Dog Agility Trials at Fieldhouse

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – You may have heard lots of barks today at the Fieldhouse Sports and Wellness Center.

That is because they held dog agility trials at the center. Dogs from all around the area joined with their owners participated in the trials where they race against a clock and navigate an obstacle course. The obstacles seen on the course include jumps, tunnels, contact obstacles, weave poles, and a pause table.

“Dog agility is basically running an obstacle course with your dog. You can see there’s all kinds of different obstacles out there, there are jumps and tunnels, and stuff they have to climb over; teeter totters and so on,” said Trial Coordinator, Glenn Rawsky.

There are four different levels and several different courses they participate in over the weekend. Dogs and their handlers compete for points for titles. Then they can take part in agility championships. Agility trials really build a relationship between the owner and the dog.

“That owner, dog relationship that gets strengthened. I mean, the dogs need to trust the owners. The owners are having fun with their dogs. It’s a lot better than just having a dog that sort of gets ignored a lot of the time. They’re really part of the family and they really see this as their job to go out there and run this for you, and they really enjoy it,” Rawsky added.

Agility trials will return to Zanesville on the weekend of December 29th at the Fieldhouse.