THE AGILITY CLUB OF SOUTH ISRAEL

Agility is the new and hottest thing in Doggy sport today. Peter Meanwell from Lincoln founded it on 1977 in England. It was based on the basis of "Cross Country" and Show Jumping for horses. There is a course that both handler and dog must go through. The handler is not allowed to touch the dog or interfere in any other way. He is supposed to control the dog through the course with the help of his voice (without shouting) and some hand movements.

Before a dog can begin its Agility training he needs to be obedient in such a way that he will obey a single word from his master. He must come when called for and sit without moving until released. The dog must know the different directions and the commands that follow them, in order for his handler to be able to guide him through the course. The dog's abilities as well as the handler's are being tested. For each of the obstacles there must be a different command. This difference helps the dog to learn the course and obstacles easily.

Since in contests there is much interference, having different commands for different obstacle help the dog not to get confused. If this method is not implemented there is a bigger chance for error both for dog and handler.

In Agility, the dog runs free and if he does not obey his handler it can lead to trouble. However Agility is meant to be fun for all who take part, including the dogs and the spectators. Therefore if the necessary steps were taken all would enjoy it.

The first step is teaching the dog each obstacle separately. The second step is starting with easy courses with the dog on his leash. The next step is to unleash him and at the end we vary the difficulty of the course by adding obstacles and raising the jumps height.

The courses change again and again; there is no one way to build a course and the placement of the obstacles change repeatedly. Therefore the dogs cannot study a specific course like robots, because there is no one course.
The dogs are divided according to their height into three classes: small, medium and large.

Small dogs are until 35cm in height (measured by the shoulder). Medium dogs are 35-43cm in height and large above 43cm in height. The jumps are regulated according to these groups as well, when obviously the smaller dogs will have the lower jumps.

ALL kinds of dogs, purebred or not, can take part in Agility. Be it just for fun or in contests. There are no requirements for a certain pedigree in order to enter a contest. Agility is good for dogs in the respect that it teaches them to use their hindquarters, a thing that hardly happens in other circumstances.
The obstacles must be build according to FCI standards and according to the proper safety regulations. This keeps both dog and handler safe.

The Different Obstacles