Clean Run - April 2013 - 50

Running under the lights at the Cynosport
World Games is exciting.

The author running her BC Joker at the
AKC National Agility Championship.

adult beverages are sold in the evenings. Herding breeds are the
most common participants, with Border Collies dominating the
numbers in the higher jump heights and Shelties in the lower
jump heights. The NADAC Championships are very laid back
and friendly. The event seems more like a family reunion. By the
end of the weekend, if you don’t already know the majority of the
people, you probably will have met many new people and added
another couple dozen Facebook friends. There are a variety of
breeds competing, including mixed breeds. For team events people bring silly costumes, making it a friendly, fun competition.

have the opportunity to compete in the Challengers run. This
is a course that runs right before the finals and only the winner
of each height division gets to move onto the finals. The Challengers class is very exciting to watch because everyone is going
full out for that last chance to make it to the final round. In the
finals, all scores are erased and the winner of that round in each
height is crowned the AKC Champion.

Competitive Divisions
All three venues have different divisions: Regular/Preferred in
AKC, Championship/Performance in USDAA, and Proficient/
Skilled in NADAC. USDAA and NADAC also have a Veterans Division. These divisions are also represented at the yearly
event, so it’s nice to see the older dogs or the dogs that benefit
from the height break. Junior Handlers are also showcased in
a special run at USDAA Cynosport Games and are recognized
with special awards at the NADAC Championships.

The Courses and Making It to the Finals
All of the organizations offer classes or events that aren’t available on a typical show weekend, which makes the event even
more special. They all also have warm-up classes the day(s) before the “real” competition starts.
For AKC, Friday’s two rounds are a warm-up. Then over the
next two days, there are three rounds that are cumulative to decide which teams are playing in the finals. These three rounds
are Standard, JWW, and a Hybrid class that usually consists of
one or two contact obstacles. Teams that do well in these three
classes might make the cut directly into the finals which are held
Sunday afternoon. But if a team doesn’t do so well in one of
them, but does great in the other two rounds, it probably will
50

USDAA is typically a four-day event, with a warm-up run or possibly quarterfinals run being held on Wednesday. The neat thing
about USDAA is there are three events, each of which will crown
a champion: the Dog Agility Steeplechase Tournament (consists
of three rounds on courses that contain jumps, weaves, and an
A-frame), Dog Agility Masters Team Tournament (includes a
Standard, Jumpers, Snooker, Gamblers, and Team Relay class)
and then the Grand Prix of Dog Agility. There are Performance
events equivalent to these and the Veterans Showcase where dogs
over nine years of age that have competed in a previous World
Games can play in the team events, but be scored by themselves.
The exciting Steeplechase finals are held in the evening, under
the lights of the main ring. This is the only event where money is
awarded. The winner gets $1000, with other monetary amounts
being given to lower placements. So it is an exciting event.
The NADAC Championships are also a four-day competition.
There are two Regular rounds each day for a total of seven
rounds. Scores are cumulative and top percentages get to run in
the final, eighth run. The overall winner is cumulative, based on
the eight runs. So speed, consistency, and endurance determine
the winner. The length of the courses is typically longer than you
see during an average weekend, with some courses including as
many as 40 obstacles. Distance is also stressed in NADAC, so
each round has a distance portion (typically no more than 15')
within the Regular course (usually only an obstacle or two). Ten
faults are assessed if the distance challenge isn’t met. Superstakes
Clean Run | April 13

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Clean Run - April 2013

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