Agility

 

Agility

 

• How did it start?

     It all began in England in 1978, before the annually organized, largest dog-show, the well-known Crufts’ Show. The main idea was to provide a new and attractive show for both home and foreign spectators. John Varleyra, the enthusiastic member of the Crufts’ commission, obsessed by the equestrian sport, was assigned the task. Together with Peter Meanwell, a successful dog trainer, they designed a racecourse, similar to show-jumping, especially for dogs. The success exceeded all expectations, though sketching of the course was extremely easy at this time. Thus, agility came into existence and soon became very successful. As a result of the enthusiasm, several agility-clubs were established, and soon an “official club” will be founded to put in order the dense chaos. A standard regulation was required, as well as, training for judges and trainers.

• Ten years later…

     Already, in 1988 was held an international competition, with certain rounds being held in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. From a country four dog keepers could enter the competition with his dog. Even in that year was organized in Geneva the first non-official European championship. Several British sportsmen did not want to miss this championship. Since, because of the danger of rabies, they couldn’t carry home their own dogs without quarantine. Consequently, they proved their handler, trainer and dog leadership capabilities with loan dogs. The 1^st German Championship was organized in 1989 that attended Swiss, French, Monacan, Belgian, Dutch, Danish and German teams. The charm of the new sport made the long journeys forget. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) accepted the official agility-regulation in 1991, which is still valid with some changes to all national and international agility-competitions.

-          Agility

All activities start with easy practices of obedience to slightly strengthen the concentration of the young dog and arouse his attention. All successful practice should be rewarded in order to motivate the dog. These practices can be made among the fences set up for the young dog to connect obedience with game. The practices on ceratin fences should be carried out only with trainer expert in agility, to avoid accidents.

-          Agility – fences 

In agility dogs are divided into two groups by size. Mini class (until 40 cm wither altitudes) and standard or maxi class (above 40 cm of wither altitude) are distinguished. In the agility - fence relation this means that for mini class the fence is put on flatter level and the jumping elements are put onto lower one. In case of the mini class the jump altitude is 30-35 cm, and those in maxi class have to overcome 55-65 cm altitudes. 

-          Teaching leaps 

     First lay the poles between the leaping elements on the ground or on the supporting piller of the fence. To provide help for the young dog with regard direction, it is better in the beginning to keep them on leash. The owner and the dog can run together towards the poles lying on the ground. Before each pole, the dog is ordered “jump!” If this little practice succeeds, praise the dog with words, treats and games. After repeating it twice or three times, the dog will connect the pole, command and reward positively. The practice goes on more and more smoothly. Next time, put the pole on the lowest height and intervene in the same way. After two or three attempts the dog, likewise, connects the pole to the command and the reward positively. If you notice that the dog runs cheerfully beside you, take the leash off.  Since the young dog has soft bones and weak diarthroses, he is not allowed to jump too much and too high. Limit the time of the practices, not to overstrain the dog. Proportionately to growth, height also can be raised. At this time, however, an experienced agility trainer will give exercises to the dog suitable to his age. On the following practices do not only repeat these plain exercises, but also expand them. The young dog has to learn “to detach himself a little bit from us”, because usually he is much faster than the owner. We will need the “forward – barrier” command before all jumps. A reverse exercise: when we make the dog to jump towards us. If the dog can not stand still for a short time or to sit in one place, we need the trainer’s help. We seat the dog in front of the first low pole and say “stay there!” After this, the owner moves away from the dog in a distance, to let be there two-three poles between them. Usually, in the very beginning, it doesn't go without a hitch, since the young dog has not got the slightest idea why he is not allowed to come with us. We can notice here why is it so important to teach the kid, already in his younger days to base obedience. So if staying in one place fails on the first occasion let the trainer stay next to the dog, possibly keeping him with a hand and preventing him from running after us. Before each pole the owner keeps further calling the dog with the “to me-jump!” command. 

-          Long-jump

     Initially put the longjumper elements too close to each other, because this way the dogs rather walk over them instead of jumping. Use only two elements at the start and gradually introduce other elements.

-          Rubber ring

     Most dogs have difficulties in learning the rubber ring. If the kid has already met a thick tyre vertically standing on the ground, knows that he can pass it through. The simplest method is to place its forelegs upon the ring and call to us with the “ring-jump!” command. There will be need for some futher attempts until the dog gives up slipping under the ring or jumping away beside it. For the dog to learn this obstacle correctly from the beginnings, start leaping the dog only on a slightly lifted, hold in hand tyre, then practise on a rubber ring set on minimal size. In the following practice stage we run next to the dog to the rubber ring in order to learn how to jump it over correctly in this position as well. 

