How to Walk an Agility Course

At an agility competition you get one chance to run the course, and no chance to practise it with your dog. What you do get is the course walk: usually around eight to ten minutes in which all handlers in the class walk the course without their dogs. Experienced competitors will tell you that good runs are built in those minutes.

Here's a structured way to use them.

Before the walk: read the course map

At most competitions the course map is posted near the ring or shared online before the walk. Use it:

• Number the sequence in your head and note the obstacles.
• Find the tricky bits: tight turns, tunnel entries close to other obstacles, side changes, weave entries, the long jump.
• Count side changes: the FCI requires at least two changes of the "natural handling side" on every course.
• Make a rough plan before you even enter the ring.

Step 1: Walk the numbers

Walk the course once, in order, simply learning the sequence. Say the numbers out loud. Look at each obstacle from the dog's approach so you know which side it's taken from. Many beginners lose their way on course simply because they didn't know it well enough.

Step 2: Walk the dog's path

Now walk the line your dog will run. Ask:

• Where does the dog take off and land? Where will it be after each obstacle?
• Where are the turns, and how tight? A turn after the jump needs information before the jump.
• Where could the dog go wrong? An inviting tunnel straight ahead, the wrong end of a tunnel, the backside of a jump?
• How fast will it be? Long straight lines mean high speed and wider turns.

Think about your dog: how fast, how tight it turns, how it reacts to your movements.

Step 3: Choose your handling

For each section, decide:

• Where you need to be to give information in time.
• Which side the dog should be on.
• Which crosses to use: front, rear, blind, ketschker, serpentine, threadle. (See Agility Handling Techniques.)
• Which verbals you'll use and when.
• Where you need to be early, usually before tight turns, weave entries and contacts.

When in doubt, choose the plan you can execute with confidence. A safe plan run well is better than an ambitious plan run late.

Step 4: Plan your start

• Lead-out: how far can you lead out and still trust your dog's stay?
• Release position: where do you stand, and which way are your shoulders pointing?
• First line: the first few obstacles set the tone of the run.

Step 5: Rehearse at running pace

Walk your plan again, this time at a speed that resembles your run. Practise your crosses with the right footwork, say your verbals out loud, and point with your arm. Some handlers mimic the dog with their hand to visualise its path. Do it several times, particularly the difficult parts.

Step 6: Find your timing points

For each turn, decide when you give the cue. A good rule of thumb: the dog needs information about a turn while it's taking off for the obstacle before the turn, not when it lands. Mark mental reference points ("when the dog is in the tunnel, I'm at the second jump wing").

Step 7: Visualise

When the walk ends, find a quiet spot and run the course in your head, with your dog. Close your eyes, see the lines, feel your movements. Top athletes do it in every sport and it works.

Course walk etiquette

• Respect the time limit. When the judge ends the walk, leave the ring.
• Don't touch or move obstacles.
• No dogs in the ring during the walk.
• Be aware of others. Courses get crowded, especially in big classes. Don't stop in a narrow gap for minutes.
• Ask the judge if anything is unclear (for example the side of an obstacle or a tunnel entry), usually during a briefing at the start of the walk.

Common traps to look out for

• Tunnel traps: a tunnel entry right next to the correct jump.
• Wrong-end tunnel: a curved tunnel with both ends close together.
• Backside jumps: the dog has to go around the wing and jump from the far side.
• Weave entries from hard angles.
• Off-course jumps in the dog's natural line after a contact or tunnel.
• Long straight lines where you can't keep up.
• Threadles and serpentines, where the dog must come towards you rather than move away.

Practice at training

You don't have to wait for competitions to get better at course walking. At club training:

• Ask your trainer to set up a course and give you a limited walk time.
• Walk the course before looking at others' runs.
• Run it once, as you would in competition, then evaluate.
• Film your run and compare it with your plan.
• Redraw a course map at home in our course designer and plan your line and handling on it.

Advice from the experienced

• Learn the course first, handle second. Getting lost is the most avoidable elimination.
• Know your dog. Plan for the dog you have today, not the one you hope it will be.
• Have a plan B for the trickiest section.
• Stay calm. If something goes wrong on course, keep going and help your dog. You'll still learn something.

Further reading

• Agility Handling Techniques
• FCI Agility Rules Explained
• Your First Agility Competition