The Michigan Winter Dog Classic is back! Beginning on Thursday, January 15th, and continuing through Sunday, January 18th, the Michigan Winter Dog Classic is an annual juried show for different dog breeds as well as demonstrations of flyball, dock diving, agility, and other sports. If you’re looking to add a new member to your family, are interested in learning about showing dogs, or want to find out more about the various sporting events for dogs, the Winter Dog Classic is the place to be. New this year is a feature called ‘My Dog Can Do That!’, which gives dogs the chance to try their hand (paw?) at agility and owners to get tips from AKC-certified trainers.

Speaking of agility, if you’re not familiar with this sport, this week’s column will clue you in.

Agility involves dogs racing through a sort of doggie ‘obstacle course’ off-leash, with no treats or toys as incentive, relying on verbal and hand signals, as well as body language, from their handler, as they’re judged for their speed and accuracy in ‘tagging’ the targets. The handler is not permitted to make physical contact with the dog during the run.

The agility course your dog will run consists of several ‘obstacles’. He must run the obstacles in a certain order and in a certain way. The course is usually about 100 feet by 100 feet, with the obstacles numbered in the order the dog must negotiate them. Since the course can be complicated, the dog relies completely on the handler to ‘navigate’ through the course correctly.

Obstacle courses almost always contain at least one hurdle, weave poles (think of a slalom course for skiing), a tunnel or chute, and an ‘A-frame’ (two planks joined together at the top, and angled out to the sides) or a ‘teeter-totter’ which the dog must run up one side and pause for a split second while his weight causes the other side to drop down. This type of obstacle is engineered so that one side is slightly longer and heavier, and so will automatically flip back to the starting position after the dog leaves it. Sometimes, an obstacle course will have a ring suspended from ropes that the dog must jump through. Another obstacle that may be used is called a ‘dogwalk’ (kind of a balance beam for pups) that has an up ramp and a down ramp, with a level beam in between, elevated about 4 feet off the ground. You might also find a long tunnel that the dog zips through. The tunnel can either be fully opened or collapsed at one end, in which case the dog looks like he’s emerging from a giant sock!

Other items may include a ‘pause table’ or a ‘pause box’ where the dog must sit for a specified number of seconds (the judge counts these) before taking off again.

Since the setup of the obstacles may vary in different competitions, the handler is always given a map of the course before the competition and is allowed to ‘walk the course’ to plan out the best course of action.

The dogs that are competing in an agility contest are grouped by size and skill level. For instance, a novice Chihuahua going for his first ‘run’ wouldn’t compete against a Border Collie who has already earned titles. Smaller dogs, although speedy, usually take longer to complete an agility course simply because their legs are shorter–and there’s a lot of ground to cover with those little legs!!

Competitors are judged depending on their speed, accuracy, and how well they follow their handler’s directions. ‘Faults’, such as forgetting to touch the bottom of the A-frame in the correct spot when exiting, or entering the weave poles incorrectly (the dog must start with the first pole on his left and not miss any poles while weaving), will detract from the overall score.

Basic execution of obstacles is not difficult if you (or the handler) and your dog share a solid bond. Most dogs can be easily coaxed to run through a tunnel for a toy or treat; however, since equipment such as a teeter-totter or weave poles are unfamiliar to a dog (and therefore could be scary), these may take a bit more work. I’ve heard of a few techniques with the weave poles: Hold your dog’s collar and gently guide him through the poles as you hold a treat in front of him, or you could try teaching him to weave through only two or three poles at first, gradually adding until you’ve worked up to the complete twelve poles. Some trainers set up a ‘barrier’ so the dog is forced to weave through the poles. Each one of these techniques has merit; it all depends on what works best for your dog and is the most comfortable for both of you.

You can try training your dog for agility at home. Basic equipment (such as weave poles) is available through some pet-supply retailers.

If you’re interested in getting your dog into competitive agility, please know that this sport, while exciting and fun for both dog and owner, requires a LOT of training and patience–and some dogs just aren’t cut out to be agility dogs. (However, there are plenty of other competitive sports available. Perhaps your dog will excel at something else.)

Here’s who to contact for further information if you think your CBF has ‘what it takes’:

1. The American Kennel Club (www.akc.org)

2. North American Dog Agility Council (www.nadac.com)

3. United Kennel Club (www.ukcdogs.com)

Your dog is now a lean, mean, agility machine! Now get out there and compete–but don’t forget to have fun!