Hoopers is a dog sport, originating in America, (NADAC: North American Dog Agility Council), in the 1990s. It has subsequently begun to spread into Europe in recent years, but, until recently, remains relatively new to the UK. It is based on, but developed as an alternative discipline from, dog agility. It is a unique, fun, and challenging game & a great new tool for training foundation skills and refining handling.

 

Instead of jumps & contact equipment, the course is made up entirely of hoops but often other obstacles are used too: eg: barrels to wrap around, gates to run past & short wide tunnels to negotiate. As there is no jumping, contact equipment or tight turns, there is therefore, minimal impact on dogs’ joints & limbs, making Hoopers far more inclusive & accessible than agility. It is suitable for most dogs: from puppies, (with sensible precautions in relation to growth plate development), to dogs retired from sporting activities, older or less physically able dogs & to those recovering from injury, (subject to vet approval). The focus is on dog & handler working together as a team & the emphasis is on smooth flowing lines & speed. Hoopers encourages distance handling by verbal & visual cues around a course. Training is positive; without pressure & the dog learns to think for themselves & to work independently.

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We discovered Hoopers in the summer of 2016 & have been busy introducing it to people & their dogs since. We were pioneers in the early days in the UK & the first in Cornwall to start teaching it. At that time, we could find no-one else teaching it in the UK & the only information about it had to be gleaned from researching the NADAC rules & translating European websites.

 

Since then, interest has rapidly grown in the UK & there are now many emerging models. There are those who teach it slowly, using simple exercises from a distance handling perspective. There are now several groups who have written their own competition rules, accreditation & progression routes; mainly running alongside agility competitions. There are those that support the use of contact equipment within Hoopers courses. And there are those, like us, who celebrate Hoopers’ differences & separateness from agility. So, it is important when choosing a place to start Hoopers training, to be sure what chosen model & underlying set of principles form the basis of that training.

 

While we used to teach agility, we have now chosen to teach & support only Hoopers; a sport we consider to be kinder to dogs; both emotionally & physically, as well as completely different to, & separate from, agility. Our philosophy aims to concentrate on the dogs having fun, as well as learning & so we offer safe courses with smooth flowing lines from the outset, rather than just simple exercises. The dogs therefore not only learn the skills they need as they go along, but also engage the ‘pleasure’ circuits in their brain, work more independently & develop speed & distance in a more natural way.