What is Agility League?
What is NW Agility League? It is not a trial, and it is not a Fun Run, maybe somewhere in between. It is also a team sport! You need a dog, and probably a sense of humor. Other clubs from Washington and Oregon are invited to join too. We play with Top Dog, BAAD, RAT, and IDS, to name a few. Each week will consist of a Standard course, fairly Intermediate in nature, accompanied by some wacky game with weird scoring. Courses and game briefings are published in advance, so you have a chance to strategize, and perhaps even run the courses beforehand in your practice barn.
When is it? It is a series of 7 weekly events that take place in various CAT barn locations, as well as with other clubs around the Pacific Northwest, starting the first full week of October, running through the third week in November. Right now there are two sessions scheduled at privately owned barns. Cash’s barn in Sherwood will have a session on Friday mornings, and Holdren’s barn in Silverton will run on Monday evenings. CAT will schedule other sessions at Helvetia and Canby as well.
How can you get on a team? Teams usually consist of four members ( and their dogs!). If you know another member, the two of you can form a team, becoming captain and co-captain. Then the other two members will be chosen in a random drawing. If you don’t know anyone who wants to do League with you, then sign up to be drawn onto a team. Either way you meet new people! League is very social, since we all pitch in to run the sessions, and help each other, but once again we must follow some Covid-19 precautions.
What if you don’t want to be on a team? Maybe you just want to play the games and run the courses to find out how your dog will do? There’s still a spot for you in League. You can sign up to run “FEO” (For Exhibition Only). You run the courses just the same, but your score does not count toward any of the team awards at the end. You still help run the sessions, have some fun with your dog, and meet new people. How can you lose?
When can I find out more and sign up? The 2021 Courses for Standard and Games and complete rules will be posted soon on the web site, which is now being updated. Registration information will start showing up on AgileCat in September. Then you can see when sessions will be offered, and hopefully there will be one in your area.
CAT has a set of precautions and procedures to help keep everyone safe, and site leaders will be responsible for ensuring that they are followed, and that needed supplies are in place.
