What is agility?In agility the dog must go over jumps and items such as a seesaw, an A-frame and go through weave poles, a tire, and a tunnel as seen here, but the closed tunnel is no longer used in AKC competition. This is a very fast competition with most dogs finishing a course in just a couple of minutes. The competition is timed and the fastest dog that completes all of the exercises wins. He qualifies as do all of the dogs that finish the entire course within the time limit set by the judge. In the entry level, called Novice, the dog must qualify three times before going to the next level called Open. After three qualifying scores there, the dog is entered in Excellent. At each level there are two separate competitions; one is Standard which uses a lot of the contact obstacles like the dog walk and the pause table and the other is Jumpers with Weaves which only uses jumps and weave poles and sometimes a tunnel.

For more information, go to the American Kennel Club website at www.akc.org. Use the drop-down menu for “Events” and click on “Agility” or just click on this link.

Calcasieu Kennel Club Agility Trials
When and Where: The Calcasieu Kennel Club holds three trials in April and three in November. The trials are held at the Burton Outdoor Arena on Gulf Hwy in Lake Charles, LA. There is no fee to just come and watch. Once the entries close about three weeks before the trials, a judging program will be posted on this site.

Show & Go: The form for participating in the Show and Go will be placed here as soon as the trials are approved by the American Kennel Club. Click here to see the form for Show & Go April 2019. The form is also included in the Premium List. Show & Go will start 30 minutes after the completion of the trials on Friday and Saturday and will be run on a first-come-first-serve basis. You may also enter the day of the trial if the times available have not been filled. The dog does not have to be entered in the trials to participate in the Show & Go. Both the standard ring and the jumpers with weaves ring will be available. The cost is $5.00 for 3 minutes.

RV Hook-Up Form: If you are planning to use the RV hook-ups at Burton, there is a computerized system for making reservations. Go to Burton Camper Reservations which will take you directly to Burton reservations or you may use https://www.sunrisereservations.com and scroll down to Burton Complex. You may simply call Burton Complex (337-721-4090) to give them the information on the form and pay with a credit card.

How to enter: The Premium List (available about 3 months before the trials) will give you all of the information you should need including the entry form that you will need to complete. Mail it and your entry fee to the Trial Secretary whose address is in the Premium List on page 3. You will receive a confirmation when he receives your entry and a Judging Program after entries close so that you will know at what time you compete.

Agility Training

Calcasieu Kennel Club does not offer agility classes, but one of the CKC club members offers agility classes if you are interested in learning how to train your dog. You may contact her through our e-mail at ckcevents@yahoo.com or call Sallie Shepherd at (337) 304-5788. The fee for the classes is $75 for an eight week course meeting once a week on weekends. The dogs should, but are not required to, be familiar with some obedience commands such as stay and come since almost all of the training is done off-leash.

More Information

Contact us at ckcevents@yahoo.com if you have any other questions.