March 2018

The field events are among the oldest of dog sports. Long before there were any formalized dog shows or obedience trials, dogs played a very important role in helping humans hunt for food, performing a variety of tasks from signaling the presence of game, retrieving it or chasing and catching it. Today, many breeders and owners  participate in hunt tests and field trials designed to simulate realistic hunting conditions in order to demonstrate that their dogs still have these abilities.
 
Ask anyone active in field events and they’ll all agree that spending time outdoors, enjoying the camaraderie of fellow competitors and seeing how much the dogs enjoy their ‘work,’ is what keeps them coming back. Field events welcome everyone, whether the goal is a field championship or participating in entry-level hunt tests. Once you experience the joy of watching dogs do what they were bred to do, you’ll be hooked.

Be sure to get a front-row seat so you don’t miss any of the action—from dogs jumping through hoops and weaving through poles to climbing obstacles, guided by an enthusiastic owner. This is the thrilling sport of agility and you won’t want to miss it! Agility made its debut 40 years ago as a demonstration during the Crufts Dog Show in England and is now one of the most popular dog sports worldwide. Once you’ve seen it, you’ll know why.

Agility is a fast-paced and exciting sport in which the handler directs their dog over a series of obstacles while racing against the clock. The obstacles consist of jumps, tunnels, weave poles, dog walk, a teeter and a large A-frame. Points are deducted if the dog knocks down a jump, refuses obstacles, misses ‘contact zones’ or takes too long to finish the course. These are known as ‘faults’ and the team with the fastest time and fewest faults wins.