-          Tunnels

At the outset, the “worm” (firm tunnel) and the “tunnel” (canvas tunnel) equally seem a “black hole” for the inexperienced kid or young dog. To dispel his fear of the dark, push the tunnel as closer as you can to be brighter inside. Most of the dogs firstly try to run by the tunnels. To prevent this, ask the trainer’s help. He catches the dog at the entrance of the tunnel till the owner crouches at the exit and by looking in, lures the dog with some treats. The dog is more likely to follow the instructions “lie-creep!”, if he catches sight of a familiar face at the other end of the mysterious tube. The owner does not have to stand straightly at the exit, because he mayhaps cover the light and thus will be too dark inside. After the successful repeats, always lengthen the tunnel a bit longer till we you its full length. The next step is to run together with the young dog to the entrance of the tunnel, give the “creep” command, run by the tunnel set straight, and greet him at other end with joy and praise. Act similarly at the tunnel, which is likewise several metres long. This does not only catch the sight from the dog, but the canvas also touches lightly his back that initially all dogs find strange or very unpleasant. At first, roll the canvas pipe as well, and the owner looks in aside through the upraised narrow opening, and calls the dog to himself with the “creep!”command. At the time of repetitions, extend the tunnel even longer and keep its end open as long as the dog runs alone throughout the tunnel. 

-          Jumping-elements

     An easy fence belongs to the jumper elements. The dogs usually understand quite quickly that he has to jump over the pole, if we put it on very low level and the owner jumps over together with him.

     The hedge requires slightly more confidence from the dog, since the middle part is so “deep” the dog can not see where he would land after the jump. The same is valid for the viaduct or the wall. The dog does not see here either where he jumps. Mostly, very little practice is needed to gain confidence and jump into the “unknown” without fear.

     The rubber ring initially raises a problem for quite a lot of dogs. This obstacle is used in different types, from the narrow rubber to the thicker wheel with a smaller diameter. The varieties are diversified. First, the dogs are often afraid to jump it over, and try to run under it or jump by it. Long jump demands the largest accuracy. Although the dog may touch certain longjumper elements, no parts may turn over. It is necessary to always look intently at the four perches, because it is not allowed to jump over the elements from the side. Therefore it is always needed to approach the longjumper in a straight line.

-          Field-obstacles

     The worm and the tunnel belong to the field-obstacles, as well as the table and the slalom. Both tunnels seem a “black hole” for the dog. He has to pluck up all of his courage to run off. To practise these obstacles, first push him a little bit closer for the path not to be so dark.

     The table is the pause area between the obstacles, where the dog must perform the “pause” behavior (in either a sit or a down position). The dogs initially often jump up with too much liveliness, so they cannot stop on the flat surface, and immediately slide down on the other side.

     It has to run in zigzags through 12 upright poles spaced about 24 inches (61 cm) apart through which the dog weaves. What is more, the dog must always enter with the first pole to his left, must not skip poles and may not cease or finish running too early by withdrawing from the poles.

-          Zone obstacles

The seesaw, the paling and plank belong to the group of the zone obstacles. In the

beginning the seesaw is the hardest obstacle with contact zones. It not only has marked zones with different colour (mostly with red) at the beginning and at the end the dog has to step on with at least a foot, but also a “balance point” that it strictly has to feel.

-          The paling gives trouble only for a few dogs, since the obstacle does not move, the dog

climbs up on one side and down on the other. The zones here must be touched as well with at least a foot, both at the time of running up and down.

-          The plank is the longest agility obstacle. It consist of three parts, certain parts are 3,60-

4.20 metres long: the gently rising ramp, the horizontal middle part, which is about 1.30 m high above the ground, and the sloping ramp. The dog here as well must place at least one paw onto the two contact zones.

-          From the agility obstacles maybe the slalom requires the most practice and strength.

From the first step of practicing till the “perfect knowledge” several months, perhaps one or two years, can pass. Because of this, there is a chance to success only if the owner really performs the trainings patiently and by paying big attention to them.

-          The purpose is the dog always enter from right between the first and the second poles,

and to wind through all the twelve poles in close order without meanwhile omitting a pole or entirely leaving the obstacle.

