Dog Agility – Obstacle Course
Dog agility is basically a contest which involves the maneuvering through an obstacle course. Speed and not making mistakes are the two major factors in determining the winner. The are not on a leash and the owners of the are not allowed to entice the through the course with snacks. They are not allowed to provide any other types of incentives in order speed their dog through the course in a fast time. The owners of the are allowed to talk to the and yell out commands and make different type of body signals.
The dog agility courses are filled with various obstacles such as tunnels and ladders. The courses are typically about one hundred by one hundred feet and the obstacles are provided with numbers to display the order that the have to complete the various obstacles.
Complicated Courses
The dog agility courses are typically designed to be complicated and are usually too difficult to be completed by the without the coaching provided by their handlers. The owners can make it easier for the to complete the course by spending some time to analyze the course and develop a strategy that will make it easier for their dog to rapidly run through the course without making mistakes. The dog handlers are allowed to use a map of the course in order to help them develop their strategy for the dog agility competition.
The Score
Typically the dog only has one opportunity to complete the course during the competition. While the dog is rapidly running through the course the owner of the dog is usually running behind their dog giving out commands. The score the dog receives is based on the number of faults he made during his run through the dog agility course.
Dogs will be penalized for such infractions as knocking down a bar or failing to run through a tunnel and the will be penalized with time faults which are basically the number of seconds over the amount of time that has been allowed to complete the course. The amount of time that is allocated to complete the course is determined by the difficulty of the course, the level of competition at the dog agility contest as well as other factors.
The courses are filled with obstacles such as an A-frame, a dog walk, teeter-totter, a crossover, tunnels, jumps and other types of obstacles to challenge the while they are running through the course. The owners of the spend a lot of time training their to run through a course. A dog agility competition can provide the audience with some exciting entertainment.
