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Dog
agility:
A team sport for
people and their pups
By DWIGHT CASWELL
he only Olym-
pic event in
which an ani-
mal other than
man competes
is dressage,
which relects
the special relationship that has
developed between the two species
over the centuries. But what about
the relationship we have with our
dogs? Shouldn’t they have an
event, too?
If that ever happens, the sport
will likely be dog agility, known
to aicionados simply as “agility.”
Like dressage, agility requires
close collaboration between animal
and human, a partnership achieved
by cooperation and understanding
rather than through coercion.
“Becoming a smoothly choreo-
graphed duo takes a long time,”
says Astoria violinist Kim Angelis.
“Dogs are masters at reading body
language, and 99 percent of what
goes wrong originates with you
sending the wrong signal.” Of the
end result she says, “When things
low, it’s an incredible rush, a dip
into the right hemisphere of the
brain as you and your dog share a
feeling of exhilaration and love.”
Agility hasn’t been around
as long as dressage, of course.
Dressage traces its roots back to
Xenophon, the Greek historian and
student of Socrates, who wrote two
treatises on training horses around
T
PHOTOS BY DWIGHT CASWELL
400 BC. By contrast, agility began
in 1977 when a dog trainer de-
signed the irst course as entertain-
ment to ill time at a dog show in
England. The idea caught on, and
agility took off.
Agility is a team sport, with
each team consisting of two
players, a human and a dog. Teams
compete at shows, and make no
mistake: If you and your dog get
involved in agility, you will almost
certainly want try out your skills
against other teams. The idea is for
you and your dog to run a course
of obstacles together, and the
course is different for each compe-
tition. Novice teams run courses of
13 to 15 relatively easy obstacles.
Intermediate and advanced levels
have 18 to 20 obstacles of increas-
ing dificulty.
The irst impression you have
watching Angelis and her collie,
Ramona, is one of amazing speed.
Ramona leaps hurdles, runs through
tunnels and up and over a teeter-tot-
ter, and whips through the “weave
Above: Kim Angelis and her dog Ramona have been work-
ing on dog agility for over two years.
Far Left: Dog agility obstacle courses include tasks like
leaping over hurdles, running over teeter-totters, and
whipping thorugh weave poles.
Left: Agility is about having fun — for both humans and
their canine companions.
poles.” This last obstacle, Angelis
explains, “is very hard for a dog to
do, because it doesn’t resemble any-
thing a dog would do on his own.”
Angelis was irst introduced to
agility at an annual demonstration
given at the Clatsop County Fair-
grounds by Sally Freeman, leader
of the Classy Canines 4-H group.
(This year’s event is set for Nov.
12). Angelis had attempted the
sport with her older collie, Paco,
but he had spinal issues. She then
got Ramona as a companion for
Paco. Angelis didn’t intend Ramo-
na to be an agility dog, but when
the 10-month-old puppy began
scaling retaining walls the irst day
at her new home, Angelis recog-
nized talent when she saw it.
Angelis and Ramona have now
been working to-
gether for over two
years. Freeman
introduced them
to dog trainer Karin Haderly, who
concurred that Ramona was an
“agility savant.” Four months later
— after Ramona’s growth plates
had closed, necessary for agility
— the team began working with
Haderly at her Fido Beta Kappa
training barn in Stella, Washington,
near Longview. “We have a blast
going there,” says Angelis.
Having a blast is what it’s all
about for the canine half of the
team as well as the human half.
“You can’t drill your dog,” Angelis
says. “You build a relationship,
and you do so by playing. You go
into their zone, you igure out what
they want.” In Ramona’s case, “she
wants to do what I want her to; she
tries really hard.” She also wants to
play tug-of-war with a cardboard
tube at the end of agility.
It’s not just a matter of Ramo-
na’s learning, either. “There are all
these things a person has to learn,”
Angelis says. “I did all kinds of
things wrong, and if I react Ramo-
na will shut down. Agility is a cure
for perfectionism. Things will go
wrong, and you have to learn to
laugh and be amused by it.”
Angelis has plans, possibilities
for the future. Agility parties, per-
haps. Or after Ramona has won a
few titles, perhaps her own training
facility. For now though, the team
is having the time of their lives.
For further information about
Classy Canines 4-H obedience
training contact Sally Freeman at
503-325-7161. To learn about agility
training at Fido Beta Kappa, call
Karin Haderly at 360-442-0238