Intake for Agility Starters

On most Sunday mornings we run agility classes for all skill levels.  Class times are:

Advanced Class (for dogs entering trials above novice level)
7:00am setup to 9:00am

Intermediate Class
9:00am to 10:00am

Foundation-1 and Foundation-2 Classes
10:15am to 11:15am

For entry requirements to our agility classes, see the "Agility" page under "Training" on this website.

Agility training starts in our Foundation classes.  In agility the dog and handler work as a team.  The Foundation classes are designed to strengthen the connection between the handler and the dog while working with the apparatus.

Our Agility Foundation-1 class syllabus runs for 10 lessons.  Allowing for holiday long weekends, and the occasional absence of our instructors at competition agility trials, this means we usually start a new Foundation-1 syllabus at about 14-weekly intervals.  It also means we have three intakes to Foundation-1 each year.

Teams who have been diligent in practising their 10-lesson Foundation-1 training, then graduate to our Agility Foundation-2 class which runs for a further 10 lessons.  Our Foundation-1 and Foundation-2 courses commence on the same day.  They also run at the same time.

By the end of the 20 lessons totalling Foundation -1 and Foundation-2, your dog-handler team should be generally competent (although not yet completely reliable) with all the apparatus.  You would probably have reached the stage of running sequences of 10 to 16 obstacles, with your dog sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right.  You would probably be capable of competing at an agility trial should you desire to take that route.

On successful completion of Foundation-1 and 2 levels, teams can graduate to our Intermediate class where the degree of difficulty rises.  The number of obstacles increases, and the path taken through the obstacles can be more complicated.  

If the agility addiction has by then really taken hold, and you have also progressed to competing at trials, our Advanced class beckons  You would then be working on how to control your dog from a greater distance, how to go faster, and how to be more reliable.  Our instructors will work with you to improve performance.  We can arrange the training to emphasise what participants wish to concentrate on.  

Many of our instructors and class members are competing at the highest level of agility competition in Victoria and interstate.  Lots of friendly advice and hints to improve performance are readily available.  But if it’s just a load of non-competitive fun you want for you and your dog, you’ve also come to the right place. 

Classes may not run on some Sundays when our instructors are competing in trials.  Those days will be identified in advance in the Events Calendar on this website.  Classes may also be cancelled at fairly short notice in accordance with the Club’s "Extreme Weather Policy" which concerns heavy rain, electrical storms, and heat.  Training cancellations will be posted as “Breaking News" on our club website.  As the weather can change quickly, notification may be as late as an hour before the scheduled start, so it can be worth checking before you leave home.