Agility Training

What is agility?

By Manu of Xdogs

 Simply put, agility involves taking your dog through a timed, numbered obstacle course. The long-term goal is to do this without any other help than your body language and spoken commands.

agility owner: Hello butch! Take a left at the teeter totter then circle around to the long jump
Dog: ROOF ROOF BARK (Say what???)
This sport is a true test of your ability to communicate with your dog in a fast, accurate and consistent manner.
This sport has historically been dominated by herding breeds, such as Border Collies, Aussies and Shelties (Fuzzy Butts for short). However, more and more owners of Bullies find this to be a fun pass-time and wonderful outlet for the high energy, high drive attitude of their dogs. To be honest, the confidence, brains and agility found in the average bully makes them perfect candidates (SUPER DOGS) for successful beating of fuzzy rumpus in any trial.

Fuzzy Butts are the enemy!!! LOL not really but they are good at agility 

superdog s!!!!! are perfect candidates for beating fuzzy rumpus!
What is needed for success in agility?
 
A lot of patience

Not the @#$#$#$ TUNNEL AGAIN I said JUMP!!!!
An objective look at your dog’s body condition (A healthy, in shape, athletic dog)


IM NOT FAT!! IM A GR CH SHOW DOG!! I HAVE BONE AND SUBSTANCE!!!!! SO SCREW YOU AND YOUR JUMPS AND RAMPS!!

Lots of treats and toys

agility equipment (see sections below on equipment)

PLEASE NOTE: agility equipment can be dangerous if improperly constructed and utilized. Do not attempt to construct dog walks, A-frames, or teeter totters at home. Having your A-frame tip over or collapse with your dog will not only ruin your dogs confidence but could also severely injure or kill your dog.

A trainer (or at least a more experienced competitor)
vs.
good trainer or a good vet
Same warning as above. The page below is not intended to teach everything about agility. The equipment mentioned above (A-frame, dog walk, and teeter totter) can be dangerous and a good trainer can give you the proper technique to make learning much easier and safe.
The ability to laugh at your own mistakes

Hehhehehehhahah Im so stupid

PROPER AGE?
In my opinion, most bullies should not start any equipment work until at least 12 months of age. HOWEVER, There are many related training issues that can be addressed without the use of equipment. Working the equipment during growth and development puts a lot of strain on joints, bones and growth plates.

CONDITIONING

 Agility is a demanding sport for both, handler and dog.
Your adult bully needs to be in shape. NO way around it. agility is a demanding sport for both, handler and dog. In advanced competition levels, dogs will run a 140 yard course in 20 – 30 seconds, all the while jumping, climbing and weaving through up to 22 obstacles. That equals about 5 – 6 yards a second (much faster than you can run)!

When compared to herding or working dogs (fuzzy butts) some APBTs lack angulations of limbs (see the Conformation site under Forequarters and hindquarters for explanations regarding angulations). Straighter limbs means more torque on joints in turns and landings. The last thing these dogs need is extra weight cranking away at joints when jumping a jump or turning on a dime thus all that extra weight MUST GO!!!. Don’t fool yourself by calling your dog “big boned” or “tight as a drum”. If you can’t at least FEEL ribs while lightly petting your dog, he is not the ideal weight to be an athlete. He may be a nice pet-weight, maybe even a nice show-weight, but he is not an athlete.

Daddy she gonna stick me! Maybe you should rethink this agility thing?
Have your veterinarian evaluate your dog for any signs of ongoing lameness, bad angulations, soreness or obesity. Any of these findings need to be investigated and addressed before getting serious with this sport.
RULE #1
Be positive, make it fun.
Bullies are generally game for anything fun (no pun intended). You can’t force fun. If you put too much pressure on your dog, your dog will shut down. He may still do the obstacles, but he will crawl across the course at 1 yard a minute. Remember:


OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO GREAT I'm KICKING FUZZY rumpus

THIS SUCKS MY MASTER DOESN'T LET ME HAVE ANY FUN

Fun = Speed. Dogs will run the fastest when they chase something or are doing something they like. Very rarely do they run as fast as they can when they are worried.

Attention= Accuracy. You have to get your dog to believe that you are the most interesting thing in the world. If you are boring or scary, everything but you is worth checking out. Your dog won’t work for you. Use toys or food as well as plenty of praise to make running the course worthwhile. Praise alone is rarely enough of a paycheck. (Would you work for an employer who told you every other week how wonderful you are instead of giving you a paycheck?)


