page_title: Dog agility
section_title: Miscellaneous
hierarchical_section_title: Dog agility / Agility obstacles / Miscellaneous
caption_attribution_description: Mahoosuc finishing the five-second hold. She and Jess raced through the course. Chinook
context_page_description: Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles. Consequently, the handler's controls are limited to voice, movement, and various body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal and coordination of the handler.
  In its simplest form, an agility course consists of a set of standard obstacles laid out by a judge in a design of his or her own choosing in an area of a specified size. The surface may be of grass, dirt, rubber, or special matting. Depending on the type of competition, the obstacles may be marked with numbers indicating the order in which they must be completed.
  Courses are complicated enough that a dog could not complete them correctly without human direction. In competition, the handler must assess the course, decide on handling strategies, and direct the dog through the course, with precision and speed equally important. Many strategies exist to compensate for the inherent difference in human and dog speeds and the strengths and weaknesses of the various dogs and handlers.
context_section_description: Table (pause table)
  An elevated square platform about 3-foot-by-3-foot (1-meter-by-1-meter) square onto which the dog must jump and pause, either sitting or in a down position, for a designated period of time which is counted out by the judge, usually about 5 seconds. The height ranges from about 8 to 30 inches (20 to 76 cm) depending on the dog's height and sponsoring organization.
  Pause box
  A variation on the pause table. The pause box is a square marked off on the ground, usually with plastic pipe or construction tape, where the dog must perform the "pause" behavior (in either a sit or a down) just as he would on the elevated table.
  Weave poles
  Similar to a slalom, this is a series of 5 to 12 upright poles, each about 3 feet (0.91 m) tall and spaced about 24 inches (61 cm) apart (spacing for AKC was 21 inches (53 cm) until it was changed in January 2010.  The extra three inches was to relieve stress on the dog's back.), through which the dog weaves. The dog must always enter with the first pole to their left, and must not skip poles. For many dogs, weave poles are one of the most difficult obstacles to master.
  Other obstacles
  UKC agility allows the following obstacles not found in other agility organizations: swing plank, sway bridge, and platform jump.  NADAC also uses a hoop obstacle.  A Hoopers course consists entirely of hoops, but hoops may be used in other courses as well.
caption: A female Chinook on a pause table
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot S3 IS", "Image DateTime": "2007:08:11 13:57:19", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Tag 0x1001": "2816", "Image Tag 0x1002": "2112", "Image ExifOffset": "146", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1600", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:08:11 13:57:19", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:08:11 13:57:19", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "341/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "80", "EXIF FocalLength": "72", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2112", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "112640/9", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2112000/169", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}