This is Friendship Darcy Makena AX AXJ CGC having fun going through her weaves. Only getting to attend a few local indoor shows a year due to her mom's disability condition, it is amazing what Darcy was able to accomplish in this fun fun fun sport. She was far better at it than her bedraggled human, Rochelle, resident webmaster for the Land of PureGold website.

This oh so sweet photo, as well as the photo above, was taken by talented photographer, Stuart Haman. Although usually seen on the Baltimore Ravens football field or snapping photos of thoroughbreds on our most renowned racetracks, Stuart helped me out by shooting Darcy doing her stuff.

Agility is the absolutely most fun thing to do! A great exercise and confidence builder, any dog can do it. Imagine having an entire doggy playground with jumps to fly over, walls to climb, tunnels to run through, a plank to walk over, poles to weave through and lots more. That's something like what agility is all about. Goldens really adore this sport. In 1998, the AKC selected a five-member team to represent the United States in the World Agility Championship. And, guess what? One of the members was the famous Jane Simmons-Moake with her Golden, Holly MX. Jane has two Goldens with advanced agility and obedience titles.

Darcy just loved this sport, and had two great teachers (Judith & Connie) to get her started. They work so hard trying to teach us 2-legged and 4-legged club members our way around the ring. Darcy was certainly more agile than her Golden Mom Rochelle, who would never be able to scramble up the A-Frame, jump hurdles, or go running through tunnels. But, then again, only our Golden girl could be nicknamed "Miss Runamouk," often leaving her mom scratching her head back in the dust.

You see, Goldens are known to be thinking dogs, who often like to create their own sequence of fun events. If you were let loose at the biggest and bestest candy store, what would you do? Well, probably, you'd head for what looked the best to you, depending on whether chocolates or gummies or licorice were your favorites. Unfortunately, in the agility world, only one sequence of obstacles is allowed. And, you must complete them quickly in that order, not in your own creative order. So, here Goldens must let their human parents do the thinking, and that can be a hard thing to learn.

Training & Web Resources	Clicker Vdeo Clips
Darcy's Agility Diary     Agility Books & Media     Agility Web Resources     Canis Major Agility Site	Charging the Clicker  Teaching Touch   Teaching Sit  Teaching Down    Teaching Stay - Part 1	Teaching Stay Part 2  Teaching Stay Part 3  Agility Weave Poles    Teaching Go Back  Beginner Bailey

 

Here Come the Obstacles
Weave Poles
These are sometimes hard for big dogs to learn. There are 6 - 12 poles about 36" high all in a row. They are spaced about 20" apart. You have to tell your guy to "weave" to go in and out between the poles from one end to the other. When you've gotten good at doing that, then you will need to do it quickly as well!

TUNNELS
Julie Masson, 12, of Rochester Hills 
takes her Golden Retriever, Murphy, 
through an Oakland County 4-H 
Club demo at the dog show. Photo:
Robin Buckson, The Detroit News, 
March 9, 1998

Pipe tunnel
The pipe tunnel is the same as the ones little kids use to play in, but it is much longer. It can be turned to make a straight tunnel or a curved one. Courses often have more than one tunnel.


Chute  
The chute is a solid tunnel at the entrance (like a barrel) but once you get through that part, the rest is a long cloth tunnel that lies flat on the ground until you go into it. Then you have to run through, pushing the cloth out of your way. This one is harder to learn because it is dark in there. At first, some dogs can feel scared doing this.

HURDLES
Hurdles are things you jump over. Meet Nick DeCesare's SR Kiowa's Jackson Fer-De-Lance CDX JH AX AXJ WCX, who is going over one right here.

Golden Lance is one sweet and goofy guy. If only Nick could keep him from going to retrieve his lead before finishing the course. He just can't wait to get it to then carry it off gloriously in his soft retriever mouth. The group depends greatly on Nick, who is our resident obstacle carrier, fixer and even creator.

Bar Jump
This is just a plain old jump. The jump can have a single bar or a double bar. They are set at different heights for different size dogs. Sometimes jumps have wings on the sides, and sometimes they have a barrel on each side.You're not allowed to knock any of the bars off when you jump, as this causes you to be instantly disqualified.

Triple Jump
This is a type of spread bar jump. There can be double and triple jumps, which tells you how deep the jump is. They are also set at different heights for different size dogs. You're still not allowed to knock any of the bars off, of course!

Broad Jump
This is a wider jump that lies on the ground. It isn't very high, but you have to jump farther to get to the other side.

Tire Jump
This one is lots of fun. It's not the same as a hurdle because you have to jump through a tire that is hanging in the air. Your dog can't run under or on the side of it. You have to watch carefully on this one to make sure your guy actually goes through the middle of the tire.
 

CONTACTS
Here, there are special contacts that your dog has to touch, or not move from. This can be hard when you're guy's moving like lightning!

A-Frame
The A-Frame is just like climbing over a big wall. It is a big wooden obstacle shaped like a letter A!! You go up one side and down the other. Of course, in trials, the A-frame is really high and the sides are steeper, so you have to learn to climb up it. The sides have wooden slats for you to grip. The bottom of both sides is painted yellow - this is the contact zone. When you go up and down, at least one paw has to touch down in this area.

Dogwalk
The dogwalk has slanted ramps. Your dog walks up the ramp to get to a long board. Once walking across this long plank, your dog comes down the other ramp. Like the A-frame, though, one paw must touch both bottom contact areas.

Teeter or See-Saw
This is just like the See-Saws you see in a regular human playground. Your dog has to walk up the ramp (touching the bottom yellow area again), make the teeter go down on the other side, and then walk down it. It can make a loud bumping noise when your dog goes down, which can be startling and scary. This is usually easy to work through, as long as lots of positive reinforcement (praise & food) is the only training method used.

Pause Table
This is just a table that is about 36" square. It is set at the same height as the jumps. Your dog has to jump onto the table (without sliding off) and sit or lie down (for five seconds) until being told to run again. When your dog is really excited and wants to keep jumping, it's hard to stay still for the full five seconds. But, if they begin to get up, the count has to start all over again. And, with the seconds ticking away, this can keep your guy from finishing the course in the allowed time!

Combos!
Just when you think you've caught on to each piece of equipment, they start putting them together to make things more interesting. That's where the teamwork comes in. The handler must be able to direct their partner to the correct obstacle.