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Southdowns
Agility Club - Competing - Where to Begin
The aim of this page is to give people an idea of what is required before entering your first agility competition, it is in the form of a question and answer session. If YOU can think of any more questions just let me know and I'll do my best to try and answer them!
For a REALLY Comprehensive guide to starting to compete try AGILITY ADDICTS, it's a great site for all sorts of things to do with agility.
Q1.
I know the basics from my agility club and feel ready to start thinking about competing, what do I do first?
There are several organisations that run agility shows, the main organising body in the UK are the Kennel Club. There is also UKAgility and several other independent organisations. the Kennel Club requires your dog to be registered, this is explained below.
The first thing is to make sure your dog is registered with the kennel club. This can be on the breed register if your dog is a pedigree, OR, the Acitivity Register if your dog is not resistered elsewhere. Click on the link below to to reach the Kennel Club site for downloading the Activity Register form (no. 5)
Q2.
Where do I find out about Agility Shows near me?
There are agility shows held all over the country, you'll be lucky to find one within 30 mins drive if you live around Portsmouth/Southampton. We tend to go to Newbury showground / Ardingly for most of the nearby shows. Apart from our own club show of course which is held at Royal Victoria Country Park.
The best place to check for shows is Agilitynet - Schedules Page . You will see the name of the club running the show, the location of the showground and two dates. One of the dates is the date of the show itself. The other is a closing date for entries, the closing dates can be 2 months prior to the date of the show itself. Best to check regularly and enter early.
Q3.
What do the grades mean and what do I enter?
Grade 1: (Elementary)
For owners, handlers or dogs, which have not gained a first place in an Agility or three first places in Jumping Classes at Kennel Club licensed Agility shows. N.B. Owners, Handlers or Dogs previously qualified out of Grade 1 (Elementary) are not eligible for this class.
Grade 2: (Starters)
For
owners, handlers or dogs which have qualified our of Grade 1 but have not gained
a first place in an Agility Class or three
first places in Jumping classes at Grade 2 at Kennel Club licensed Agility
shows, or elected to progress on points from Grade 1.
N.B. Owners, Handlers or Dogs previously qualified out of Grade 2 (Starters) are not eligible for this class.
Grade 3: (Graduate)
Open to dogs which are not eligible for Grade 1 or 2, or
elected to progress on points from Grade 2 which are not eligible
for Grade 4,5,6 or 7.
Grade 4: (Novice)
Open to dogs which have gained a first place in an Agility class or three first places in Jumping classes at Grade 3, or elected to progress on points from Grade 3 at Kennel Club licensed Agility shows and are not eligible for Grade 3,5,6 or 7.
Grade 5: (Intermediate)
Open to all dogs which have gained a first place in an Agility class or three first places in Jumping classes at Grade 4, or elected to progress on points from Grade 4 at Kennel Club licensed Agility shows and are not eligible for Grade 3,4,6 or 7
Grade 6: (Senior)
Open to all dogs which have gained a first place in an Agility class or three first places in Jumping classes at Grade 5 at Kennel Club licensed Agility shows and are not eligible for Grade 3,4,5 or 7
Grade 7: (Advanced)
Open to all dogs which have gained a minimum of 4 first places at Grade 6 at Kennel Club licensed Agility shows, 2 first places must be gained in Agility (not Jumping) classes.
Q4.
What size is my dog supposed to compete at?
Small:
For dogs measuring 350mm (1ft 1.75ins) or under at the
withers.
Medium:
For dogs measuring over 350mm (1ft 1.75ins) and measuring 430mm (1ft 5ins) or
under at the withers.
Large: For dogs measuring over 430mm (1ft 5ins) at the withers