Why so few men In agility

[TheQuestKnight]

My second thoughts on the subject . . .

The gals like to celebrate by going out for cake & ice cream . . . species not-with-standing . . .

The guys like to pile on each other and whoop it up to the point that someone generally gets a black eye, cut or worse . . . just witness football, baseball, hockey, soccer, basketball, rugby . . .

Now it that happened in the ring or our canine partner tore our shirt or ripped the pocket out of our trousers, we'd get an "E" for being "out of control" <LOL> . . . hardly seems fair . . .

Al & his BCs, past and present . . . and HARD PARTIERS ALL!!!

[Sheila & the Shelties]

 

Agility woman are scary.

Steve

So you are saying more men don't become involved in agility because agility women are scary?  LOL   

[Jean Sather (McCreight)]

Agility woman are scary.

Steve

NADAC Agility: where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the dogs are above average .....

[gm5bkc]

I think part of the answer is cultural.  A lot of boys grow up going hunting in the Fall, so they tend to think of dogs as hunting partners.  Our family doctor is an example of this, he has a hunting dog and his girlfriend has an agility dog.
I grew up bird hunting but not with dogs. Our dogs were family pets and not field dogs.

My wife and I got a 2nd rescue dog last year to help our special-needs rescue dog adapt to the world, and the new dog has boundless energy.  We started agility to give the dog exercise so WE could get to sleep at night!  My wife is with the dogs all day so I signed up to take agility lessons with the new dog to help bond with her.  We both go to the lessons, although so far I'm the one running around with the dog.

I've found that Agility is awesome for bonding with your dog, and I continue to do it because the dog is so enthusiastic about Agility!

[Cindy]

NADAC Agility: where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the dogs are above average .....

Now I want a t-shirt with that!

Cindy and the Beagles

[Dave Worldsbesjrts Dad]

After four hours at the poker tables where one could as the same question in reverse why so few  women at the tables. I thought of one more big thing. If you look at many of the sports activities the average Joe is participating in not watching you come up with.

Bowling
Golf
Hunting
Fishing
Softball
Basketball
Poker

what do all of these things have in common that is not there in Dog Agility




Think about it.......







Think some more.........








got it yet...........








ok here it comes...........










All these activities come complete with men and their buddies Drinking.

Mostly beer. 

So to get more men in agility is simple a matter of serving beer.

[Merri]

Historically, there was a link between dog agility and horses in the equestrian-like jumps demonstrations in the UK.  The equestrian world is largely dominated by women (except maybe horse racing).  When I was a little girl, girls were drawn to horses and boys were a rare occurence at the stables. 

When I was a little girl (before agility existed), I used to have my dogs jump over overturned picnic benches.  It just seemed to be the natural thing to do based on my horseback riding. 

In terms of the social aspect, it seems agility also takes much alone time what with practice etc.  In this way, agility is a lot like ham radio (another hobby my husband and I share), an activity that is mostly male dominated.  As a woman, it makes no sense to me that there are so few women in ham radio and so few men in agility.

Agility is still a relatively new hobby/sport compared to many so perhaps more men will become involved as agility itself matures.  :-)

[Ed and Tres]

In terms of the social aspect, it seems agility also takes much alone time what with practice etc.  In this way, agility is a lot like ham radio (another hobby my husband and I share), an activity that is mostly male dominated.  As a woman, it makes no sense to me that there are so few women in ham radio and so few men in agility.

Agility is still a relatively new hobby/sport compared to many so perhaps more men will become involved as agility itself matures.  :-)

Merri the nice thing about being a woman in ham radio is if you ever go to Dayton, which I recently returned from, you never need to wait in a bathroom line. The same cannot be said for the men. It is the only place I have ever been where I had to wait to use the Mens room and the woman's room was line free. The nice thing about being a woman in ham radio is that all the OMs will always refer to you as YL (young lady) except for your husband of course.

Nice to know that there are other hams that also are doing Nadac agility.

