It is the fastest growing dog sport in the USA!s
- Agility is a sport that appeals to young people and to senior citizens. It has great spectator appeal.
Agility is designed to demonstrate a dog's willingness to work with its handler in a variety of situations. It is an athletic event that requires conditioning, concentration, training and teamwork. Dog and handlers negotiate an obstacle course racing against the clock.
- The AKC offers two types of agility classes. The first, Standard Class, includes contact objects such as the dog walk, the A-frame, and seesaw. Each of the contact obstacles has a "safety zone" painted on the object and the dog must place at least one paw in that area to complete the obstacle. The second is Jumpers with Weaves. It has only jumps, tunnels and weaves poles with no contact objects to slow the pace.
- Both classes offer increasing levels of difficulty to earn Novice, Open, Excellent and Master titles.
After completing both an Excellent Standard title and an Excellent Jumpers title, owner and dog teams can compete for the MACH - faster than the speed of sound! (Master Agility Championship title.)
- Agility began in England in 1978. The AKC held its first agility trial in 1994.
- Agility is the fastest growing dog sport in the United States and is the fastest growing event at the AKC.
- A trial is a competition. Clubs hold practice matches, then apply to be licensed to hold official trials. At a licensed trial, handlers and dogs can earn scores toward agility titles.
- An advantage to AKC participation is that dogs can earn titles in a variety of events such as conformation, lure coursing, earth dog, retrieving and field trials, obedience, rally (as of 1/1/05), and tracking, as well as agility.
- In the first year of AKC agility there were 23 trials. In 2003, there were 1,379 trials. The number of trials held in 2004 will be more than 1,670.
- In the first year of AKC agility (1994), there were approximately 2000 entries
in AKC agility trials.
- AKC agility is available to every registerable breed. From tiny Yorkshire Terriers to giant Irish Wolfhounds, the dogs run the same course with adjustments in the expected time and jump height.
- The classes are divided by jump heights in order to make the competition equal between the different size of dogs.
