In agility, the goal is a clean run — completing the course with no faults and within the allowed time. But things don't always go to plan. Bars fall, contacts get missed, and sometimes your dog decides the tunnel looks more interesting than the jump you're pointing at.
Understanding the different types of faults helps you know what to watch for, what the judge is looking at, and how each mistake affects your final score.
Course Faults
Course faults are errors that happen at specific obstacles. They're the most common type of fault and usually add penalty points to your score (typically 5 faults per occurrence, though this varies by organization).
Knocked Bar
If the dog hits a jump bar and it falls from its cups, that's a knocked bar fault. The bar doesn't have to hit the ground — it just has to be displaced from its resting position. Knocked bars are the single most common fault in agility. Even experienced dogs knock bars occasionally, especially when tired or when the handler's timing is slightly off.
Missed Contact
On contact obstacles (A-frame, dog walk, seesaw), the dog must place at least one paw in the yellow contact zone on the way down. If the dog leaps off the obstacle and misses the zone, the judge calls a missed contact. This is sometimes a judgment call — the judge has to see clearly whether the paw touched the yellow area.
Wrong Course
If the dog takes an obstacle that's not the next one in the numbered sequence, it's a wrong course fault. This can mean the dog took a nearby jump instead of the intended one, entered the wrong end of a tunnel, or got ahead of the handler and took an extra obstacle.
In many organizations, a wrong course is not just a fault — it's an elimination. The run continues, but it cannot qualify. In others, it adds penalty points. Check the rules for your specific organization.
Weave Pole Faults
Weave pole faults include wrong entries (starting with the first pole on the wrong side), missed poles (skipping one or more), and pop-outs (the dog exits the weaves before completing all 12). Some organizations require the dog to redo the weaves from the beginning after a fault, while others simply add penalty points.
Time Faults
Every course has a Standard Course Time (SCT) set by the judge. If the dog finishes the course but takes longer than the SCT, it receives time faults. The penalty is usually calculated per second over the time limit.
For example, if the SCT is 45 seconds and the dog finishes in 48 seconds, it might receive 3 time faults (at 1 fault per second over). Different organizations calculate time faults differently — some use whole seconds, others use fractions.
Time faults are separate from course faults. A dog could have a perfect course with no knocked bars or missed contacts but still receive faults for being too slow. This is why speed matters in agility, not just accuracy.
Refusals and Run-Outs
A refusal happens when the dog approaches an obstacle and stops, hesitates, or turns away instead of taking it. A run-out is when the dog runs past an obstacle without attempting it.
How refusals are scored varies significantly between organizations:
- Some organizations count refusals as faults (typically 5 faults each) but allow the dog to retry the obstacle.
- Other organizations don't count refusals as faults at all — the dog simply loses time while being redirected to the obstacle.
- Some have a maximum number of refusals before the dog is eliminated (for example, three refusals equals elimination).
Because the rules around refusals differ so much, it's important to know the specific rules for the organization you're competing in.
Elimination Faults
Elimination faults are the most serious. When a dog is eliminated, the run cannot qualify regardless of anything else that happens. Common elimination faults include:
Handler Faults
- Touching the dog: The handler physically touches the dog during the run.
- Touching an obstacle: The handler makes contact with equipment (straightening a bar, touching a tunnel, etc.).
- Carrying anything in the ring: Food, toys, or training aids are not allowed on course during competition.
Dog Behavior
- Leaving the ring: The dog exits the competition area.
- Aggression: Any aggressive behavior toward the judge, handler, or other dogs.
- Not completing the course: If the handler chooses to pull the dog off course (often done when the run is clearly not going well and the handler wants to end on a positive note).
Table Faults (Where Applicable)
In classes with a pause table, the dog must hold a sit or down position for a count of five seconds. If the dog breaks position before the count is complete, the judge restarts the count. In some organizations, repeatedly breaking the table can lead to elimination.
How Faults Affect Scoring
The way faults affect your final score depends on the scoring method used:
- Time-plus-faults scoring: The most common method. Your score is your course time plus any penalty points from faults. A dog that ran 35 seconds with one knocked bar (5 faults) has a score of 40. Lower is better.
- Faults-then-time scoring: Dogs are first ranked by number of faults (fewer is better), then by time within each fault tier. A clean run always beats a faulted run, regardless of speed.
- Points-based scoring: In games classes, faults may deduct from accumulated points rather than adding to a time score.
Living With Faults
Every handler, from beginners to world-team competitors, deals with faults. A knocked bar here, a missed contact there — it's part of the sport. The best approach is to learn from each fault without dwelling on it.
Was it a training issue? A handling mistake? Just bad luck? Understanding why a fault happened helps you prevent it next time. But at the end of the day, you're running a course with a live animal who has their own opinions about things. That unpredictability is part of what makes agility so exciting.
Barkloop records every fault type accurately — knocked bars, missed contacts, time faults, and more — so results are fair and transparent. Clean run or learning experience, every run counts, and Barkloop makes sure it's scored right.