Competing in Agility

[flossysmum]

Hi,

I have been going to agility classes for about 2 years now and Charlie really enjoys going, I would like to do abit of competing with him but dont really know where to start. I know he needs to be measured, do they do this at the show? He does have his moments where he will make up his own course but most of the time he is well behaved 

Thanks

Abigail

[JohnW]

You can start by clicking onto the Agility.net  site they have most of the Kc comps listed  in the country Abigail. Does your Trainers at the Agility classes not compete? they maybe able to advise too. Alot of dogs are measured at the shows, so if you contact some of the show secretaries near you they will probably give you a list of when the measures will be taking place and at what show etc? Remember you will need to take your KC registration form (or activity registration if not Kc breed registered) and when we have had ours measured they have always checked the microchips so your dog will need to be chipped too. I have heard of some asking for Booster certificates too but I have never been asked for those myself.    Plus the Kennel club will probably be able to give you a list of people that will be able to measure your dog in your area if you cant make a show as sometimes they do measure seperatley from the shows, be aware though you may have to travel to get this done as we did the first time I got Bailey measured.

[Max X 2]

Like John said agilitynet website is the best place to look.
There are other shows (independent) that are not KC, but they're all detailed on there & some of those you don't need to get your dog measured & they have different height categories to KC
NAWS I believe are held in Halifax.

We had a year competing at BAA shows before doing any KC

Some independent shows have netting around the rings, whereas KC shows the rings are just roped off  

[flossysmum]

Hi,

Thanks for the help i was also wondering what class do i enter? I would really like to enter him for the Northern agility show,should I put him in the pre-competition class to get him used to going?

Thank you

[black taz]

I went for the lowest grade i could, and to be honest the first season is really to get you used to competing.  This has been my first year and i have probably done about 8 competitions.  It took the first three or four before we actually completed a run without being elimated, then another couple before we got a clear round (and a 2nd place) and since then we have got a couple of clear rounds but not fast enough.  I did mostly the BAA and non-KC this year and really enjoyed it.  I will probably do a combination of BAA and KC next year as it will be Kira's first year competing.

Good luck, but once you start you won't want to stop

[Max X 2]

Hi,

Thanks for the help i was also wondering what class do i enter? I would really like to enter him for the Northern agility show,should I put him in the pre-competition class to get him used to going?

Thank you

It's probably a good place to start, as the courses are likely to be more straight forward. For some dogs the whole experience of a show environment can be quite different/exciting.  Charlie may want to say hello to the judge for example or just do his own thing, which the judges will half expect with newbie dogs.
Having said that looking at the NAWS schedule Class B is for Grades 1 & 2 so I'd expect a straight forward course.
Is Charlie OK with weaves & see-saw & do you need a toy in training?

Personally for a 1st show I'd be tempted to go for the pre-competition, you can watch the Grade 1/2 class & could always enter that the next time

Good Luck & have fun, but be warned, like Black Taz said, it can be addictive  

I did the same thing with Harry last Winter, just to get him used to the atmosphere etc. & entered him at Grade 0
Similar to the indoor shows we did you get 2 goes over the same course at NAWS which I personally enjoy

[flossysmum]

Thank you  Charlie will probably want to go and sniff everything at first we have done a few displays with him for our club so he might not be too bad. he can do the see-saw and has started to do the weaves. I usually use treats with him but he's fine without when we are on the course.

Im really looking forward to taking him, we just want to have fun and if he behaves, I would be really pleased  xx