Agility

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When I got my first dog I knew I had to do something to keep him out of trouble. He had already helped me decide to remove the wallpaper from the hallway and led me to discover that under the wearing carpet the floor boards were polished.

I chose to start doing Agility partially because I thought it would be fun and there was no way I was going to do Obedience. I didn't need it or so I thought. In agility I learnt how to recall my dog, send him through or over obsticles, to stay at the start line, but the biggest thing was a bond with my dog. Agility regardless on if you compete or just train for fun is a Team Sport. You and your dog are in a partnership.

I never planned to compete I was only going to training to give my dog something to do. My next dog dispite a slow start turned out to be quite good at it. I felt inspired and I entered my first competition, a NADAC event. Mixed success that day but we got our first pass. I entered a few more and was bitten by the bug. Six months later I began entering ANKC events.

Currently my competition partner is Darcy, a Golden Retriever. He has ANKC Agility titles in Regular Agility, Jumping, and one Game called Gamblers. This year we are in Masters Jumping. After one more Regular Agility pass we will be competing at Masters Level in Regular Agility.

Every time we go to an agility event even if we are having a bad day I make sure that Darcy is having fun. Because with agility if only one of you is having fun it has to be the dog!

ANKC

Events

	Agility - all equipment is used except in Novice where there is no seesaw in any course.
	Jumping - all jumping equipment is used and usually a tunnel or two.
	Games - essentially they are Agility courses but with the exception of Strategic pairs you make your own course to gain as many points as possible within the rules and time availiable. The different games are Snooker, Gamblers and Strategic Pairs.

Skill Level

	Novice - 3 passes are required to get your title and then be able to enter the next level. To get a pass you must have a clear round and complete the course within the course time.
	Excellent - 5 passes are required to get your title, courses will have more obsticles, tighter turns and more discrimination between obsticles.
	Masters - 7 passes are required to get your title. The courses are harder again. Once you get your title you stay in masters but you can get this title as many times as you and your dog are able.
	Open - 5 passes are required to get your title. Anyone of any skill level can enter this category and you can get this title as many times as you and your dog are able. The catch with this level is that there is a distance challange, if your dog cannot work away from you you will not get a pass. In Opening Jumping there will be a weaving pole set as part of the course and in Open Agility there will be a Seesaw.

NADAC

Events

There are 7 events in NADAC. Some events are sutitable for the older dog unable to jump any more. NADAC events focus on ground speed. The events are;

	Regular Agility - a agility course but no seesaw due dog safety concerns and no Tyre in Australian events.
	Jumping - a course made up of jumps and tunnels.
	Tunnelers- for the dog that loves tunnels or has trouble focusing on a whole course, the dogs love it.
	Chances - a simple course that will depend on the judge what equipment is used and what skills are tested. You take your 'chance' when you enter that it will favour you and your dogs skill. The tests are Discrimination, Distance and Direction. Novice courses will have 1 of the 3 tests, Open will have 2 of the 3 tests and Elite will have all 3 tests.
	Touch 'n' Go - a course made up of contact equipment and jumps or tunnels linking the equipment
	Weavers - same as above but with weaving sets instead, Novice dogs only weave 6 poles ate a time and Elite dogs weave 12.
	Strategy Hoppers - a ground speed course that requires a strategy to complete the required tasks in the middle of the course.

Skill Levels

This is hard to describe simply. If you are new to the sport and you want to enter a NADAC event sign up and enter a trial. For your first trial I would recommend entering the Novice Skilled category. Everyone one starts with Novice. Your goals will determine if after your first 3 passes whether you choose to go into Open, the next level, or stay in Novice to continue in the Novice structure.

Photos