AGILITY Dog agility started in the UK in 1978 as a ‘half time’ show during Crufts. I remember watching agility at Olympia on television about 25 years ago and thinking – that looks fun, how hard can it be? Little did I know! It has become a bit of an obsession as it really tests your relationship with your dog and your training ability. We have trained various collies for agility including Poppy, Gracie and Henry and now Toby is joining the agility crowd; agility combines training, fitness and fun for the dogs and owners, and they have all loved it – but especially Henry!
When competing in agility the objective is to achieve a clear round – no pole knocks or missed contacts - following the route the judge has set. There are between 15 and 20 obstacles including jumps, tunnels, contact equipment – dog walk, A frame and see saw and weave poles. The height of the jumps varies according to the height of the dog – rough collies and smooth collies are generally large or sometimes intermediate – which means a jump height of 60cm (50cm for intermediate). Most competitors also do jumping rounds which contain only jumps, tunnels and weaves – no contacts. This sounds very easy but as the dogs’ progress - from grade 1 to grade 7 (followed by champion classes) – the courses become more and more complex with the dogs being sent around the back of jumps or being ‘put off’ by ‘traps’ like an inviting tunnel placed near to the entrance to the weaves! It is very easy to take a wrong jump or miss an obstacle altogether and that results in an elimination and no place in the class.
To progress in agility the dog (and handler) has to either win a number of agility and jumping classes by getting a clear round in the fastest time or progress on points from places (2 nd – 10 th etc.) achieved with a clear round. This is made all the more difficult as agility is a popular sport and classes often exceed 70 or 80 dogs or more. You can also qualify your dog for various finals including at Olympia, discover dogs and Crufts – again this is far from easy as qualifying classes often number dogs in the hundreds!
Henry and I started to compete in agility in October 2019 and to date Henry has won into grade 5 and has achieved his silver agility warrant – making him Uffspring Unmistakable AWS! The agility warrant is gained by accumulating 200 points for each warrant (bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond) – points are achieved by getting places with a clear round in kennel club agility shows – only clear rounds count towards the agility warrant.
All of our adult collies hold the bronze, silver or gold KC Good Citizens and Henry is a registered Below Poppy competing at agility – her first agility competition was aged 11! We sadly lost the beautiful Poppy in December 2014.
Below Henry, as an 11-month-old puppy, showing you can practice your agility just about anywhere!
Jane Spendelow
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