What Is Dog Agility?

Agility is just about the most fun a dog and a human can have together! It's a great confidence-builder, is wonderful exercise for you both, and it develops many different skills, including attention to the handler, jumping ability, overall agility, and perhaps most important, teamwork.

Agility is something that almost any dog can learn to do well, regardless of body type or breed. And three out of the four national agility registries welcome mixed breed dogs!

In agility, the dog negotiates a course consisting of jumps (singles, doubles, and triples, and even a tire jump), obstacles (A-frame, dog walk, and teeter-totter), tunnels (pipe and collapsed), and weave poles. The course is different every time, and the difficulty increases as the dog moves up in each registry.

In other words, an AKC Novice course or a USDAA Starters course will be less difficult than an AKC Open course or a USDAA Advanced course. Course faults are called for various errors -- knocking a bar, off-courses, refusals, etc. Time is also a factor -- there is a standard course time set for each course, and the dog will receive time faults for going over this time.

There are many differences between the various registries, including jump height, standard course time, and overall difficulty. Check out The Dog Agility Page for in-depth information and links to other websites of interest.

NDTC currently offers several Agility classes, please refer to our class schedule for details. We are planning to offer additional agility classes soon in such areas as Competition Handling and Jumpers Courses. Our agility classes are conducted indoors on fully matted rings. 

Various images courtesy and Copyright Dee Ross Photography/Pure Images 1993-2001 All Rights Reserved