Dog agility is a fun and competitive sport that appeals to canine lovers of all ages - especially those that have high energy malinois! Agility actually began in England in 1978. It is designed to demonstrate a dog's willingness to work with its handler in a variety of situations. Conditioning, training, and teamwork are essential to being successful in this extremely athletic sport.
How does it test a handler's skills? Well a handler/dog team must traverse through a timed obstacle course without making any errors. Each team races against the clock as the handler directs their dog to jump hurdles, scale ramps, burst through tunnels, go over a see-saw, and weave through a line of poles in an obstacle course configuration. The course is designed to challenge a team's training skills. With scoring based on faults similiar to equestrian show jumping, dog agility has become an exciting spectator event.
The AWMA is in the beginning stages of developing an agility program for its members and the American Belgian Malinois Club (ABMC) has joined them to broaden the Malinois competitior's interest in this fun and amazing sport. In 2008, the AWMA selected an Inaugural Agility Team to compete at the FMBB World Agility Championship in Kocevje, Slovenia. Last year the Championship was held in Roudnice nad Labem and in 2010 it's on to Cottbus, Germany!
As the sport of agility continues to grow in popularity, complexity, and increased competitiveness, the AWMA and ABMC will continue to strive to work at building a great quality and highly competitive environment for its members.
For more information on the AWMA's agility program, please contact Shari Lipski at [email protected]
You can also find out more about agility by checking out the ABMC website.
How does it test a handler's skills? Well a handler/dog team must traverse through a timed obstacle course without making any errors. Each team races against the clock as the handler directs their dog to jump hurdles, scale ramps, burst through tunnels, go over a see-saw, and weave through a line of poles in an obstacle course configuration. The course is designed to challenge a team's training skills. With scoring based on faults similiar to equestrian show jumping, dog agility has become an exciting spectator event.
The AWMA is in the beginning stages of developing an agility program for its members and the American Belgian Malinois Club (ABMC) has joined them to broaden the Malinois competitior's interest in this fun and amazing sport. In 2008, the AWMA selected an Inaugural Agility Team to compete at the FMBB World Agility Championship in Kocevje, Slovenia. Last year the Championship was held in Roudnice nad Labem and in 2010 it's on to Cottbus, Germany!
As the sport of agility continues to grow in popularity, complexity, and increased competitiveness, the AWMA and ABMC will continue to strive to work at building a great quality and highly competitive environment for its members.
For more information on the AWMA's agility program, please contact Shari Lipski at [email protected]
You can also find out more about agility by checking out the ABMC website.
