Clean Run - October 2016 - 7

Everything you always wanted to know about agility ? By Brenna Fender AKC Suspends Use of Chute and Removes Sticker/Armband Requirement Effectively immediately the American Kennel Club has suspended use of the collapsed tunnel until safety concerns raised by the agility community can be resolved. In addition, as of August 1, the AKC no longer requires that clubs provide stickers/armbands for exhibitors to wear at a trial. If, however, a club does provide stickers/armbands, exhibitors must wear them. See Chapter 1, Section 19, Paragraph 4 of the AKC rules (http://images.akc. org/pdf/rulebooks/REAGIL.pdf). USDAA Announces Dates and Location of the 2017 Cynosport World Games The 2017 Cynosport World Games, the United States Dog Agility Association's annual international competition, will take place October 25-29, 2017, at the Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The facility will have five rings of competition indoors on packed dirt, with covered crating in horse stalls and acres of pastureland for dogs to use for exercise. Qualifying takes place via tournaments offered at USDAA events. The 2017 tournament season is September 6, 2016 through September 4, 2017. UKI Jump Height and Chute Changes With the World Agility Open championships lowering the 650 jump height to 600, UKI Agility International has decided to follow suit; UKI's highest jump height has moved from 26" to 24". The US Open and Canadian Open events will also use the 24" height. In addition, on August 17, UKI announced that due to the overwhelming evidence of dogs getting entangled and tripping in chutes, UKI is suspending the use this obstacle in all courses, including the US and Canadian Opens. What organizations offer a "pre-novice" or very basic entry option for an inexperienced dog? Many US agility organizations offer optional pre-novice classes. Some have titles available and others offer placements and/or experience only. All are less difficult than their entry-level counterparts, often with certain obstacles removed and jump heights and A-frame heights lowered. None of the pre-novice options are required- you may bypass them and enter directly into the novice classes. American Kennel Club (AKC) recently introduced an Agility Course Test (ACT) option for dogs that are new to agility (www.akc.org/events/agility/act-program). While ACT courses may be offered during trials, they are suitable for standalone events or as part of agility classes. ACT is a titling event. For more information, see this column in CR July 2016. Do you have a question about agility rules or anything else agility related? Mail your questions to Brenna Fender: brennafender@gmail.com Brenna collects the questions and forwards them to us so we never see the names. Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) has a prenovice option for clubs to offer at their discretion. This class has no teeter or weaves and other obstacles may be omitted as well. No titles are earned in pre-novice. For more information, see the ASCA agility rules (http://asca.org/Portals/0/AgilityRules.pdf). Canine Performance Events (CPE) has a total of six levels. Levels 1 and 2 (which are titling classes and part of the regular program) are simpler in course design and may not have some of the obstacles, including the teeter and spread jumps. For more information, see the CPE rules (www.k9cpe.com/ forms/2016rb.pdf). North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC) offers Intro classes that have titling options. Clubs may offer Intro classes at their discretion. These classes lack tunnel/contact discriminations and some other challenges. For more information, see https://nadacnews.com/2014/03/13/intro-to-agility and visit the NADAC forum (http://nadacforum.com/index.php). UK Agility International (UKI) has a Nursery class option at some trials. The courses are to be smooth and flowing without the teeter, tire, spreads, or weave poles. It is not a titling class. For more information, see UKI rules (www.ukagilityinternational.com/ImageUploads/UKI%20Rules%202016%20.pdf). United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA) offers an Intro Program (www.usdaa.com/article.cfm?newsID=1740), which has four classes and can be part of a regular USDAA agility trial or a standalone event. The courses are designed to fit in a smaller space so Intro trials may be held in training centers. D NOTE: While it is not permissible to make copies of Clean Run magazine, we wish to give readers permission to make copies of this particular column for personal use. This means you are free to share copies of this column with students, friends, or club members. The information may also be included in not-for-profit newsletters as long as credit is given to Clean Run. October 16 | Clean Run 7 http://images.akc.org/pdf/rulebooks/REAGIL.pdf http://images.akc.org/pdf/rulebooks/REAGIL.pdf http://www.asca.org/Portals/0/AgilityRules.pdf http://www.k9cpe.com/forms/2016rb.pdf http://www.k9cpe.com/forms/2016rb.pdf https://www.nadacnews.com/2014/03/13/intro-to-agility http://www.nadacforum.com/index.php http://www.ukagilityinternational.com/ImageUploads/UKI%20Rules%202016%20.pdf http://www.ukagilityinternational.com/ImageUploads/UKI%20Rules%202016%20.pdf http://www.usdaa.com/article.cfm?newsID=1740 http://www.akc.org/events/agility/act-program

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - October 2016