International Agility

In response to an inquiry on an email list for Australian Cattle Dogs in Agility, Tracy Smith wrote this enlightening reply:
At the World Championships last month in Dortmund, Germany, there were 32 teams from around the world. Continents represented included Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America. While not appearing at the World Championships, I know there is agility in Australia and New Zealand too, so that just leaves Antarctica ;-). Clean Run magazine frequently has courses from other countries.

Dog agility started back in the 1980s as something to entertain people between classes at the big horse shows in England, and as with other English sports like soccer and rugby, agility soon spread across the world.
 
The FCI (French language initials for Federation Canine International or something like that), the world wide purebred dog organization has international rules for dog agility, but each country has their own as well. Just do a Google search on FCI dog agility and you'll probably find their web page.

Tracy Lorraine Smith - November 2002

There is also a new venue called International Agility. he International Agility Link (IAL) first started in 1996. The IAL concept was fostered by Nancy Gyes of San Jose, California, USA and Steve Drinkwater and Cathy Slot of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The IAL is patterned after the National Agility Link Association (NALA) of New Zealand

07/30/2006 08:40 PM - last updated