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Agility is a fun dog sport that just about any dog can play.
Like a doggy obstacle course, the object of the game is to
get around the course in the prescribed order, as fast as
possible and with as few mistakes as possible. If you make
it around a course without any faults, and under the standard
course time, you earn a qualifying score, otherwise known
as the much-coveted Q. Accumulation of a certain number of
Qs in each course will earn your dog a title. Each organization
has its own abbreviations for titles. Once earned, you can
tag them on the end of your dog's name, a habit I call "alphabet
soup". Wicked has earned the following titles to date:
Agility Association of Canada (AAC)
- Agility Dog of Canada - ADC
- Starters Games Dog of Canada - SGDC
- Advanced Agility Dog of Canada - AADC
- Advanced Games Dog of Canada - AGDC
- Masters Agility Dog of Canada - MADC
- Masters Jumpers Dog of Canada - MJDC
- Masters Snooker Dog of Canada - MSDC
- Masters Steeplechase Dog of Canada - MSCDC
North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC)
- Novice Agility Certificate - NAC
- Novice Jumpers Certificate - NJC
- Novice Gamblers Certificate - NGC
- Novice Tunnelers - TN-N
- Novice Touch n Go - TG-N
- Open Agility Certificate - OAC
- Open Jumpers Certificate - OJC
- Open Gamblers Certificate - OGC
- Open Tunnelers - TN-O
- Open Touch n Go - TG-O
- Elite Jumpers Certificate - EJC
- Elite Tunnelers - TN-E
- Elite Touch n Go - TG-E
- Outstanding Elite Tunnelers - O-TN-E
- Superior Elite Tunnelers - S-TN-E
Generally, once you earn a higher title, you drop the lower
title from the alphabet soup (since it's implied). Wick's
alphabet soup, as of June 2008, is as follows:
Wicked MADC AGDC MJDC MSDC MSCDC OAC OGC EJC TG-E S-TN-E FDX
Most agility associations allow any healthy dog to play,
regardless of pedigree or lack thereof. Wick plays primarily
in AAC and NADAC, and a wee bit of USDAA. The obstacles are
the same, and are divided loosely into jumps, contacts, tunnels
(Wick's favorite) and weave poles.
If you think that agility sounds like fun, contact your local
dog training club. If they don't offer it, they probably will
be able to put you in touch with someone who does. Warning
though: it's addictive! Most of us started out saying "This
is just for fun, we'll never compete." Yeah, right!
Agility Links
Organizations
Clubs
Equipment
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