Dog agility will becoming to Dog Hill Sports Camp mid to late spring 2018.
All classes are held outside on a grass surface.
What is Dog Agility:
Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch the dog or obstacles. The handle controls his canine partner by voice, movement, and body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal and coordination of the handler.
In its simplest form, an agility course consists of a set of standard obstacles laid out by a judge in a design of his or her own choosing in an area of a specified size. The surface may be of grass, dirt, rubber, or special matting.
Dog Agility does need to be about competition, many of my friends and students only train for fun and exercise. The other benefits of agility include: building confidence in a nervous dog, building body awareness skills, building a working relationship with your and your dog, great exercise for both of you and more.
At the same time you nor your dog has be an olympic athlete. Many people compete from young to old, physically healthy to needing a walker or wheelchair. As long as you are having fun with your dog you can do it.
Currently there are several agility competition venues with varying rules, they are; the United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA), the American Kennel Club (AKC), the United Kennel Club (UKC), Canine Performance Events (CPE) and the North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC), Australian Shepherd Club of America and Teacup Dogs Agility Association, K9TDAA.
Personally I have competed in several different venues and have enjoyed CPE and Australian Shepherd Club (I have Aussies) the most.
Dog Agility classes @ Dog Hill
We offer different levels of agility:
Beginner Agility – For someone who is new to agility with no training
Post-Beginner Agility – For those who completed our Beginner Agility class, has limited training at another location or has worked with dogs in the past
Intermediate Agility – For those who completed in our Post-Beginner class, or has competed with their dog
Advanced Agility – For those whose dogs are comfortable on all obstacles and can follow direction/signal from their handlers.
Agility for dog aggressive dogs – This class is limited in class size so we can keeps dogs spaced apart as needed and will only have one dog at a time in the ring.
Prerequisites for joining our agility classes
Dogs:
- Need need to have completed obedience classes at Dog Hill or another location
- Should have a basic stay
- Should have a basic recall (come when called)
- Dog should want to be with their handlers – this is a team sport
- Dogs in beginner to advance must be dog to dog friendly as dogs will be off leash while running obstacles
- The trainer needs to meet all handler/dog teams prior to joining class.