Alaskan Malamute & Agility

Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs generally run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives. The handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles, except accidentally. Consequently, the handler's controls are limited to voice, movement, and various body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal.

In its simplest form, an agility course consists of a set of standard obstacles, laid out by an agility judge in a design of his own choosing on a roughly 100 by 100 foot (30 by 30 m) area, with numbers indicating the order in which the dog must complete the obstacles.

Courses are complicated enough that a dog could not complete them correctly without human direction. In competition, the handler must assess the course, decide on handling strategies, and direct the dog through the course, with precision and speed equally important. Many strategies exist to compensate for the inherent difference in human and dog speeds and the strengths and weaknesses of the various dogs and handlers.

Competition basics

Because each course is different, handlers are allowed a short walk-through before the competition starts. During this time, all handlers competing in a particular class can walk or run around the course without their dogs, determining how they can best position themselves and guide their dogs to get the most accurate and rapid path around the numbered obstacles. The handler tends to run a path much different from the dog's path, so the handler can sometimes spend quite a bit of time planning for what is usually a quick run.

The walk-through is critical for success because the course's path takes various turns, even U-turns or 270° turns, can cross back on itself, can use the same obstacle more than once, can have two obstacles so close to each other that the dog and handler must be able to clearly discriminate which to take, and can be arranged so that the handler must work with obstacles between himself and the dog, called layering, or at a great distance from the dog.

Each dog and handler team gets one opportunity together to attempt to complete the course successfully. The dog begins behind a starting line and, when instructed by his handler, proceeds around the course. The handler typically runs near the dog, directing the dog with spoken commands and with body language (the position of arms, shoulders, and feet).

Because speed counts as much as accuracy, especially at higher levels of competition, this all takes place at a full-out run on the dog's part and, in places, on the handler's part as well.

Scoring of runs is based on how many faults are incurred. Penalties can include not only course faults, such as knocking down a bar in a jump, but also time faults, which are the number of seconds over the calculated standard course time (SCT), which in turn is determined based on the competition level, the complexity of the course, and other factors.

Agility Classes

Given the available set of obstacles and possible faults, there are many permutations of games, or classes, that one can play on the agility field. A typical course is laid out within a 100 by 100 foot (30 by 30 m) area, with roughly 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 m) between obstacles.

Judges design their own courses (with the exception of NADAC where judges have the option to design their own courses or select from several sets of courses the main office sends them. ) using the rules of the sanctioning organization. Each organization decides which classes are valid for achieving titles and how each must be performed, but there are many similarities.

Some of the common classes are

• Standard, Regular or Agility: This is a numbered course consisting of (usually) at least one of each of the three contact obstacles plus jumps, tunnels, and weave poles of various flavors. A novice course might consist of as few as 15 obstacles; a higher-level course might have 22. The dog must negotiate the obstacles in the correct order within the standard course time (SCT).

• Jumpers or Jumping: This numbered course consists primarily of various types of jumps and, depending on the organization, also weave poles and tunnels. The dog must negotiate the obstacles in the correct order within the standard course time (SCT). The dogs achieve their fastest speed on these courses because there are no contact obstacles to slow them down.

• Gamblers, Jackpot or Joker: An unnumbered course. The game typically consists of two parts, an opening period and the closing period, also known as the gamble, joker, or jackpot. In the opening period, the dog has a certain amount of time in which to do whatever obstacles the handler deems appropriate and accrues points based on the obstacles completed. At the end of the allocated time for the opening period, a whistle blows. At that point, the gamble begins. The dog has a certain small amount of time (about 15 seconds) in which to complete a sequence of obstacles designated by the judge ahead of time. The challenge is that there is a line on the ground past which the handler must not step, typically paralleling the gamble obstacles, from 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 m) away depending on the level of competition. The handler must choose an opening sequence that flows comfortably for the individual dog's skills and experience. The sequence must also be planned so that, when the whistle blows, the dog is in a good position to immediately begin the gamble. The greatest challenge is thedistance handling – getting the dog to move or even turn away from you.

• Snooker: Loosely based on the billiard game of Snooker. The course has at least three red jumps, each numbered 1, and six other obstacles numbered 2 through 7. The dog accumulates points based on the obstacle's number. This also has two parts, an opening sequence and a closing sequence. In the opening sequence, the dog must complete a 1, then any obstacle numbered 2 to 7, a different 1 and any 2 to 7 obstacle (including the one already performed), and yet another different 1 and another 2-7 obstacle. For example, the dog could perform the red on the left for 1 point, the 7-point obstacle, the red in the middle for 1 point and then the 7-pointer again, then the red on the far side of the course and the 7-pointer one more time, for a total of 24 points in the opening. After successfully completing this, the dog must complete the obstacles 2-7, in order, for an additional possible 27 points. Failure to follow these rules exactly (such as knocking a bar or taking 2 reds in a row) results in the dog and handler being whistled off the course.
  • Strategy and entertainment value: The dogs might have to negotiate between other obstacles without taking them or make a difficult entry to the obstacle, often combined with a longer distance between the reds and the 7 so that it consumes more time to do the higher-point obstacle in the opening.

• Power & Speed: The course consists of two sections. The first is an untimed "Power" section, which features the contact equipment and any of the following at the discretion of the judge setting the course: weaves, table, a-frame, spread jump, long jump. If this section is negotiated without accruing any faults, the dog and handler may go on to the "Speed" section, which consists of a timed jumping course.

• Juniors: USDAA defines this class for handlers aged 18 or younger, who may compete with their dogs at four levels, beginner, elementary, intermediate, and senior. Each level gets progressively harder and gains more obstacles. The competitors earn medals or bronze, silver, or gold or rosettes of blue, red, yellow, or white.

• Team, Pairs, or Relay: Two or three dog-and-handler teams each execute a portion of a Standard agility course, with the handlers exchanging a baton between sections.

Agility Clubs:

Just a reminder: Alaskan malamutes can be very stubborn and might just  decide to rather lie down with having in mind " Are you crazy to think that I will continue with this - and go lie down in refusing to continue"!

Gauteng Agility Club

011-4852100 0824564332 lioneln@tiscali.co.za

Len Carpano Agility and Dog Jumping School

carpano@absamail.co.za

South African Dog Agility Association

011-4852100 0824564332 lioneln@tiscali.co.za