FINDING A TRAINER

Not to be repetitive, but agility is about you communicating with your dog. At the speeds mentioned, your spoken language becomes secondary to what your body is telling your dog. Think of how wolves communicate when picking lunch out of 20 – 30 sheep. This is the kind of language you have to learn. Learning the new agility language and teaching it to your dog, without a qualified teacher is close to impossible. (You need the in-put of somebody who speaks the language to find out why the Frenchman just gave you snails instead of the hamburger you ordered.) While the dog will tell you in his own way (he just won’t do the obstacle you intended), a human observer with experience can tell you why your dog just took the tunnel versus the intended jump.

There is a saying that "The dog never makes mistakes on an agility course only the handler."

To pick a school or trainer, try to find out if they have worked with bullies and whether they have any interest in doing so. WARNING!!!!!! Most trainers own fuzzy butts (for definition see introduction). The herding dog tends to think, handle and work VERY differently from a terrier.
While every dog is an individual, for the sake of this discussion I must venture to generalize: most herding dogs don’t mind practicing the same thing over and over and focus naturally on their handler for in-put. Most terriers tire of drills rather quickly and decide that the owner is boring. The next thing you know they are looking for something more interesting to do or see!

Time to zoomie and check out some people with hot-dogs.


Time to Jet and check out some people with hot-dogs!

Time to get and check out some hot dogs!

The instructor should also be aware of special bully needs. While fuzzy butts may be OK with the invasion of their space by a rude dog, some of our bullies may get a bit testy. Universal precautions should be a written rule at the facility of your choice.
What Manu is gently trying to say is that not every "agility instructor" will be experienced, knowledgeable, or tolerant of a bully in their class. The best choice is a trainer that has successfully titled bully's or terriers. THE BEST TRAINERS are those that have titled bullies or terriers to advanced levels, or has titled dogs from several or all groups (fuzzy butts, terriers, guardian breeds, companion breeds, bull breeds etc.). Such trainers will recognize there is a difference between a bully breed and a fuzzy butt and be able to help you adapt to your bully's or your terriers special requirements.

Getting Started

DOWN STAY!! GOOD BOY!! GOOD DOWN STAY!!
To begin with, a basic understanding of the commands “sit”, “down”, “wait/stay” and “come” is useful. It doesn’t only make it easier to work on the course, but it also builds a foundation for your training relationship with your dog. If you can’t teach your dog to follow these commands in various situations, don’t expect your dog to run at full speed through a winding obstacle course off leash with other dogs and people cheering him on.

Since this sport is relying on off-leash control, any dog with overt dog aggression either needs to be very well managed or does not need to participate in agility. While watching an agility bully is an eye-opener to many Joe Publics, a bully running out of the ring to maul another dog is the last thing this breed needs. Be smart, know your dog.
TEACHING THE SOLID STAY

DOWN STAY!! GOOD BOY!! GOOD DOWN STAY!!
Begin by teaching your dog a solid wait/stay. Be able to walk at least 10-15 feet away and still have your dog in place. You should be able to jump, run and throw a ball without your dog breaking the stay. Most people make the mistake to teach “Stay”, but never teach a release command to tell the dog when he is done. Don’t be surprised if your dog walks off for the tiniest distraction if you let him release himself every other time. To increase attention during a stay, you may want to teach a release command that is only given if the dog is looking at you. For this exercise you go back to being next to your dog on leash, put him into a stay and drop a cookie or ball close by. If your dog breaks the stay, set him back into a sit and insist gently that he hold the stay. Eventually, your dog will simply look at the cookie. Wait him out until he finally looks up at you (“What’s up, Doc? Didn’t see the cookie?”) THEN release him. Increase the distractions and the time he has to look at you before he can get the goodie.

TEACHING COME USING THE COOKIE TOSS
Next, teach a solid and enthusiastic “Come”. The easiest way is the “Cookie toss” through your spread legs. Invite your dog on leash to run through your legs by showing him the goodie and then tossing the it through your legs onto the ground. Quite simultaneously to the tossing action and the dog’s tracking of the cookie, you say “come”. By saying the word each time you do it, the dog will begin associating the word with the action of catching a cookie. You can increase the distance between you and the dog slowly and also increase the amount of distractions he has to ignore to come to you. Do a lot of this work on a long line so that you can prevent dash offs. If he ignores you, reduce the distance and the distraction and repeat the exercise. Do not force him to come at this level.

