Freestyle Dog Agility

The pups and I are lucky to live near Montrose Dog Beach, but it’s certainly possible to have too much of a good thing. If we only visit the beach, it loses a bit of it’s luster. I try to mix up our exercise as much as possible to keep the day interesting. I recently discovered an off-leash park twenty minutes from home that offers a number of things the beach can’t.

The grass and the mud are a fun change of terrain

But more importantly…

There’s agility equipment!

Agility is a fun challenge and a great way to exercise. My original hope was to practice what Penny and I learned in our agility class, but the pups decided it would be more fun to run the course together.

And by that I mean they decided it would be more fun to wrestle their way through all the equipment

Eko did manage a couple clean jumps, but after that it looked like an episode of American Gladiators

In regular agility the dogs run up the frame. In Freestyle Agility, it’s more of a king-of-the-mountain type game

For a moment I thought Penny might remember her training and run down the ramp properly

But she quickly disabused me of that notion with her divebomb dismount

Eko followed suit

And the wild rumpus continued across the agility area

If style points and creativity decided the outcome of agility trials, I’d have two national champions

I submitted a formal application to the AKC requesting they add a “Tag Team Freestyle” category to future agility trials. What it lacks in the technique, it more than makes up for with fun.

I’m sure they’ll approve my request any day now…