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Agility Training For Fox Terriers  If the formality and control of competition obedience doesn't appeal to you, agility might just be the ideal sport for you and your fox terrier. When you first see an agility course, especially a competition course with its brightly colored teeter-totter, dog walk, A-frame, the tunnels and the decorated jumps, your first impression is likely to be that you've just discovered a playground for dogs. And so you have!  Agility as a dog sport was first developed in England as a spectator event to entertain the audience between classes at horse shows. If you've ever watched the Olympic show jumping classes on TV, you can see where much of the inspiration for agility came from. Putting a dog through an agility course is a lot like taking a horse around a jumping course. The big difference of course, is that you can't ride the dog! Voice commands and hand signals take the place of saddle and bridle. An agility course is set up with a certain minimum number of obstacles, and there are certain obstacles that are required in every class. There will almost always be a dog walk -- a long thin plank the dog must climb a ramp to reach, then trot the length of the plank and climb down the ramp on the other side. There will be several jumps, and two tunnels, one that is open at both ends and another one that is open at the entrance but is made of fabric that the dog must push through on his way out (imagine your fox terrier crawling out from under the bedcovers, and you've got the general picture.) There will be a teeter-totter and an A-frame, too.  Each dog gets a maximum amount of time to negotiate all the obstacles in the correct order; the dog that gets around the course fastest, with the fewest mistakes, wins the class. Since your dog can't read the numbers on the obstacles, it's up to you to direct him to each obstacle in turn, make sure he does it correctly (and quickly!) and moves on to the next one. Very exciting! Agility can be enjoyed by almost any fox terrier, providing he is in reasonable condition, has no serious health problems and isn't too overweight. If you have any doubts, get a checkup from your vet before you enroll in an agility class. You and the dog are both going to do lots of running and get plenty of exercise in agility, so if you have any doubts about your own health, you might want to get a checkup, too. Since agility needs lots of equipment, you'll need to find a club that offers training classes. If you are already going to obedience classes, chances are excellent that your instructor or the other students will know of local agility classes. Before you sign up, go out to visit the class one night, and just watch. See how the instructor relates to the students and the dogs -- be sure you are comfortable with her or him. When class is over, go up and ask questions if you've got any. If all the dogs in the class happen to be large breeds, it might be a good idea to ask the instructor if he or she has trained or worked with any small breeds of dogs. It doesn't hurt to ask if they've ever worked with any terrier breeds, either! If you aren't comfortable with the answers to your questions, or you get the feeling that the instructor may not like small dogs, or may have a bad opinion of terriers; look for another class. One thing you'll probably discover in your very first class session with your dog is that agility is a sport where fox terriers shine. They have lots of natural advantages in agility -- like size. The narrow ramps of the dog walk or the teeter-totter are much less of a challenge to a small, sure-footed breed like the fox terrier. Foxes also tend to have that fearless, do-or-die, I'll-try-anything-once attitude. You'd be amazed how many big, strong Dobermans and Labradors are scared to death of the teeter or afraid of the dark in the fabric tunnel! Agility training should be kept up beat and fun. You'll use food to teach your dogs the different obstacles, and food or toys or even both as rewards. You'll want small bits of food to use -- not kibble or dog biscuits, but something soft that can be cut up quite small so the dog can just gulp it down and not have to stop to chew it up. Some people use cheese cut up in little cubes; this is good if it doesn't give your dog gas, and if he's not on a sodium-restricted diet. Hot dogs work well, too. Or there are all sorts of soft commercial dog treats available, too. Find a couple different ones that your dog really thinks are special. Remember to make allowances at suppertime, though. All those training treats mean lots of extra calories!
There are several organizations that offer agility competition and titles. The one it will be easiest to find information on is the type run by the American Kennel Club (AKC.) The AKC offers several agility titles, and is making plans to add more. At the moment you can work toward Novice Agility, Novice Jumpers With Weaves; Open Agility and Open Jumpers With Weaves; Agility Excellent and Excellent Jumpers With Weaves; and finally the Master Agility Excellent title. Novice, Open and Excellent titles are earned by competing in different classes which offer increasingly complex courses to challenge dog and handler. Three qualifying scores at three trials under two different judges are required to earn the title. The Master title is acquired by earning qualifying scores in ten Agility Excellent classes at ten different trials. Links:Direct Book Services AKC Agility Rules NADAC USDAA American Dog Trainers Network Dogpatch Dog Agility Page Nashville, Tenn Agility club Oklahoma City, OK Agility club An introduction to Agility Pictures of dogs in agility (including "Cakes," a Smooth owned by Jacqueline Austin) | ||||||||
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