Doing Good in Agility with Good Dog Agility

Arizona’s 2nd-oldest club offers Agility Buddies for newcomers.

This article was originally published in the June 2026 OVERview digital magazine.

If you play agility with your dog in the East Valley of the Phoenix, Arizona, metro area, then chances are you’re running with the Good Dog Agility Club. It was officially organized in 1993, making it Arizona’s second oldest agility club. Today the club is comprised of some 60 members ranging in age from pre-teen junior handlers to old-timers. It’s based at Family Faith Church in Chandler, Arizona.

Good Dog Agility club members Karen and Marsha

“Good Dog Agility is special because it’s a volunteer-based organization,” said club Treasurer and Trial Chair Maureen Hughes. “Most of our teachers are club members who volunteer their time teaching mostly people who have had no previous dog training experience. We train about 50 students per 16-week session, with 2 sessions a year.”

Club member Autumn, 10, recently graduated from beginners class with her new dog, Millie. They qualified and plan to compete at Cynosport.

The Good Dog Agility training philosophy emphasizes positive training techniques, because the sport of agility is intended to be enjoyed by both dog and handler.

In addition, Good Dog Agility hosts three local two-ring trials each year along with USDAA’s Wild West Regional Championship in Tucson.

Wild West Regional hosted by Good Dog Agility

A unique program offered by the club is Agility Buddies, whereby neophyte handlers preparing for their first trial are paired with an experienced handler who helps them navigate the often-confusing trial process, from check-in and height measuring through crating and course walk-throughs.

“We try to create an organization that is welcoming to everyone in our classes and at our shows,” Maureen said. “This year, we added a night Team trial at the end of April.”

Good Dog Agility club members Annie and Jane

Furthermore, the club promotes volunteerism at their trials. Good Dog Agility’s website includes a page replete with volunteer resources, from a basic outline of what needs doing to downloadable PDFs detailing job descriptions and gate steward duties as well as scribe and timer instructions, complete with a scribe cheat sheet and video tutorials for scribing and timing. Volunteers earn Doggie Bytes, digital dollars that can be used to pay for class, trial and/or fun run fees.

Good Dog Agility also does an annual agility demonstration at Barktoberfest, which benefits Friends for Life Animal Rescue, and is a main sponsor of the event.

Good Dog Agility club member Bobbi and Rocco 

Maureen has been involved with Good Dog Agility since 2001. Over the years, she has competed in USDAA agility with three dogs. First was Tigger, a mixed breed who looked like a small coyote, retired in 2019 after an extremely impressive 14-year career that included a Platinum PDCH, Platinum Lifetime Achievement Award and Diamond titles (100 Qs) in both Jumpers and Snooker. Maureen’s current dog, a 9-year-old Rat Terrier named Topper, has likewise earned a Platinum PDCH and is closing in on a Platinum LAA.

“I’ve only had him since he was three years old,” Maureen said, “but Topper is amazing in agility. My future competition dog is Tori, a 15-month-old Border/Pap/Cattle Dog sports mix in training.

“I think most dog lovers can appreciate the impressive skills these dogs have to do this sport at such a high level as is displayed at Cynosport,” she added. “Watching the bond between the dog and the handler is a very special experience.”

 

Website: https://gooddog.org
Agility Buddies: https://gooddog.org/trials-events/#Buddy
Volunteer info page: https://gooddog.org/trials-events/#Volunteering
Tigger’s story: https://gooddog.org/the-phenominal-agility-team-of-maureen-tigger