Dog Competition Dictionary of Terms

1. Scribe: The person who writes down the penalties that are indicated by the judge, so it doesn't lose eye contact with the dog.
2. See-saw: a balancing obstacle. The length of the plank should be a minimum of 3,65 and a maximum of 4,25 m. and 30 cm. in width.
   The height of the central bracket must be 1/6th of the length of the plank from the ground. Contact areas: same as the dog walk. (90 cm)FCI Agility Certificate: a certificate given to any dog who has obtained three "Excellent" grades, with two different judges in a Grade 1 agility Test.
3. Gate Steward: The person in charge of preparing the competitors according to their turns, in order to avoid delays.
4. Course Builder: Person in charge of re-arranging obstacles between rounds.
5. Competition: Any officially approved test, in which exercises are done according to the regulations.
6. Timer: In charge of timing the dog's performance. There are two of these.
7. Elimination: there are many faults that can cause elimination. They can be a) disrespectfulness towards the judge, b)evident dog mistreating, c)Taking more than the established time, d) the dog denies to do sort out the obstacles, e)the dog does not follow the established order of the obstacles, f) Not sorting out an obstacle, g) the conductor doe an obstacle him/herself, h) the conductor re-starts without the permission of the dog, i) the conductor stops the dog without the permission of the judge, j) the dog is out of control, nervous, disoriented, or abandons the conductor. 
8. Slalom: an obstacle that consists on 8, 10 or 12 1-meter-high poles on the ground. The height of the poles is 1 to 1,20 m and they are placed 50 to 65 cm apart.
9. Table: Its area is at least 90x90cm and 1.20x1.20 as maximum. It is 60 cm. high ( 35 i mini-agility competitions). It is a non-slippery surface.
10. Mini-agility: These are the tests that are taken by small dogs, the dimensions of the obstacles are in the regulations.
11. TIre: Aperture diameter: 38 cm. to 60 cm. Aperture centre from the ground: L: 80 cm. – M and S: 55 cm.
12. Obstacle: An element that makes the track more difficult to pass. These obstacles are homologued by the FCI, and must not represent any kind of danger for the dog.
13. Dog Walk: Height: 1,20 m. minimum - 1,35 m. maximum
14. The planks should be a minimum of 3,60 m. and a maximum of 4,20 m. in length and 30 cm. in width.
    Each ramp should have anti-slip slats at regular intervals (about every 25 cm.) to avoid slipping and making the climb easier, but not within 10 cm. of the start of a contact area. These slats must be 20 mm. wide and 5 to 10 mm. thick and must not have sharp edges.
15. The last 90 cm. from the bottom of each ramp should have a different colour (on the sides as well) to indicate the contact area.
16. Step: In agility, a step is 0.70 meters.
17. Penalties: Faults that represent loss of points (this loss may be partial or absolute).
18. Track: all of the obstacles, distributed in certain order.
19. Long jump: Two to five units comprise a long jump.
    The units are placed in ascending order. The lowest unit at the front: the height: 15 cm. Height of the highest unit: 28 cm. 
    Depth of each unit: 15 cm, rising in height.
20. Corner poles: with a minimum height of about 1,20 m should be placed at all four corners (not fixed to any of the units). The top of these poles should be covered to protect dog and handler if necessary.
21. Flexible tunnel: an obstacle that is composed by a rigid 90-cm long arc, which is also 60 cm high and 60 to 65 cm wide. It is flexible and 3-6 meters long.
22. Rigid tunnel: A non-articulated tunnel, whose diameter is 60 cm long. This tunnel is 3-3.5 meters long.
23. Wall: A panel that can have 1 or 2 tunnel shaped openings. The wall should have displaceable units at the top.
24. MCT: Maximum course time
25. SCT: Standard Course Time.