Otago Canine Training Club president Donna Burns said the group’s agility championship show was a success, despite the rain during the second day of trials yesterday.
The contestants had spent a lot of time training, and people had travelled from as far away as North Canterbury and Bluff to participate.
The show was broken down into two types of event.
Jumpers involved leaping over obstacles and racing through tunnels.
Agility was a bit more involved and required more skill and encompassed tasks such as going over a seesaw, an A-frame and through weave poles.
"It’s a little bit harder for the dog," Ms Burns said.
Both events were divided into bands by skill level.
To be competition ready was a highly involved process requiring a lot of skill.
"You've got to do something with your dogs every day," Ms Burns said.
While people tended to think that jumping came naturally for dogs, there was a lot of work involved for trainers, including teaching the dogs to push off from their back feet.
Every club across the country would be holding a championship ahead of the national event at Labour Weekend, most likely in the North Island.
Agility events started in Dunedin in the 1980s and the highlight of this year’s show had been seeing everyone enjoying themselves and having success with their dogs, Ms Burns said.
The group also offered various dog training courses, she said.
