The 16th Agility Dog Association of Australia (ADAA) National Grand Prix descended on the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre (AELEC) in Tamworth at the weekend – and it’s still going today, if you want to catch the free action, between 8am and 1pm.

The four days of competition involve 140 people, some from as far away as Cairns (Queensland) and Perth (WA), competing across 28 events, which each feature eight different height classes.

Running in three rings simultaneously, it was keeping organisers on their toes, event organiser Michelle Kenny said.

The Leader met the winner of the Medallion Stakes Invitational – Brisbane’s Marion Wessling with her labradoodle, Smudge, 11 – practically an old man in the doggie world and looking, err, dog tired after his triumphant efforts. 

“They thrive on it – it makes the dogs think and it makes you think,” Ms Kenny said.

It was a real workout for both handler and dog, she said.

“It would be nice if it was recognised as a sport, because then we could get more funding and assistance; it’s recognised as a sport overseas,” she said.

It was the fifth year the event had been held at AELEC and spectator numbers were up this year, Ms Kenny said.

“We pay prizes for every one of these classes and every one of these events – and there are several special ones we also pay, including the all-round challenge, the Medallion Stakes Invitational (the top 10 dogs in each class get invited to be in it) and the team challenge (teams of four dogs in a relay),” she said.

ADAA chairwoman Cathy Slot said the sport was all about the relationship between the dog and the owner.

“You spend time building that relationship, which is always great for the dog,” Mrs Slot said.

“For most of the dogs, doing agility is rewarding, once they’ve learned how to do it, and they get pretty excited about doing it.”

The team challenge grouped the dogs based on their height – in the main arena was the higher level of dogs, in the sales arena were the more beginner dogs.

“We want to be all inclusive in the event,” Mrs Slot said.

“Within agility, like horse showjumping, everybody runs the course; we have games as well, including gambler, snooker agility and jumping follow-the-numbers.”

Dogs of all sizes show off skills on jumps, see-saws, tunnels and other apparatus.

“It’s a test of skills, because you have to train them to do what you want them to do,” Ms Kenny said.