     Initially the dog does not realize the twelve poles in close order as a whole obstacle, but each poles a separate one. There are several other methods for slalom teaching, but nobody has examined trustworthily which of these yields indeed faster, more effective or safer knowledge.

 

The “street-method”

-          The initial practices do not have many concerns with the actual slalom, though their benefit is that in no way overweight the skeleton of the puppy. So this method is mostly recommended for the young dogs. We divide the slalom into two parts, namely we use two slaloms being made up of separate slides with six-six poles. We lay the two slides beside each other in such a distance that a relatively wide “street” being generated, along which the owner and the dog could comfortably run together. If the dog grasps this “running game” with his guide, in the next step we place him to one of the street’s ends, while we stand onto the other end and ask him to come. If the dog understands what we ask, we can slowly, in little steps, assert the street narrower, while during overrunning, the dog does not feel the poles with his body. This time, of course, the owner runs apart from the poles, or sends and calls the dog far from him.

-          If the diarthroses of the dog do not burden this special motion any more, we can push the

street closer and closer. In the interval we slightly slide away from each other the two slalom parts, so the dog has to slightly bend his body when he passes by the poles.

-          If we notice during the practice that the dog cannot carry out the desired task promptly, push aside a little the slalom again, to continue again where the practice went well. We can achieve by this the dog to learn performing slalom absolutely slowly, without stress and overstrain.

-          Since the spine bends strongly at the time of crossing the slalom and the forelegs, push the shoulder into an extreme position, inducing the young dogs, for an overhastily, fast slalom can be very dangerous. Since the intensive moving on both sides quite overstrains the hip as well in case of dogs with big body, and the endangered ones (for example: hovawart, rotteeiler, boxer, retrievers, German sheepdog, bouvier), it is commonly recommended an X-ray fluoroscopy of the hip before starting the intensive trainings.

 

• The "V" method

-          In case of the V slalom certain poles with the pastern-joints on the slalom slide is possible to place sideways. When we start the practice certain poles are necessary to put completely sideway. In the first place, we have to teach the dog that in trot step among the poles calmly.

-          In the advanced practice, we always put the poles into a bit vertical position, consequently the dog cannot simply trot away above them, but he has to “push aside” the poles with his legs, one after the other. In the meanwhile, the left leg always stays on the left side of the slalom, the right one on the right side of the device. His progress makes the impression as though he would make swimmer movement.

-          Overcoming the slalom with this technique is very spectacular and exceptionally fast, at the same time, unfortunately, implies serious strain to the shoulder-joints.

• Full method

-          Not all dog schools dispose randomly variant practising slaloms, so most adult dogs practice the zig-zag running on full slalom mounted in the familiar way.

-          First we set the dog on the right side of the slalom between the first and the second pole, with a hand gesture and some encouragement, and try to get him to step forward. Then, with some treats or dog toys, lure him onto the right side from the left side of the slalom between the second and third pole, to send him again on the left side between the third and fourth poles, and so on till the end. This method is very tiring and, initially switching from right to left, between the poles should be helped with ongoing oral commands ("in-out", or “round-back”). It may take a few weeks, till the dog understands the “zig-zag game”. However, if he likes the practice, in case of a suitable motivation, the dog will develop the initial slightly foolish stamping into a two foot jumper technique on both sides, and this technique will be increasingly faster in the course of time.

Evaluation of the methods

-   Acquiring the slalom worked well with the “street method”. The interest in the devices grows gradually in the dogs. He decides whether he jumps simultaneously with both of his first legs on both sides or rather develops the “swimmer movement”. Considering the result of the “V method”, it is the fastest one, but it rather overweights the skeleton. The “full method” takes the most time, because the dog needs longer time in order to understand the task, and in this case he has the most opportunity to make a mistake. However, it is not important how we wish or we can train our dog, the most important is to reward and praise him after each little steps of the practice, to keep the joy of learning.

• Table

-          The table is the “rest element” in the agility field. This does not mean that his teaching could be given cold shoulder. The dog may jump up onto the table from the front and from the two sides but not from behind. He must pause, either sitting or in a down position, for a designated period of time, usually about 5 seconds. On competitions it counts, if the dog does not adopt the suitable posture as quickly as should, because of this practicing is especially rewarding. However, it is not a mistake, if the dog makes changes on his position, but we can lose many valuable seconds by this. If the judge permits to go, the dog may jump down on either side.  On many occasions, the very fast dogs slide over the table at the time of jumping up, which, besides the loss of time, even counts as a mistake. So it is necessary to prepare for this very carefully on the trainings. The dog that eventually really understands what we expect of him is able to execute daring moves on competitions in order not to slide accidentally off the table.