Now add the command “Spot/touch/target”. For this command you need a white plastic lid from a container. Your goal is to teach your dog to seek out this lid and head for it whenever you tell him to. There are a variety of ways to teach this command. I usually begin by saying “Spot” and gently tapping the lid at the muzzle. I then immediately reward with a cookie. After repeating this for a few times, I put the plate on the floor and tell the dog to “spot”. Some dogs will nudge at the plate immediately, at which point you QUICKLY put a cookie on the plate. If your dog does not show interest in the plate, put a cookie on it and say “spot” as he takes the cookie. Same principle… you are getting the dog to associate the word with the action. This exercise will have to be reinforced in many sessions, but eventually you can combine the recall and the “spot” exercise. Your dog gets to retrieve “free cookies” that are tossed while saying OK, then gets to recall through your legs for more cookies and then gets to “spot” by finding the plate on the ground with cookie in place. This is an awesome warm-up exercise.

TEACHING HAND SIGNALS
Following your hand signals is another helpful exercise to start on before you even have your dog close to an obstacle. Have somebody help you by holding your dog on a leash. Run away from them in a straight line and as the helper is releasing the dog to follow you, hold out either the right or the left hand with a cookie (keep running). Only give it to your dog if he comes alongside the correct hand. To make this more obvious, you may want to get your dog’s attention by holding a target plate in your cookie hand. You can increase the level of difficulty by holding out the hand later and later or by adding turns to your “escape route”. One thing to remember is to keep your body as straight as possible, feet and shoulders facing as much as possible into the direction you are running. Trust that your dog will find the correct hand. You are confusing the directional signal of your body if you are twisting your upper body left and right to check on your dog’s progress.





The above photos show a dog responding to hand signals. In order these are stay, Down, sit, up.



The left photo is signaling correctly with clear body language The next photo is unclear body language that a dog will not fully respond too.


Teaching obstacles is a combination of making your dog comfortable with them as well as teaching your dog what to do when they get there. Depending on your dog, you may have obstacles that he naturally has fun with and others he has to be coaxed over/through. None of this should be forced. You will not improve comfort by scaring your dog. Be patient and have great parties for any progress on a new obstacle. agility is great for dogs who need to build self confidence, but it only works if the handler is supportive.
EQUIPMENT 1. GETTING CREATIVE FOR home PRACTICE!!
agility CAN BE an equipment intense sport. The equipment is not cheap. A full set of course gear can easily cost $2,000 – 3, 000. BUT DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED! My recommendation is to begin working on basic training issues with equipment you can build yourself. All the while, research trainers of your liking and sign up for classes to learn how to use the more expensive stuff. More about this at the end.

Easy obstacles to obtain and teach are:
· Table/Pause box
· Jump
· Tunnel

TEACHING THE PAUSE (PAWS) TABLE

The table or pause box is an area in or on which the dog has to sit-stay or down-stay for 5 seconds. Once a dog has gotten on the table, he may not leave the table again until the stay is completed. This is extremely easy to teach, but not always easy to do in the middle of a run. I tend to call everything my dogs have to jump on “Table”. When pointing at the table, make sure you are facing the table and are pointing with the hand closest to your dog. Don’t point across your body. It also helps to move your body towards the table and swing your hand in an inviting manner rather than standing like a post and pointing at it like a kid at the candy jar. When your dog is done with his stay, say “OK”, turn away from the table and toss a cookie on the floor (with the hand closest to your dog) to indicate that it is now OK to get off the table. Some agility organizations have Pause boxes instead of tables. You can “make” a Pause box by laying out a square with PVC pipes on the floor. UKC agility requires the dog to enter and exit at particular sides of the square. This is certainly a fun exercise to work on at home and will teach you to use your body correctly to indicate the desired entrance and exit path.

TEACHING JUMPS

Teaching how to jump correctly (i.e.: where to take off, how to adjust stride between jumps) is a lengthy process and rather advanced. The basic skill to start with is to know that “jump” means to go between two upright posts…not around them. Jump height is another obstacle by itself, so don’t worry about how high your dog is jumping. Make the jump as low as possible (for beginners never above the elbow.. for young dogs consider leaving it as low as their “wrist” or just leave the cross bar on the ground between the uprights). Begin by calling the dog over the jump from a “stay” or have somebody hold him and then recall him over the jump (you are facing the dog). Make sure that you and your dog are positioned exactly across from each other and that the line connecting you and your dog is intersecting the center of the jump. This helps your dog understand to go between the poles. When starting out, the distance between the dog and the jump should be minimal. This will decrease the chance for the dog to go around the jump. If he avoids the jump, you may want to work with a leash to help him, however do not pull him over the jump. Simply give him a light tug or two to correct deviations from a straight line across the jump. Try to remember saying, “Jump” as he goes over the jump. Then REWARD, REWARD, REWARD. Teaching a solid and ENTHUSIASTIC recall should help immensely. If nothing else works, go ahead and jump over the jump with him to prove that it won’t kill him and end the session to let him know that this was all you wanted him to do.

