog has one attempt to complete the course. The dog starts at the starting line and runs following the guide of the conductor, passing all obstacles in turn. The human usually runs alongside the dog, guiding it with voice commands and gestures.
The result of passing depends on the number of errors and the time of passing. Penalties are awarded for errors in passing obstacles such as: knocking down the barrier stick, incorrectly overcoming a zone projectile or refusing to pass the next obstacle. There is also a time penalty, which is the number of seconds a dog spends in excess of the course time limit. It is determined by dividing the length of the course by the average speed of the course, this speed is set by the judge of the competition.
Types of projectiles
Area obstacles
Hill
This is two wide ramps (90 by 270 cm) joined together and raised so that the height at the junction is 170 cm from the ground, in the shape of an angle. 106 cm from the ground is painted in a bright colour, this is the so-called "contact zone", which the dog must touch with at least 1 paw when entering and leaving the slide. Most organisations require the slide to have narrow, horizontal slats along the entire length of the ramps that make up the slide to ensure better traction.
Swing
This is a 360-380cm long ramp on a 60cm high triangular base with a weight on one side, so that in the initial position one end of the ramp is always on the ground. This obstacle also has contact zones. However, unlike others with contact zones, the swing does not have cross bars. The balance of this equipment and the weight of the board must be such that even a Chihuahua or a Yorkie can make the top end of the swing come down within a set amount of time defined by the rules of the organisation (usually about 2 seconds).
The swing is one of the most challenging obstacles, as it is rare for a dog to encounter moving and balancing objects like this in normal life.
Boom
It is 3 ladders 360-380cm long and 30 wide, connected in series. The height of the horizontal ramp is 120-130 cm, the two outermost ramps form the entrance and exit from the boom. This shell also has an entrance and converging area, 90cm long. Most organisations also require cross bars on the entrance and converging ramps of the boom. The boom is one of the most difficult and time-consuming obstacles to tackle, and there are many ways to train dogs to tackle the boom correctly.
Some organisations even have an additional judge to judge the entrance area of the boom, as it can be difficult for the main judge to judge the entry and exit areas accurately due to the speed of the dog over such a long obstacle.
Tunnels
Tunnel
A tunnel made of tees on equally spaced stiffening ribs or a continuous spiral. Tunnels can be from three to six metres long and 60 cm in diameter. The dog must run through the tunnel. At the discretion of the judge, the tunnel may be placed straight on the course or bent in a horseshoe shape. However, "S" shaped tunnels are prohibited. To prevent the tunnel from changing its configuration as the dog traverses it, it is reinforced with weights (sandbags or water).
Soft tunnel
A barrel-like short cylinder made of plywood or plastic to which a fabric sleeve is attached. The length of the fabric is 250-300 cm. It lies on the base, covering the exit until the dog runs to the end of the tunnel.
This projectile was cancelled in 2017 in many canine organisations due to the large number of accidents and injuries that occurred during its overcoming, as it was considered dangerous for the life and health of dogs
Jumping obstacles
Barrier
These are 2 posts holding a stick that must be jumped over. The height is determined by the rules of the particular organisation running the competition, depending on the height category of the dog.
Double or triple barrier
Two or three pairs of poles supporting two or three horizontal poles placed one behind the other. In a double jump, they may be placed at the same height or in ascending order. In a triple, there is always a stick positioned higher than the others. The distance between the sticks and their height depends on the height category of the dog.
Wall or Viaduct
Instead of sticks, there are wide bars between two parallelepiped-shaped posts, the number and height of which also depends on the height category of the dog. The uppermost row, instead of bars, consists of collapsible elements ("bricks"), violation of the configuration of which results in the dog being awarded a five-point penalty.
Long Jump
This is a row of four or five low platforms over which the dog must jump without touching any of the platforms with his paws or changing their configuration.
Tyre
A ring, about the size of a car tyre, fixed in a frame. The dog must jump through the hole in the tyre. As with other jumps, the height varies according to height category.
Other types of obstacles
Slalom
This is 12 vertical sticks fixed in a metal base in a single line at a distance of 50 cm, each stick is 100-120 cm high. The dog must pass between the sticks in a "snake" pattern, always starting the first post from the left shoulder. The dog must not skip the poles. The slalom is one of the most difficult obstacles for most dogs and is also the longest to complete. A dog may receive a penalty for incorrectly executing a slalom entry (refusal), as well as a five point penalty for a slalom error if it misses one or more stalls.
Scoring and types of penalties
Depending on the rules of the particular Federation under whose rules the competition is held, there may be different qualifications as to what constitutes an error on the course and for which penalties are awarded.
"A "clean" course is a course completed by a dog without penalty points awarded by the judge and without exceeding the control time. The dog with the fewest penalty points on the course and the best time among competitors with the same number of penalties wins".
In different organisations, the following actions can be considered errors:
- Time error: exceeding the control time.
- Zone jump: the dog did not touch the contact zone with either paw while performing a zone obstacle.
- Knocked down stick: the dog dropped the stick while performing a jump over the barrier.
- Slalom fault: the dog misses one or more slalom fences, leaves the slalom before the twelfth stick.
- Withdrawal: the dog has made an error in the sequence of the obstacle, overcame an extraordinary obstacle or entered the tunnel/slalom/zone obstacle from the wrong side.
- Failure: the dog did not overcome the next obstacle in the sequence at the first attempt, although it was in the attack zone (rolled in front of the barrier, did not enter the first slalom gate correctly, changed its trajectory when approaching the correct tunnel or zone obstacle).
- Touching: the guide deliberately - or, in some cases, accidentally - touched the dog or an obstacle.
- Other errors: the dog bit the judge or conductor, the dog or conductor showed unsportsmanlike behaviour, the dog ran away from the ring, the athlete used toys or treats in the ring, the dog ran with a collar (in organisations that prohibit collars during the run), and so on.