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 About Agility |
Agility began as an exhibition sport in Great Britain and was imported to the United States in 1977. The sport was patterned after equestrian events and combines handler control, agility, and confidence. The sport of agility is comprised of a course set up of many different obstacles. Agility is meant to be a fun, non-regimented sport, with a lot of spectator appeal. Obstacles include jumps, tunnels, a dog walk, a see-saw or teeter, an A-frame and weave poles. Here's are TAG dogs demonstrating some agility obstacles:
The See-Saw or Teeter is accomplished by the dog going up the see-saw, making it tilt down and successfully exiting the obstacle over the yellow zone.
This is a Pipe Tunnel. The pipe tunnel is taught by squishing the tunnel until it looks like a hole and then gradually opening it up to full length.
This is an example of a Jump. There are single and double jumps in most formal agility competitions. Many dogs are natural jumpers, while others have to learn how to jump.
This is the A-Frame obstacle, a "contact" obstacle. The challenging part of any "contact" obstacle is to make sure your dog gets all the way into the "contact" or yellow zone of the obstacle.
The Dogwalk looks like a large balance beam with ramps on both ends. Some dogs are able to cross this obstacle with amazing speed!
This is an example of the Tire. The height of the tire is moved to fit the height of the other jumps
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The Weave Poles are probably the most difficult obstacle to teach. Once a dog has mastered the weaves, he can whip through it remarkably fast.
The Collapse Tunnel, or Chute is taught similarly to the pipe tunnel.
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