Agility at Westminster? Who’da Thunk It?

By Amy Fernandez

Its often said that Westminster is mired in outdated traditions, and therefore irrelevant to the modern dog world. The club put rest to those ideas with some recent groundbreaking announcements. Obedience was once a regular Westminster feature. Like many other beloved events, it fell victim to space limitations decades ago. But last year’s move to the Piers provided the club with unprecedented space to grow.  So, for the first time in its 138 year history, Westminster will stage an agility competition. The Masters Agility Championship will take place Saturday, Feb. 8, from 11 A.M.  to 10 P.M. at Pier 94.

It’s quite a timely choice. Since it became an official AKC event in 1994, Agility has consistently led the pack as the most popular dog sport. Its timed obstacle course of jumps, tunnels, and weave poles challenges both dogs and handlers. It also has built-in audience appeal.

This historic event will be judged by Lori Sage of Oregon City, Oregon and Andrew Dicker of Reading, England. An English judge seems especially appropriate since Agility originated at Crufts. It was rolled out in the late ‘70’-s to entertain audiences during breaks between events. The appealing concept, derived from equestrian competition, caught on like wildfire.

Two decades later, agility is dominated by Shelties, Tervurens, Border Collies, Goldens, Labradors, Pembrokes, and Papillons. However, dogs of every shape and size compete successfully and all AKC registered dogs are eligible, including Miscellaneous FSS, and PAL registered dogs. Mixed breeds registered through AKC’s Canine Partners program also became eligible to compete in 2010.

That brings me to Westminster’s next surprising announcement. Admittedly, a few suspect canines participated in Westminster back in its early days. But mixed breeds have never before competed officially.

Some critics have questioned this radical break with tradition. Others see it as a logical response to the current political climate.  Agility is designed to showcase athleticism, responsiveness, innate intelligence, physical dexterity, and human/canine teamwork. AR proponents frequently slam show dogs as lacking all these traits. They loudly condemn the sport’s insensitivity to the welfare of shelter dogs. Well…AKC has opened its doors to them and Westminster’s new event offers them a platform to compete with their purebred counterparts at the sport’s highest echelon.

The Masters Agility Championship is restricted to advanced titleholders and limited to 225 entries. This year’s entry will include 16 mixed breed competitors. Each entrant competes in two qualifying rounds of Standard Agility and a Jumpers with Weaves. Dogs with the highest combined scores in each height class advance to the Championship Round, narrowing the field to 50. The Championship course will be run as a ‘time to beat’ course, with the first team setting baseline times for subsequent competitors.

Televised coverage of the action, hosted by former Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis, will be aired on Fox Sports Network Saturday evening starting at 7:00. If you want to live the moment, tickets can be ordered online at www.tix123.com.  You probably don’t need any reminders, but Westminster opens the following Monday. This year, 2,845 dogs representing all 187 recognized breeds, will compete. Show coverage will be broadcast by CNBC on Feb. 10 and USA Feb. 11, from 8 to 11 P.M.

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Posted by chesliepickett on Jan 28 2014. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.