• Boardwalk

-          Considering its size, this is the the largest obstacle of the agility field. It has three parts; the length of each is between 3.60 and 4.20 metres. The middle part stands horizontally on wooden or metal trestle between 1.20 and 1.35 cm altitude. It is very likely that for the dog this altitude is quite “dizzying” and will react shyly in the beginning, when he runs uphill looks directly in his owner’s eyes or even run away above him. Moreover, the runner surface of the device is only 30-40 cm wide, which may further increase the feeling of insecurity. The contact zones, mostly labeled with a red colour, are 90 cm long above the land. It is worthy to familiarise the young or beginner dog to the boardwalk, in the way that we hold the obstacle out first – namely lay plainly all of its parts onto the ground and make the dog guided on the leash run along on the boardwalk. We can repeat this exercise for several times till the dog considers this long board a comfortable, secure training device.

-          At this point we can start gradually raising the altitude with the help of smaller trestles or the table (by omitting the middle element). The real difficulty in case of zone obstacles never merely means teaching the passing, but the dog has to touch the surfaces, labeled with red, with at least one leg at the time of running up, otherwise he will be penalized. The only question is how to achieve this?  There are certainly several opportunities for teaching the contact zone, it depends on the given dog which one or what kind of combination is worthy to choose.

• Fence

In case of this obstacle the ramp is much piched and its highest point is 1.90 metres from the soil, with angle of 90 degrees (in mini 1.70 cm). In the beginning it is necessary to lay the boardwalk as well on the soil and then raise it gradually to the specified altitude. The zone here is longer, 105 cm. Besides the methods mentioned so far, leading down with hand can also help. If possible, the owner should be in the line of the dog in order to lead it down with his hand, which always turns towards the dog. The dog has to look at his trainer’s hand keeping a treat or a ball and to follow its downward motion, while he has not stepped on the zone with at least a leg. Later, of course if the dog steadily touches the plank zones, it is possible to try to gradually direct him from much further away.

 

• Swing

-          Perhaps initially the swing raises the most difficulties, especially, if an inexperienced

• owner practices on it with inadequate precaution, without a helper.

-          The swing is 30-40 cm wide and 3.65-4.25 m long. According to the regulation, the altitude of the middle axis is one sixth of the length of the swing, namely in case of 3.65 m altitude it is 60 cm tall, at 4.25 m 70 m tall. The dog got used to running onto the boardwalk, at first, will certainly not be afraid of climbing up onto a short little swing. But pay attention when it reaches the swinging point, he literally “gets out of his depth” and immediately feels in his bones the throwback of the board touching ground. Thus, a relatively sensitive dog loses his confidence for a long time towards this obstacle. Because of this, the insurance of “helpers” is particularly important at this device. If the dog runs onto the swing without any effort, the leader and the trainer have to watch carefully at the time of tipping over, and impede too fast tipping or jumping. During the following practices, the handler and the dog leader intervene later and later, so the young dog notices that a new challenge is waiting for him here.

- The professional competitors can send their dog onto the swing almost from any angles, and the experienced dogs wait undoubtedly on all swings the moment, when it has tipped over to let them be allowed to rush further. Namely, on this obstacle the dog must not only touch the zones but may not leave the swing before reaching the exit, otherwise he will be penalized.

 

SEEKING METHOD

-          The dogs hardly connect actual words with a device, rather with reward and accent. For example, if we send it to the fence, and shortly before reaching the contact zone, we shout: “look for it!”, the dog will approach the ramp of the boardwalk with his nose and starts searching. He will look for the thing he has always found during the trainings, some delicacies.

-          We proceed the same way when coming down. The dog looks for his reward with his nose being directed at the contact zone. In the moment when he stands on the contact zone with at least one foot, incite him to quickly run to the next obstacle. At the same time, pay attention not to fool the dog very often. During the trainings, he has to look for, and, in most instances, find some treats at the ramp.

-          Those dogs, which are not foolishly fond of delicacies, can be of course motivated by dog toys as well.

 

 

Oldal: Agility
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