Cheryl May's
Dogsports Agility Page
Agility is fun!
My dogs and I got into agility because my sheltie, Rocky, adores the sport.
He always did obedience trials because I asked him to. He does agility because
he likes it. This is akin to a human who gets to retire early and
play golf just for fun. Agility is Rocky's version of golf. When he finished
his UKC utility title in August 1997, he immediately retired from obedience
and has been pursuing his beloved avocation ever since in NADAC, AKC and
UKC. He has been very successful in terms of titles,
ribbons, placements. All that is secondary to the joy I have running a
fun sport with my sweet, wonderful dog. He should never know whether
he Q'd or not! Each run ends the same way for him -- by being told he
is the most magnificent dog on the planet, and suggesting he might like
a dog cookie -- he would! He is 10 years old now, still healthy and still
competing. He celebrated his 10th birthday at an agility trial with a
Q and a placement. Every time in the ring is a gift, and I appreciate
and treasure each run.
If you think that you and your dog might enjoy agility,
I suggest you visit classes taught by instructors in your area. Compare
methods. Be a wise consumer. Look for kind and positive methods of training.
Compulsion has no place in agility! Train with kindness and you will be
rewarded with a happy and enthusiastic partner. Our dogs' lives are very
short, compared with our own. How sad it would be to look back at the
end of a dog's life and regret harsh treatment delivered in pursuit of
personal glory for titles and ribbons.
Here are a few agility articles that I hope you
will find helpful.
- A
basic explanation of Rocky's favorite agility game, Gamblers
- Beginner's
guide to UKC's Agility I class. This is an article I prepared for
students in a beginning agility class.
-
Conquer
Ring Nerves! Advice on getting over those pesky ring nerves which
have bothered most of us at one time or another.
Agility resources
Mary Jo Sminkey's Dogpatch.
You can look up agility events anywhere by visiting the Events
Calendar. And don't miss the agility
course of the week which, although no longer adding courses, still
has numerous courses you can print out and study.
-
Agility
Ability Katie Greer's very comprehensive agility home page
-
Agility
articles from PowerPaws - Nancy Gyes' homepage.
-
Agilitynet
Dog agility in the United Kingdom, where the sport was developed.
-
Clean
Run Magazine
Home page features a new agility exercise each month.
-
Agilitynet
United Kingdom agility site with articles on health issues, performance
tips and more.
-
Look under the Training Exercises link for agility exercises by Barbara
Mah.
-
Just
for Fun New agility group organized by Bud Houston for all dogs,
regardless of pedigree. Committed to low-cost participation in agility.
-
NADAC
home page
AKC
home page
-
USDAA
home page
-
UKC's
home page
The best source of United Kennel Club
information on the World Wide Web is the UKC
site maintained by Pat Kalbaugh
E-mail discussion lists related
to agility
The Internet provides a great community for sharing agility ideas,
training techniques, brags, and more. Here are some of the available
lists: Agile Dogs Subscribe by writing to listserv@apple.ease.lsoft.com.
Leave the subject line blank and type in the body of the text: subscribe
agiledogs
Agility Follow the directions at the site to subscribe to
this list. Agility
Clean Run members discuss training articles featured in the
magazine, discuss the content of their books, and pose training questions
and ideas for future articles.Clean Run
Just For Fun Agility a discussion list for the JFF style of
agility. Just
for Fun
NADAC agility discussion group for NADAC Agility. Follow the
directions at the site to subscribe. NADAC
agility
Novice A is a place where dog agility enthusiasts new to the
sport can talk freely about the experiences of being new to agility,
in an open and non-critical atmosphere. Follow the directions at the
site to join. Novice
agility
UKC agility discussion group for UKC agility. UKC
agility
Rocky in action
Rocky, U-UD U-ACH Tartan's Dream
Catcher, UD, AX, EAC, NAJ, NGC, NJC, CGC, retired Delta Pet Partner
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