Once he actually recalls over two straight jumps in a row consistently, try putting a target plate in front of you and have him pick up his cookie there. (“Jump, Spot”) Once that is consistent, try a single jump again. Place the target plate where you used to stand and send your dog across the jump from the same side the dog is starting out. You may have to help him at first by tossing a cookie over the jump. Try to aim at the target plate with an underhand throw. Once you see your dog consistently target the plate, try leaving your dog in a stay and position yourself next to the jump he has to clear. Invite him to jump by signaling a forward motion with the arm closest to your dog.

If your dog insists on going around the jumps, you may be having one of the following problems:

· You have set the bar too high. Make sure it is only up to his pastern, or even consider putting it on the ground for a few sessions.
 
· Your dog has not understood what you want him to do yet. Go back to standing between the poles and calling your dog to you when he is exactly across from where you stand. Once this works, put him in a sit stay so that he has to come across the jump in a slight diagonal. If this is successful, work on increasing angles to make him understand that he is to jump between the poles and not run around them. Only reward successful jumps, but reward them exuberantly.

· Which brings up: you may not be excited enough for your dog to understand when he actually did well. Your rewards need to be proportional to what your dog worked through. That means that if your dog is afraid of jumping, jumping a jump is worth a HUGE party. It’s not what YOU consider to be difficult; it’s what your dog considers to be difficult.

· Also, keep in mind that decreasing performance may be a sign of health problems. Your dog may be painful and could benefit from a trip to the vet’s office

Sound complicated? If your dog is half as food driven as mine, this will take no time at all. Jumps can be easily built with PVC pipes and L and T links. If you use fairly thin PVC piping, don’t worry about a way to have the bar fall off when the dog touches it. As we agreed before, these jumps are just to get started and the jump height should not challenge your dog’s abilities at this point.

TEACHING THE TUNNEL
A lot of home furniture stores sell great kid tunnels. For the smaller bullies amongst us, these are big enough to get the dog to zoom through. Purchasing a competition-sized tunnel is not a bad idea either. They can be had for about $250. Have one person hold your dog at the entry of the tunnel and have another person call him through by calling his name and the word “Tunnel”. Try to time it so that your dog is looking through the tunnel when you say tunnel. Begin with the tunnel collapsed as short as possible and without turns in it. Once he seems to feel comfortable going through the tunnel, extend the tunnel step by step, while leaving it straight. A curved tunnel is assuming that the dog trusts there to be an exit, despite of not being able to see it from the point of entry. This will take a while for some dogs.

Once your dog seems comfortable entering the tunnel, place a target plate at the end of the tunnel and let him pick up his reward from the plate. Now shorten the tunnel again, load your target and place him at the entry of the tunnel. Some dogs will dash madly thought the tunnel to get to the target, some will try to go around the tunnel and some may not go at all. Try one of the following things:


· Stand in front of the tunnel entrance with spread legs, make the tunnel as short as possible and recall your dog. Toss the cookie as far as possible into or through the tunnel.

· Toss the cookie through the tunnel while standing next to the entrance. Use the hand closest to your dog to toss the treat. Once your dog goes into the tunnel, get to the other side of the tunnel as quickly as possible and point out the second treat on the target plate. Tapping along the top of the tunnel as you go tends to help

· Use baby gates to build a V-shaped chute at the entrance to guide him into the tunnel.

Tunnels are inherently exciting to most terriers and are generally not difficult to teach. In fact, it’s much harder to have them NOT go into a tunnel once you are doing course work.

Taking your bully to class:

 So you are hooked and want to take classes. As mentioned previously, the key to success is research. Begin by finding a school that offers training on a soft surface, i.e.: packed dirt, grass or wood-chips. agility truly is an outdoor sport and bullies truly put too much energy into their movements to allow them to jump, turn and run full blast on hard surfaces. Next, interview the trainer and find out if they have worked with bullies before or, if not, whether they would feel comfortable with it. My guess is that few trainers would say “no” to a potential customer, but this may open them up asking questions indicative of their opinion. I personally have not had any problems with any of the trainers or classmates in my classes. On the other hand, I have heard of bully-owners who have quit class because their dogs were being chastised for behavior other dogs were allowed to display. Openly displayed aggressive behavior towards other dogs should not be allowed in class; not from your bully, nor from the yapping poodle next to you. If your trainer does not intervene in these situations, it may be time to check out a different school.

