Increasing course speeds in canine agility: a decade of trends from American Kennel Club competition data

Canine agility is a sport in which handlers direct dogs through pre-set obstacle courses. Over the past two decades, reported injuries among agility dogs have increased, with multiple factors proposed as potential contributors. Anecdotal evidence suggests that course speeds have also risen in recent years, raising concern that faster performance may be associated with greater injury risk. The objective of this study was to determine whether agility competition speeds have increased over the past decade and whether demographic shifts may explain observed changes. Publicly available qualifying run data from the American Kennel Club Masters Jumpers with Weaves class from 2012 to 2024 were analyzed. Trends in qualifying run speed, both overall and within annual cohorts defined by first observed qualifying run at this level, were examined using generalized estimating equations to account for correlation among runs from the same dog. Average qualifying run speed increased by an estimated 0.033 yards per second each year (95% CI: 0.031, 0.036) from 2012 to 2024, with similar trends observed for qualifying runs at the 5th and 95th percentiles. Descriptive cohort analyses demonstrated that average speed increased for several consecutive years within a typical competitive career before reaching a peak and subsequently declining. The average starting speed and average peak speed were higher for more recent cohorts, supporting the hypothesis that agility speeds are increasing. These findings empirically confirm increase in agility competition speeds over time and underscore the importance of future research investigating potential associations between speed and injury risk in agility dogs.