Agility made its first appearance in 1978 as an attraction to liven up the intervals at Crufts and has since spread into a world-wide phenomenon. Agility is now the fastest growing dog sport in the country, with an increasingly high number of agility training services and clubs setting up UK wide. People of all ages and backgrounds regularly take part in agility events in the UK. This is a sport for dogs and their owners to enjoy purely for fun or even more seriously if you feel, and to competition level if desired. The goal is to teach your dog to negotiate a series of obstacles such as jumps and tunnels, and to teach you, the owner to position yourself so that you can communicate with your dog as your dog negotiates the obstacles on the course. Agility training is a great way to stay active and to bond with your dog. Agility lessons are widely available in the UK but as the sport is becoming more popular, you may have to go on a waiting list to join an agility class! If your dog is less than a year old, they will probably be considered too young to start agility training classes as they need to be mature enough for their joints and muscles to take the stresses of agility. For the less competitive or shy owners, you can enjoy agility training in your own back garden, with agility products becoming more common for this purpose.

CaniCross is the sport of Canine Cross Country and basically involves running with your dog and is a great way to enjoy time in the fresh air and spend quality time with your dog. Any breed of dog that enjoys running is able to participate with their owner in cross country. Dogs and their owners can either run for fun in the local park or woods, or competitively at CaniCross events that are organised throughout the UK. CaniCross is good for strengthening the bond between dog and owner, as well as providing a great source of exercise and fun and can be enjoyed by all ages, male or female and of all ability levels. Although no particular equipment or training is required and you can run with your dog on collar and lead, many owners do infact choose to utilise their dog's natural pulling power with a dog running harness, waist belt and line (as pictured).

Heelwork to Music (or HTM for short) is the newest canine competitive activity and is rapidly increasing in popularity - you may have seen some 'dancing dogs' on UK talent shows in recent years. Heelwork routines emphasise the partnership of handler and dog walking/moving at heel and choreographing heelwork to the music. There are a large number of moves in Heelwork to Music. There is no need, however, to teach the dog all of them. The handler can choose which moves to do.