AS I WATCHED THE DOGS run through their agility course at an acreage near Regina, it was easy to see why Susan Betker and her husband, Kent Stuart, enjoy this sport so much. Rescue, a seven-year-old Border Collie mix, Kite, a seven-year-old Australian Shepherd, and Quito, a tiny, three-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, leapt over barriers, sprinted through tunnels, wove through an obstacle course and scrambled up and down an A-frame as fast as their legs could carry them. I was in awe: my dog has mastered only the basics of dog obedience. Evidently the dogs love this activity as much as their owners do. Sharon Weekes, who supervises agility competitions for the Band City Kennel Club of Regina, says Libby, her five-year-old Golden Retriever, gets so excited at the start of a race that she'll dig a hole at the start line. Agility basics Agility is a fast-paced sport based on rewards training. For instance, when they're training their dogs, Betker and Stuart use food treats to reward desired behaviour and ignore unwanted behaviour. The agility course consists of various obstacles, including an A-frame structure, a seesaw and a dogwalk, which is like a balance beam. There are also weave poles, tunnels and jumps. To navigate the series of upright weave poles, the dog must enter with the first pole to its left shoulder, and "slalom" through the poles to the end. Closed tunnels have a rigid entrance with collapsed fabric at the end, which the dog must push through. Open tunnels are simply tubes of various lengths and configurations. There are also many types of jumps, the height of which is determined by the dog's size. When a dog finishes the course, it must lie down calmly on a pause table for five seconds before the run is considered complete. The dog performs everything without a leash or collar, and with no incentives other than a gesture or command from the handler. In competition, dogs are grouped according to size and experience. In each group or class, dogs excel by finishing the course quickly and with few errors. Whether or not you plan to enter competitions, "It's a sport that allows you to go out and have fun with your dog," says Weekes. "It's laid back and it's good exercise." Agility helps a dog become more obedient, she adds, because the owner is spending time with it. She says the animals love to learn, and they enjoy the agility course. The sport requires them to have "good sits" and "good downs," terms describing a dog's ability to wait without breaking away. Typically, the dogs improve every time they work the course.