Agility is an educational and athletic discipline, which is related to equestrian jumping competitions. It is open to all dogs and consists of having the animal run off-leash through a series of different obstacles within a given amount of time. It is not only a race against the clock, but also a test of precision movements. The difficulty of the sport is that the animal must be both fast and accurate in its performance. It is therefore necessary for the dog to have a foundation of training and obedience. Once he has mastered these, you can start with the obstacles. This training is not aimed at the handler gaining control over the dog, but rather reinforcing their relationship and developing trust. The dog must be balanced, sociable, and completely alert to his partner.Agility was invented in 1977. The basic idea came from John Varley, a member of the Cruft Dog Show who was looking for an original event to add some spice to the down time in the show. He contacted Peter Meanwelle for help in setting up the project. The two developed the first demonstration of agility in the world, which took place in 1978 during the Cruft Dog Show in London.
The demonstration was extremely well received and from 1979 on agility has been officially recognized by the Kennel Club. From that point on, and thanks to Peter Lewis in particular, agility demonstrations have developed very quickly.
In 1989, the FCI also recognized the sport of agility. This worldwide organization created a specific commission to establish uniform regulations by which the trials would be judged and which would determine the characteristics of the obstacles used. It was used on an international level for the first time in 1991.
In 1993, the MINI category of agility trials appeared. These were the first official competitions adapted for small dogs (standing less than 40 cm[15 inches at the withers).
Log in
