Agility

My hobby is agility.

Tunnel with my sister's dog Stella

At first, agility or more closely dog agility is very nice a dog sport, where handler's aim is to direct the dog through a variety of obstacles or an obstacle course without any faults in predestined ideal time. Handler direct dog without leash or food or toys as incentives, and the handler can't touch dog or obstacles. Consequently the handler's controls are limited to voice, movements, and various body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal and coordination of the handler.

Tire jump with me and my dog Ana

Me and my dog Tauno

Marja and Viri

 The dog agility has got the idea from same type horse sport in England year 1977, but the course has been changed to suit to dog. Agility was half time activity in horse races.

Now agility is so popularity and the popularity is growing all the time and it is official competition around world.

Ana

Weave poles with Viri

At least in Finland our agility course include about twenty obstacles. We have many different obstacles, and them share about four groups, and they inter alia are contact obstacles: A-frame, dogwalk and seesaw, and tunnels: open tunnel and closed tunnel, and jumps: normal jump, wall, long jump and tire jump, and other obstacles: table and weave poles. Rarely in the agility course has all of these obstacles same time. There are two agility course types: jumping course and normal course. Jumping course hasn't contact obstacles. The agility course carry out in number order and this is sometimes very hard because dog is so fast an the course is so twisty.

Medium wall with Tauno

Large long jump with Ava

There are three classes depending on the high of the dog in agility and they are small, medium and large or in Finnish they are mini, medi and maxi. In addition there are also three different level classes to dogs in Finland, so that every dog starts to competing in the first class and when the dog have got enough good results and placements the dog will move up to the next level. Third class is last class.

Small jump with Mila

Medium jump with Ella

Large jump with Stella

About everyone can be interested in agility, about every dog and every human. Agility requires speed, coordination ability, cooperative etc. Also the dog must be good condition because agility is physically hard. A dog is human's partner and their ability to communicate will be good.

Dogwalk with Ana

Dogwalk with Ava

Agility is so fun hobby for me and my dog, and it is also joy for spectators. I started agility when I was many years younger. My dad and my sister were going agility and I lost my soul to agility. In the beginning I got to know agility secrets, and how we training our dogs, because I didn't have own dog yet. Now I have one own dog Ana and the training dog Tauno, who lives with my aunt.

A-frame with tunnel with Stella

Seesaw with Tauno

I like agility, because I like dogs and agility is so diverse. We have a lot of fun, even though we don't always succeed. I have many friends in agility people. They are so nice and fun persons. My reasons are my dog and myself activation and comfortable together. I like it! Sport + dog + maybe outdoor activities + fun together = my love!

Medium jump with Ana

Tunnel with Ella

We have training times once or twice a week and them duration about one hour, but the dog training and they care take a lot of time. A dog is commitment, they take you life. Agility in Lappeenranta cost a lot compared to other cities. It is about seventy euros per three months.

I recommend to agility all dog people, because it is so fun!

Clear winner course with Ana

Self-evaluation:

This is nice to do and I like this one.
+ video

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+ idea

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