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Agility
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Schnauzer's and Agility
You see Schnauzers of all sizes competing at all levels in Agility,
mainly Mini's and Standards and occasionally a Giant. The Mini is small
enough to compete in Mini classes (where jumps are set at 15 inches).
The Standard Schnauzer, depending on its exact size will be found
competing in either Midi classes (jumps set at 20 inches) or in the
Standard classes (jumps set at 30 inches). Schnauzers are surprising
easy to train, and whilst you may not think of them as a "fast" dog they
have many other qualities; short stride, small turning circle etc. |
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There are many Mini Schnauzers doing agility and some have been very
successful, managing to qualify for the finals of major agility events such as
Crufts and the Pedigree Chum finals at Olympia. Checkout the
Gallery on this
site for a picture of Zen a Miniature Schnauzer competing at the Pedigree Chum
finals at Olympia in 1994. Zen also qualified for the Eukanuba Mini Agility
finals at Crufts 3 times, his best result saw him come 5th out of a class of 20
in the final, whilst the qualifying rounds often have in excess of 150 dogs in a
class.
Let us know if you have a successful Schnauzer at Agility and we'll publish your
story.
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Agility - What's it all about?
The basic idea of agility is for the handler to guide the dog around
a course of agility equipment as fast as possible without touching the
dog, without using tit-bits and without a collar or lead. The fastest
dog with the least fault wins - a bit like show jumping, except for
dogs.
Agility equipment consists of jumps, tunnels, tyres, long jumps, A
frames, dog-walk, see-saw, weave poles, and more jumps.
There are hundreds of shows all over the country featuring thousands of
dogs. They are usually held outside and mainly in the summer (April to
September, there are some indoor events in the winter). If you want to
find out more contact the SCGB.
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How do I get started?
To get started wait until the dog is over 1 year old. Then join a local
club, you can find a list of clubs by following the Agility Net link on our
Links page. Locate a club NOW as there may be a
waiting list, go along to one of their training evenings and meet the people
and see what its all about.
You cannot compete until the dog is 18 months old.
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When the dog is 1 year old start to train the dog to
navigate the weave poles in your garden or park as this is the hardest
obstacle to train. But you MUST do this right if you try it your own way you
will create bad habits that cannot be reversed and a slow dog! For details
get an agility book. To do this you must be committed as it takes lots of
effort every day over 6-8 weeks to create a speed-demon through the weaves,
and as the weaves can make the difference between being in the top 5 and
just out of the top 20 in a competition is all-important that you get it
right first time.
The second most important thing to train for is touching the contacts (the
coloured parts at the end of the see-saw, dog-walk and A-frame) for this you
need to join a club. Schnauzers tend to be good in this area. That's what
makes them so good at Agility |
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