enlarge Doug Jones/Staff Photographer

Kim Tees’ Brittany spaniel, Jenny, speeds through the weave, an obstacle in the dog agility course in the backyard of instructor Cindy Ratner’s Cape Elizabeth home.

enlarge Doug Jones/Staff Photographer

LuLu, a yellow Lab owned by Laura Krause of South Portland, leaps over one of the hurdles in Ratner’s backyard.

enlarge Doug Jones/Staff Photographer

Laura Krause tries to keep up with her Lab, LuLu, as she speeds across a dog walk.

CAPE ELIZABETH — Snoop the dog has, shall we say, some issues.

Rescued from a puppy mill, the 2-year-old cocker spaniel spent the first part of his life in a foster home. He was, at first, so fearful that if someone tried to pet him, he'd back up and scream.

Enter Kim Tees, who took Snoop into her home in Raymond to try to socialize him. The first weekend she had him, Tees took Snoop to an agility trial, so he could be exposed to other dogs and lots of strangers.

Agility is one of the fastest growing sports for dogs. Dogs are timed as they run an obstacle course that includes jumps, chutes, tunnels, a teeter-totter, an A-frame they have to climb up and over, and an up-in-the-air dog walk that resembles a gymnast's balance beam.

That first weekend, Tees just let Snoop hang out with the other dogs, "and by the end of the weekend, he was starting to show some spark."

Fast forward to trainer Cindy Ratner's Cape Elizabeth backyard, where she has an agility course set up. Snoop -- now an agility competitor who is rising quickly through the ranks -- makes quick work of the course on a practice run. He scuttles through the tunnels, gracefully leaps over the jumps, bounds up the A-frame, and confidently prances down the dog walk.

Snoop still shies away from anyone who leans down to pet him. But on the agility course, he kicks doggie butt.

"It's the one place in his life where he really feels safe," Tees said.

Agility is not just for people who want to compete with their dogs, fans of the sport say. It's also a great way to have some fun "together time" with the family pet. Agility courses build a dog's confidence and strengthen the bond it has with its owner, who guides the dog around the course using verbal signals and body language.

At least, that's the way it's supposed to work. In the early weeks of training, dogs are easily distracted by such irresistable diversions as the rear end of a classmate passing by, or a tasty treat that's accidentally been dropped on the ground.

"C'mon, Gracie," says Amy Mann of Milton, N.H., trying to coax Grace, her energetic black Lab, into a tunnel. Mann brings Grace every Wednesday night to Dynamic Dogs Agility, an indoor/outdoor training facility in Berwick run by Ralph and Elizabeth Vose.

LEARNING SELF-CONTROL

Ralph Vose, the 58-year-old trainer, spells out the order of the equipment he wants Grace to tackle: "Let's do tunnel, tire, yellow tunnel, jump, jump, dog walk. Now the challenge here is to stay on that side of the weave."

The weave is a set of poles, lined up in a straight line, that is the Mount Everest of agility equipment. Dogs must snake their bodies back and forth, in and out of the poles, in an unnatural set of movements.

"You need to get a little momentum right here coming out through the tire," Vose instructs. "Go up and pull them right into that tunnel. Keep the momentum going forward. The trick is not to pull back."

Sound advice, but Grace is having none of it. Her nose is buried in the sand, scouring the floor for whatever it is that smells so delicious. Grace is easily distracted by her nose.

"C'mon Gracie. Here, Gracie. Go tunnel. No, no, no, no. Don't sniff! Don`t sniff! Leave it! Leave it!"

Grace has been running agility courses for three years, and was in her third competition about a month ago. Her veterinarian suggested agility because "she needed something to occupy her brain," Mann said.

Mann sai

d the self-control Grace has picked up on the course has spilled over at home, where she is much more obedient. Grace has also lost 10 pounds.

"Good girl, yes. Good grrrrl!"

Mann comes to Dynamic Dogs with two friends, Lori McCullough of Lebanon and Nancy Freese of Shapleigh. All three women teach at Noble High School in North Berwick.

Maggie, Freese's 4-year-old English springer spaniel, looks like a little deer when she leaps over the jumps. Freese...