Most bullies have immense drive and want to be part of the action at all times. Chose a school where classes are small. If there are more than 6 handlers per instructor on a regular basis, this may not be the class for you. It is extremely difficult for a driven dog to sit through 10 minutes of watching other class members work through a problem (maybe it’s just my dogs ;) Even if the class is small, keep your dog busy as much as you can while still listening to the instructor. Work on attention training and tricks with the extremely driven dog. This will also prevent your dog from straining at the end of the leash to get a whiff of the Maltese running by. If your dog can play tug-o-war in a controlled manner, dedicate one particular toy for agility and let him hang on to the toy while you are waiting. Interrupt the play with toy-releases and stays. As a matter of fact, a lot of handling moves can be taught with toy in hand (as a quasi target). Tug-o-war also makes for a great reward mid-course to speed up slowing dogs.
 You may find classmates watching your dog more than all the other dogs. Most of these people will eventually come up to you and engage in normal doggie chat as well as ask questions about the breed. There are, however, people with a preformed negative opinion who will continue to eye you and your dog cautiously. Your job is not to antagonize, but to impress.

How to impress your new class:
 This is your opportunity to shine. The more your dog is under control, the more he does well and the more you present yourself and your training in a positive light, the better your chances of enlightening the skeptic. This means: don’t let your dog lunge at other dogs, work on some of the suggested exercises before you actually attend class and don’t slap, yank or yell at your dog. Keep physical corrections to an absolute minimum. Other than making your dog not enjoy the exercise, it draws attention to you, gives the impression that your dog is out of control AND makes you look like a bar brawler. Just don’t do it. If you feel that you are getting frustrated with your dog’s behavior, quietly take him by the collar, tell him “Time Out” and put him into his crate or in your car. Let him realize that this behavior stops the fun and games. If you have to “Time Out” your dog frequently, you may not be at a training level appropriate for the exercise.

Your dog’s wardrobe
 While most novice agility classes begin with training on-leash, the goal is to work off-leash as you progress. It is difficult to follow a dog through a tunnel or tire jump with a leash ;) Leash-work on course is rather dangerous, because the leash may get caught on obstacles as the dog runs over or through them. To minimize the chance for injury, stay away from prong or choker collars. Don’t get dressed to kill J Use flat buckle collars and a lightweight leash. Once you are able to work off-leash intermittently, it may be useful to purchase a slip lead or a “tab” to attach to the collar.


Things to consider

As discussed before, this sport is physically demanding. Try to come to class early to warm up your dog with a few stretching exercises and a bit of jogging. You can actually train your dog to play-bow for you by rewarding this behavior whenever he stretches/play-bows. You could also let him place his front paws on your chest and encourage him to stretch to your face. Consider giving him a rub-down and gently flexing and stretching his limbs while he is standing for you. At a minimum, trot him for about 5 minutes and encourage him to follow you through some sharp turns on leash before starting class. This will decrease the chance for injury and also increases his attention during class.

 
Rules?
 
There are four major organizations you can choose from to title your dog in agility. Titling your dog with one does not count towards another. The organizations are: AKC, NADAC, UKC and USDAA. Each of them has slightly different rules. For that matter, UKC agility rules probably differ the most from all the others. They even have different obstacles to master. In general, AKC has tighter, slower courses, NADAC has well flowing fast courses, UKC tends to ask the dogs and handlers to be very exact in the execution of the obstacles (slower with the emphasis on obedience) and USDAA courses are the most demanding by being fast, tight and requiring the dogs to jump the highest. You may find that one organization fits your dog better than another. Stick with what works for you and your dog.

 Another word on Obstacles
There are, however, common rules as far as the execution of obstacles are concerned. As discussed, there are hurdles/jumps and non-hurdle obstacles.

Hurdles come in different widths and shapes. In general, a fallen bar on a jump is enough of a fault to not qualify at a trial. Not jumping over the entirety of a broad jump (by touching or walking on the boards) is also enough of a fault to disqualify. While you begin training with bars set low, you do want to increase the height of the jumps to competition level at least 50% of the time in practice before thinking about entering a trial. With fast, driven dogs it also helps to set the jumps on a course or sequence at different heights to force the dog to think and adjust stride more frequently.

