Dog agility trials in Moab

April 2008

Agility Comes Back to Moab!
By Diane Allen

Photo by Ken Gee Photography

The Old Spanish Trail Arena will be the site of two dog agility trials, sponsored by the North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC) dog agility trial in Moab, on April 5-6 and April 25-27, 2008. Dogs from all over the intermountain west will be competing over timed, judged courses of jumps, ramps, tunnels and the ever-popular-with-spectators weave poles. Mixed breed as well as purebred canine competitors are judged on their speed, accuracy and safety as they zoom around a variety of courses, ten to twenty obstacles long. The two-legged member of each team is responsible for keeping the dogs on the correct courses (most four-leggeds haven’t learned to read the numbers!), as well as ensuring safe performance of each obstacle.

Admission for spectators is free!

Photo by Ken Gee Photography

The North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC) is one of several organizations that sponsor agility competitions. NADAC was formed in 1993, to provide North American dogs and their handlers with a fast, safe and enjoyable form of the sport of dog agility. The purpose of a NADAC agility trial is to demonstrate the ability of a dog and its handler to work as a smoothly functioning team. With separate titling divisions for Veterans and Junior Handlers and a variety of games, NADAC agility offers something for everyone! Based in Oklahoma, NADAC sponsors competitions all over North America and Australia. The annual Championships will be held in Gillette, WY on September 17-21, 2008.

What obstacles are used?

Photo by Ken Gee Photography

• Jumps – Jumps are set at the proper height for each class, determined by the height of the dog at the withers (shoulders). Veteran dogs or those running with veteran handlers, junior handlers, and the Skilled class dogs can jump lower than their normal height. Dogs must clear the full height of the jump without knocking a bar off. Handlers sometimes run into the uprights and knock bars; that’s also a fault!
• Tunnels - An easy obstacle to train, many dogs suffer from “tunnel suck!”
• Contact Obstacles - The contact obstacles, so called because of the yellow “contact zones” at each end, include the A-frame and the dogwalk. To perform these obstacles correctly, the dog must get at least one paw in each contact zone when they descend the obstacle. The contact zone rule is for safety considerations.
• Weave Poles - The dog must enter to the right of the first pole and zig-zag through to the end. They must not miss a pole. If a dog “pops out” before the last pole, they must restart from the beginning.

Faults occur if the handler touches the dog or an obstacle while on course; the dog runs the wrong course, misses a contact zone, misses a weave pole or fails to complete the set, displaces a jump bar, or exceeds the amount of time set by the judge for running the course. Different classes allow different numbers of faults to be considered “qualifying.” A certain number of qualifying rounds will result in a title being earned.

Dogs are entered, depending upon their experience and previously-earned titles, at the Novice, Open or Elite level. There are special divisions for Veterans (dogs age 7 years or older, or handlers age 60 years or older) and Junior Handlers (age 17 or younger). In addition, NADAC offers the Proficient class, in which dogs must have no faults to qualify, and the Skilled class, in which dogs can have five faults (e.g., one knocked bar) or be up to five seconds over time and still qualify. In addition, dogs running in the Skilled class may jump one height lower than their usual.

What events are offered?

Photo by Ken Gee Photography

• Regular Class requires that the dog, under the direction of the handler, perform all of the agility obstacles in the order and under the time limit set by the judge. There are usually two regular classes offered each day.
• Chances Class offers tests in direction, distance, and discrimination between two obstacles. There are 10 to 15 obstacles, and each level has one, two or three tests (Elite having all three). All dogs have 40 seconds to complete this class.
• Jumpers Class is composed only of jumps and tunnels, and can be fast and furious!
• Touch ‘n’ Go consists of the contact obstacles (A-frame and dog walk) and tunnels.
• Weavers consists of just weave poles and tunnels. Each level has a different number of poles, with either six or ten/twelve poles per set. Novice dogs will run three short sets, while Elite dogs see three long sets.
• Tunnelers-- yep! You guessed it! –consists of just tunnels!
• Hoopers – a new class, where “ground speed obstacles” which look like hula-hoops on edge must be negotiated. The rules are rather complicated to explain – suffice to say, handlers can get easily confused, and most end up in hysterical laughter before the end!

