Action Day Rewind: Improving Agility Organizations

The Murr & I are competing in two organizations: American Kennel Club (AKC) and United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA).  We've probably done more AKC than the other two, if only because of proximity, but now we're pretty balanced with about a weekend of each per month.

Each venue has its merits and its flaws.  And because there's so much agility here, I could opt to compete in only one venue - or all 5 (there's also ASCA, NADAC, and CPE around these parts).  So as flawed as I may think an organization is, it's clearly not flawed enough for me to stop throwing my discretionary income at it.

AKC

There are a dime a dozen AKC trials by me.  Every weekend I can find one within an hour drive of my apartment.  Some weekends there are two that are 50 miles apart from me (and 100 miles apart from one another).  So lots and lots of AKC.  Our region also boasts a lot of Invitationals dogs (i.e. top 5 in the breed) and double-digit MACHs.

What I like about AKC: It's not a full-day commitment (unless if you're a glutton for punishment, like me, and want to work the novice class).  You can get your measurements before entering a trial.  Jump heights seem pretty reasonable for most dogs.  Courses are generally "flowy and motivating."  The optional games (T2B and FAST) can be very fun.

What I dislike about AKC:  It can feel like a rat race.  Because (for many breeds) you need to compete nearly every weekend to make the Invitational, and Q a heck of a lot of the time.  And if you want a chance of making invitational, you are dissuaded from trying out the other venues.  I'm happy I don't have an Invitational dog (want to make it as a mutt?  then take a sabbatical from work and trial at every opportunity!), as I think both the handler and the dog can get super burnt out - and even injured - from trying to make it into the Top 5 of more popular breeds.  It's also a rat race to qualify for Nationals, particularly if you compete in other venues.  500 points - an "average dog" (37.5 points per QQ, so you would get 750 pts/20 QQs at the same time) would need about 14 jumpers and 14 standard legs to get their points.  The desired AKC Q rate is about 35%.  So that would mean that the "average" dog would need to run about 40 courses in each class to earn their points to qualify for Nationals.  Assuming two days per weekend, we're still talking about two full weekends per month of AKC.  While trials are an hour drive for me, in many other parts of the country it's an 8 hour drive.  Add to that people's desires to try out the other venues, or, y'know, have a life outside of agility... well, that may be tough.  And that FAST and T2B don't count towards the MACH.

What I would do to improve AKC: For Invitationals, have it be based on a finite number of Qs and then yards per second, so that people of more popular breeds can have a life.  Also, split up some of the "breeds" by height (namely us All-Americans, but also Poodles).  It's tough to ask a little chihuahua mix to compete against a sport-bred border staffy.  Make Nationals qualifications manageable so competitors don't need to take out a second mortgage to qualify.  Keep FAST/T2B as optional titling classes but have some way that they can count towards the MACH as well (i.e. points in FAST or T2B could be added as "speed points" to the MACH; a QQQ counts as 1.5 QQs, etc.).  Also, can we please, PLEASE, have a course without weaves?  Or at least take the teeters out of T2B?

USDAA

There are also a lot of USDAA trials around here, too - at least 2-3 per month.  Some may be just this year, as Cynosport is in our state, but last year there were quite a lot too.  Some local folks have placed at Cynosport in years past, and I'd take a gander that we have one of the larger USDAA hotbeds in the country (though we won't mess with Texas).

What I like about USDAA: The games!  I love snooker, steeplechase (PSJ) is a rush, and a jumpers course without weaves is always a good time.  Laid back environment, people seem game for challenges, and though we're not yet in PIII snooker, watching the "Super Q" competition is pretty darn fun (I may be eating my words later, though).

What I dislike about USDAA: You have to be entered to be measured... problem if you're deciding between championship & performance with a borderline dogs, or if your dog is afraid of people (ahem).  This was the major thing keeping me away from USDAA once we started trialing in the other venues.  Though I have no qualms in running in Performance, having a Championship jump height suitable to Murr-sized dogs (i.e. 10"C) would get the little ones out.  If there are 5 8" dogs at a trial, that's a lot... whereas if I go to AKC there's going to be closer to 20.

