4-H Dog Agility is designed to be fun for both handlers and dogs. It gives a nice break from the more structured obedience and showmanship competitions, yet still requires a well-trained dog and informed handler.
WHAT IS DOG AGILITY? Agility is basically a timed obstacle course of 6 to 20 obstacles (depending on the class). Scoring is done by making deductions for faults such as jumping off an obstacle, running the wrong course, a tight leash or taking too much time to run the course (see the scoring section). Dogs can work on either left or right side of the handler and do not need to be in Heel position; in fact, ideally a dog should be able to work well on both the left and right and to go ahead ofthe handler on the handler’s command (such as go-out). The most important element of agility is that the dogs and handlers have fun, yet they must work well as a team.