The History and Rules of Dog Agility Quiz

Answer: Crufts Dog Show

While many horse shows have dog agility demonstrations and the 'Olympia' is arguably the most prestigious venue for dog agility in England, they're not where dog agility got started.

Crufts is the world's biggest dog show. In 1977 John Varney, a Crufts committee member, was in charge of providing entertainment in the main arena between the conclusion of the obedience competition and the start of the group judging (conformation). On February 10, 1978, the exhibition was a competition between two teams each with 4 sets of handlers and dogs.

Answer: show jumping - horses

John Varney had a strong interest in show jumping. His idea was an event with obstacles, a doggy version of show jumping. He asked his friend, dog trainer, working dog competitor and judge, Peter Meanwell to develop obstacles and rules for his idea. Twenty years later Peter Meanwell remarked "I am proud to have been instrumental in starting what has become a world-wide dogging activity enjoyed by dogs and their owners in the thousands, and I'm maybe somewhat self-satisfied that the obstacles, working systems and judging system are virtually unchanged since that first event at Crufts 1978."

A more thorough history of the origins of the sport can be found in "The Agility Dog" by Peter Lewis (1981) or on the web at
http://www.agilitynet.com/history/foundinghistory.html

Answer: pole bending - horses

Pole bending requires the horse and rider to weave between six poles forward and back. The fastest time wins. In dog agility there are usually 12 poles and the weaving occurs only in one direction.

Answer: having fun with your dog

Very few venues offer cash prizes and in those that do the amounts are rather small. The one time I placed first in a class the prize money just covered the entry fee for the class. Sorry to say, dog agility is not yet a mainstream sport. While it is possible to gain some secular notoriety there are easier ways to become famous. Agility requires a highly motivated dog that is willing to take the initiative. Agility works best as a partnership, a dance.

Answer: leash

The dog must enter and leave the ring under control. A leash is the easiest way for this to be accomplished. The leash can't be used while running the course. Most trials have leash runners that take the leash from the starting line to the exit gate.

Many venues even require the dogs run 'naked' (without collars), because of the risk of the collar getting caught in the equipment and harming the dog. Training aids like food, toys and clickers are forbidden in the ring. Most venues require an additional 10-foot exclusion zone around the ring for these items.

Answer: snooker

Snooker is a points based game in which the handler gets to make up a course. The obstacles are distinguished by their color and point value, 1-7. Red jumps have a value of one.

The game consists of two parts, an opening and a closing. In the opening a red must be performed first followed by any differently colored obstacle, then a different red obstacle, again, followed by a differently colored obstacle. Finally, the last red jump followed a differently colored obstacle is performed. The red obstacle must be different each time but the same is not true of the differently colored obstacle. This concludes the opening. The dog, now, must proceed directly to the closing, that is the differently colored obstacles performed in numerical order 2,3,4,5,6,7. Any mistake in the strict rules results in the team being whistled off the course and ends point collection. They do, however, retain all points collected up to that point. There is, also, a maximum coarse time that is a factor. The highest point total wins with the fastest time breaking ties. It is one of the more intellectually challenging games.

Answer: the handler falls down

Fortunately dog agility tests the dog's agility, not the handlers. Many runs have been saved when the handler still managed to direct the dog through the remainder of the course after kissing the dirt. The others are universal faults regardless of the particular sanctioning body. Handlers are not allowed to touch an obstacle even accidentally. Taking an obstacle out of sequence is an off-course and is always faulted. What defines taking an obstacle does however vary according to the venue. Some require the dog to touch the obstacle with all four feet before a fault is called while other just touching the obstacle with any part of the body is enough to induce a fault.

Aggression is not tolerated in agility. The incident is written up and the offending dog must be removed from the show grounds. In most venues, a dog does get a second chance. However, second incidents usually result in permanent expulsion.

Answer: all of these

From the printed course maps one can devise a basic strategy and make note of particularly difficult areas on a course that deserve special attention during the walk-through. The walk-through is where the plan is refined and rehearsed. By watching others run the course, trouble spots can be discovered that were missed earlier.

The strategy can be adjusted, but it is not without risk. Because it has not been rehearsed, any new strategy will likely result in poor timing between dog and handler.

Answer: schutzhund

Schutzhund is a dog sport developed in Germany in the early 1900s as a way of evaluating German Shepherd dogs, especially for police work. There are three main phases to schutzhund, obedience, tracking and personal protection. One of the obedience requirements is a retrieve over a 6-foot wall. This wall is very similar in size and form to the dog agility A-frame.

Answer: must be easy

How hard it would be to train dogs for the sport was not a guiding principle. As the sport has grown in popularity, training methods have improved, but the courses have become more challenging. Typically, it takes 1-2 years of training before a dog is ready to compete at the novice level.

The other three were guiding principles of the sport. The yellow safety zones on the contact obstacles are just one example of the efforts to reduce potential hazards to the dog. The principles, being fun and spectator appeal, have been obvious since the first exhibition at Crufts more than 25 years ago.