Dogs must be 18 months old before they can compete in a Kennel Club (KC) licensed Agility Show. For the dog’s health, it is recommended that they should be at least a year old before they start training on agility equipment. Don’t worry; you can still be getting ready for agility before your dog is 12 months old. Agility is an outdoor off-lead activity, and basic controls such as sit, down, wait and recall need to be in place.

Agility competitions involve the dogs negotiating up to 20 obstacles in a fixed order. The winner is the dog with the least faults in the fastest time. There are two types of standard KC classes: Agility and Jumping. Agility courses include the A-frame, Dog walk and See-Saw. Jumping classes don’t. Other combinations of Agility equipment can be used for “special” classes.

KC agility dogs advance from Grades one to seven, with beginners starting at Grade One. Classes are divided by grade and size (small, medium or large) with progression based on a number of standard class wins at each grade. For small dogs (35cm or under at the withers) full jump height is 35cm, for medium (35-43cm) dogs it is 45cm and for large dogs (over 43cm) it is 65cm. In recent years there have been calls from agility competitors to introduce an intermediate fourth height of 55cm. From 1st July 2016 show organisers have been allowed to offer lower height options (LHO) in classes with jump heights of 25cm (small), 35cm (medium), and 55cm (large). Classes may either combine or separate full height and lower height results. Currently the heights offered vary from show to show so please read the schedule carefully.

The KC also runs an agility warrant scheme that is points-based. Points are awarded to dogs finishing in the top 10% of their standard class when obtained with a clear round within the course time.

Kennel Club licensed shows are held under standard Kennel Club regulations. Other organisations may run independent agility shows. Here, although the rules are likely to be similar to KC, there is often small differences. An advantage of Independent shows is that they often offer more classes per dog, have a greater variety of non-standard classes and frequently allow not for competition (NFC) runs where you can take a toy into the ring or go back to repeat an obstacle. The rules will be listed in the show schedule so it is important to read these carefully.