Your dog will be taught to negotiate tunnels, weavers, scrambles, dog walks, hoops and jumps whilst having lots of fun.
Agility is suitable for dogs aged 6 months and over, and even old dogs have been taught new tricks.
Training starts on half size equipment and low jumps - puppies do not jump full height jumps until they are over 12 months old for medium dogs and 14-16 months for large dogs, this allows their bones to grow and set and helps to prevent injury later on. Once your dog is comfortable on the equipment it can progress from the half size pieces to the full size equipment - learning to put sequences together and finally advancing to complete courses.
Handlers aged from 8 upwards are most welcome and there is no upper age limit - we have members who are into their 70's, enjoying the challenges that Agility offers them.
Most dogs love doing agility and it's a great way to bond and work with your dog, while keeping yourself active as well.
All of our Instructors have trained and trialled their own dogs, going up through the classes, obtaining Australian Titles and competing in National Championships.
There are 7 city clubs and 3 country clubs throughout SA, these clubs hold Agility Trials on weekends during the cooler months being April to November. So, if trialling becomes your passion there is an agility trial on somewhere in the state nearly every weekend.
Our Club has an annual 6 trial weekend usually on the third weekend of August each year where 800 plus entries is not unusual.
In competition there are five jump height categories and dogs are catalogued to jump either 200 mm, 300mm, 400mm, 500 mm or 600mm based on the height of the dog at the withers. Therefore, if you have a smaller dog it doesn't have to jump as high as the larger dogs.
Courses are set by the Judges and provide challenges to the dog and handler team according to the grade they are competing in. The time is calculated by measuring the course length and dividing that by the standard meters per second required for each course level, taking into account the ease or difficulty of the course layout. A 'clear round' must be obtained to receive a qualification with no time faults or course faults recorded.
Competitions classes are Novice, Excellent, Open and Masters both in Agility and Jumping.
As with Obedience, if you don't have the desire to go onto trialling, you are more than welcome to continue on and progress to the higher classes, become part of our demo team and help out at our trials. You don't need to own a dog to join our club.
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