CONTACT OBSTACLES
Non-hurdle obstacles come in a few different flavors. One flavor is the “contact obstacle”. This group includes: A-frame, dog-walk, and teeter. You will notice that all of these obstacles are painted in two colors. The painted areas on the on- and off- ramp are safety zones. If your dog does not touch these areas with at least on part of one foot while executing the obstacle, your dog is disqualified. Once dogs are building speed and self-confidence in agility, they begin making short cuts, such as jumping off the top of an A-frame or by running off the teeter while it is still in the air. Quite obviously, these can lead to serious injury. There are various ways to train safe execution of these obstacles; one of them, called “2 on 2 off”, can be seen on the following picture.
 
 
…as if learning agility is not enough!
TEACHING TRICKS
 
All of my dogs are taught various tricks. Teaching tricks has multiple functions: they focus your dog, are fun, tend to warm him up physically and mentally, as well as endear your dog to everybody in the room… even the skeptic. Here are some of the more common tricks you could work on:

· Play dead
· Balancing a cookie on the nose
· Roll over
· Spin
· Weave through your legs as you walk


The agility 1 Course (EXAMPLE)


The agility I Class consists of 13 obstacles:
SEE OUR 3D PIT BULL RUN THE ABOVE COURSE
six non-hurdle obstacles;
and six hurdle obstacles, all valued at 15 points each; and
the Pause Table, valued at 20 points.
Total value of the course is 200 points.
The course may vary in length from 120 to 200 yards.
Non-Hurdle? Obstacles
All six of the following non-hurdle obstacles must be used.


A-frame

Closed Tunnel

Dog Walk

Open Tunnel

Teeter-totter

Hoop Tunnel


Hurdle Obstacles
Six Hurdle Obstacles are required in the agility I course designs. Any of the ten approved obstacles listed below may be used. However, any one of them (except the Water Hurdle) may be used as many as three times (the same hurdle may be used three times or three individual hurdles of the same type may be used at three different locations) in the course design. Any three hurdles may be used twice, or all six of the hurdles may be of different types. Any intermediate combination of those possibilities also is acceptable. Each hurdle obstacle is valued at 15 points.


From Left to right: Bush Hurdle, Bar Hurdle and Rail Fence Hurdle

Long Hurdle

Picket Fence Hurdle

Window Hurdle

• The Water Hurdle may be placed only as the last obstacle in the course to prevent the possibility of getting ramps, etc. wet should a dog step in the water.
  • The Spread Hurdle may be jumped only from the direction of the lowest bar; the approach cannot be to the end with the highest bar first.

Pause Obstacle
The Pause Table is used in this class and is valued at 20 points. This obstacle may be placed at any position in the course design.

 
3. Challenges
Challenges are basically changes in direction within the agility course that go from one obstacle to another. The following are examples of what is meant by challenges and others of similar difficulty may be used in the agility I Class. Compare these to the A1 course above to see what challenges are presented there.

The following symbols are used: I = any hurdle or non-hurdle obstacle; II = any obstacle that can be entered from either end; T = Closed Tunnel, Open Tunnel and Hoop Tunnel; C = Closed Tunnel and Teeter-totter.


Quarter turns and zigzag patterns.


90-degree turns to the next obstacle.


Reverse 180-degree turns back to a different obstacle.

SEE OUR 3D PIT BULL RUN THE ABOVE COURSE
Assigned Course Times
Because only 13 obstacles in agility I (as opposed to 16 in agility II and III) and generally a less difficult course design, ACT may be slightly less than for those selected for agility II and agility III Classes. Our attempt is to select course times with comparable rates for all three Classes.

Repeat attempts to complete an obstacle
In the agility I Class, three attempts are allowed to complete each of the obstacles. A 5-point deduction is assessed for each failed attempt. Three failed attempts of an obstacle result in a 15-point assessment for all obstacles except the Pause Table. The Pause Table is assessed 5-point deductions for each of the first two failed attempts and a 10-point deduction for the third failed attempt for a total of 20 points when the obstacle is not completed in three attempts.

Questions
 This is our FAQ section.

1) How can I find out when an agility trial is happening near me?
a. The best resource for this is online at www.cleanrun.com. They keep a running list of upcoming events sorted by date and region.

2)  How can I get a copy of the rules for agility?
a. Your best bet is to contact the sanctioning body directly. You can contact the United Kennel Club, American Kennel Club, North American Dog agility Council or United States Dog agility Association on the Internet.