73

[Sharon Nelson]

So to get more men in agility is simple a matter of serving beer.

I am going to be a good girl and not make too many remarks... or maybe go get some beer!!

Sharon

[Sheila & the Shelties]

After four hours at the poker tables where one could as the same question in reverse why so few  women at the tables. I thought of one more big thing. If you look at many of the sports activities the average Joe is participating in not watching you come up with.

Bowling
Golf
Hunting
Fishing
Softball
Basketball
Poker

what do all of these things have in common that is not there in Dog Agility?

The first thing I thought of is that all these activities are much more fun to participate in than simply watch.  I think that applies to agility too, though I do enjoy watching it.  I've seen beer with agility, but I would not recommend combining both at the same time unless you are a spectator.   

I think the same things apply to women in poker as does the original question.  Poker is considered a man's game associated with smoky back rooms in a blind pig, and "womanly" women don't want to be associated with that.    And I've gotten the impression that some men with not like to see them there!     Though I think that is changing, much as more men are getting in agility.  I think the World Series of Poker has encouraged more woman to take up poker.

The final thought you an enjoy an activity, do it!  Don't let others or a society define activites as anything other than something you like to do. 

[Shirlene Clark]

So to get more men in agility is simple a matter of serving beer.

I am going to be a good girl and not make too many remarks... or maybe go get some beer!!

Sharon

I am not a lover of beer but even I would get some if it meant more men in agility

[Jean Sather (McCreight)]

Jim Lackey told Rocky and me one time that he started running dogs in agility because watching it was about as much fun "as watching paint dry" ....

Never did get Rocky into the ring with a dog of his own but he sure spent a lot of time with me at trials and was one of the best volunteers ever .....  and a VERY wise and knowledgeable spectator! 

[Merri]

Ed, I have never been to Dayton but my husband had to work there twice.  Lately we have not been going because we have a special needs dog that I would not want to leave by herself in a motel room.  She comes to trials with us but that is different -- there are dogs there!

I truly believe more men will become involved as agility evolves and gets more media coverage as well as word of mouth PR.  I have had dogs all my life but my husband and I never even thought about it until we saw a course advertised and had a very energetic dog who needed more exercise.  None of my Facebook friends knew anything about agility until we started posting things about it.  Now they do.  :-)  Our local news does not cover dog sports.

[Vicki Storrs]

Historically, there was a link between dog agility and horses in the equestrian-like jumps demonstrations in the UK.  The equestrian world is largely dominated by women (except maybe horse racing).  When I was a little girl, girls were drawn to horses and boys were a rare occurence at the stables. 

Disagree with the above quote, perhaps in the US, am pretty certain that's not true in the rest of the world, at least not in the upper levels.  Follow the high level stuff for years, have been to the Olympics (spectator), jumping especially predominatly still men--many countries wouldn't even consider a woman--in dressage and 3 day women are beginning to catch up.  I remember a few years back the finals of a Grand Prix jumping event that required the riders to switch horses--one American woman with men from Great Britain, France, Germany, etc.  Woman drew the British horse, whose rider was convicnced no woman couldn't handle his difficult horse.  She finessed him around the ring (instead of the power struggle always seen with his regular rider) and won the event.  Early days of obedience had lots more men, agree that the trend toward more positive training has seemed to coincide with increased participation by women--whether that's cause or effect...?

Anyway, my husband loves the dogs and is great with them, but have never been able to get my husband to participate or even come to any dog (or horse) events--not happily anyway, so I've given up.  But now if they added the BEER I might have a fighting chance!!

Vicki Storrs

[Jeff Newman]

Hello All,
There are some great points about why more men don't run in agility. I honestly think the main reason is men are not comfortable making a fool of themselves in public even tho we do all the time. I guess as a man that runs agility, I am more than comfortable to make a fool of myself in public with my dog. Sometimes you just have to say who cares what other people think and just have a wonderful time.   
Jeff Newman and Crew