Why Do People Do This?!
Agility is great for dogs and people for a number of reasons.

• It can build confidence in shy or nervous dogs. Once they figure out they can do the obstacles, they tend to love it!
• It provides a safe and fun outlet for a dog’s energy.
• It provides a competitive environment where a dog and handler can compete not against other dogs, but just against the course and themselves.
• It builds a strong and loving bond between dog and handler. Training should always be more fun than work, and trainers should always set it up so the dog is never wrong. Dogs respond much better to positive reinforcement, and it shows in their success.

What happens at an event?
When the course has been set up, the handlers gather together for a “judge’s briefing” where the judge summarizes how the class is judged. Then the handlers may “walk the course.” They do this as a group, without their dogs, following the numbers to become familiar with how the course goes. Most handlers try to walk the course as many times as they can in the time allotted, to plan their strategy. You may see handlers during a course walk actually running the course with an imaginary dog, giving the commands as they would during their competing round. Sometimes handlers gather in little groups and discuss challenges and how they are going to handle them.

The dogs run the course individually, in a pre-determined order, off leash and without collars (for safety reasons). The timer will tell the handler when he or she may begin, starting the stopwatch as soon as the dog crosses the start line and stopping it when the dog crosses the finish. As each dog runs, the judge indicates the faults, which are noted on a sheet of paper by the scribe. At the completion of the round, the scribe records the dog’s time. The information is then conveyed to the scorekeeper, who calculates the qualifying performances and top placements. These are usually then posted somewhere for competitors to see.

Spectators are welcome; non-entered dogs are discouraged from attending.

A few rules will keep everyone happy and healthy:

• Before you reach out to pet a dog, always ask the owner/handler FIRST. Please especially be sure your children observe this rule. Please supervise your children at all times.
• Feel free to sit or stand ringside and observe, but please remember to stay back a reasonable distance from the ring itself and especially stay away from ring entrances and exits.
• It is against the rules for spectators to assist or coach the handler/dog team by, for example, yelling out the correct obstacle order from the sidelines. (Yes, handlers do sometimes get confused or lost on course!) It is also not appropriate to shout the dog’s name, since this would distract the dog from the handler’s commands.
• But please feel free to applaud and cheer the dogs on, and show your appreciation at the END of a particularly good or entertaining run.

Three Moab dogs are entered in the April trials. Come and cheer for them and all the others!

* Spree, is a four-and-a-half-year-old Border Collie who was born in Texas but convinced her owners, Mylene and Dennis Dressler, to move to Moab two years ago. She’s competed in both dog agility trials and frisbee competitions and also loves hiking, mountain biking and river rafting. This will be her third year competing in agility.The next two dogs are owned and handled by Diane Allen (a true addict…).

* Bracken is the baby dog, who will be two years old immediately after the second Moab trial! Also a Border Collie, Bracken has been in training since he came home at 8 weeks of age, though he has only been on the obstacles in the past six months or so. He has only run in two trials previous to this, in a few runs each day. This will be his first trial where he runs in all classes each day.

* Lucy, a 12 year-old border collie that Diane got when her previous owner died (Lucy was 3.5 years old at the time). Lucy is the epitome of a dog made for agility, and loves every minute of it (she tells everyone this as she runs!). She has competed at the NADAC Championships for the past four years, and was the second place veteran dog, and first place of the “double digit” veterans (those over 10). She was the first dog in Utah to complete the NATCH title (NADAC Agility Trial Champion), has since acquired seven of those, as well as equivalent titles for the U.S. Dog Agility Association ADCH (Agility Dog Champion) and APD (Accomplished Performance Dog). She recently moved into the Skilled class, where she can jump just 12” instead of the veteran Proficient height of 16” or her original “youngster” height of 20”.