What I would do to improve USDAA: First, make qualifying for Cynosport more rigorous.  It's the opposite of AKC - technically, you could get all of your nationals Qs in 2 trials.  So there are many local competitors that have never done USDAA, got their Qs and are back to AKC until Cynosport.  Have a requirement that you have to get some titling class Qs or titles, or something a little more than 1 team, 2 GP, 2 steeplechase.  Allow dogs to be measured at trials they aren't entered in (would it really add that much more time?) or at least allow dogs to move from C to P if they "measure up."  Add a little dog championship height.  And please, please, fence in the Starters/Advanced ring as a norm (especially since leash rules are super lax!)

Action Day Rewind: Starting Your Puppy

Only one day late to this game!

I have yet to have a puppy, since The Murr is my first dog and we didn't get him as a puppers.  But we will be getting a puppy.  Sometime.  In a few years.  Details.

And that puppy will be doing foundations like it's their job.  And that puppy and The Murr will never be compared to one another.  If you catch me doing otherwise, put me in my time out crate (seriously).

What I know about agility is a drop in the bucket compared to the average competitor, but in watching many trials over the past eight months, I love watching the dogs with good foundation training.  Yes, it takes a lot longer until they are exposed to equipment, but if I've learned anything from training Murray, it's that equipment gets picked up pretty easily.  It's everything between the equipment that's hard.

I would like to start with the philosophy that everything is a game.  We started with that philosophy a little too late with The Murr, but every training game we've done (splat!, bark on command, etc) has been way more fun than the luring or the "it's training homework."  No homework, all play (or homework disguised as play).

I will stay patient.  We're hoping to get The Murr's companion in a couple of years, when he's about 6.  Which means that he will be a more seasoned competitor, but will (hopefully) still have a lot of agility in his little body.  So I can still train him and run courses with him without a nagging feeling to push the little one too far so that I have a dog to run courses with.  At the same time, we will only get the next dog when we have enough time to commit to training both.  Just because AKC says that you can start trialing at 15 months does not mean you have to.  I will work with my trainer and trust her to help me determine when the pup is ready to show.

A-Frames are one of the things we retrained from a foundation of jumps and a box.  It's his favorite contact!
(photo credit for both, Scott Klar)

One thing I'm happy I did with The Murr was that we went to a lot of Show 'N Gos.  And we'd go to more, honestly, now, except there's been a recent dearth of them in the area.  But when this future puppy of mine is sequencing and all, we will start attending Show 'N Gos.  Yes, even if that means that The Murr can't compete that weekend.

I say that I will never compare the two dogs because in two years from now I may forget about some of Murray's "baby dog shenanigans."  Like his meltdown.  And Murray's had a fair amount of "trial and error" even though we found the right trainer for us fairly early in the game.  And I had to learn handling for the first time, too!  By comparing the two, I could unintentionally put too much pressure on each dog, sucking a ton of fun out of the game.

I'm excited about a future puppy.  I think Murray will have a lot of fun too... and hopefully the dog will bond really well with J (since I still feel like The Murr is more "my dog" even though we got him together).  But keeping training fun and happy and moving at a pace that's best for the dog is the closest thing to a guarantee that we'll have fun in agility for the long haul.

My Dear, Abandoned Blog

Murray at the Nancy Gyes/Jim Basic seminar at Happy Dog.  (Photo Credit: Mia Grant)

I have had fiddyleven blog post ideas in my head, yet when I get home from work, or a trial, or a day of doing everything and nothing, I somehow cannot manage to get my computer open and put my words onto digital paper.  So now it has been over four months since my last post.  And my last post was merely my 6th post.  Slacker.

October through February had plenty of exciting things on the agility front.  We started competing in USDAA.  Murray has gotten really good at doing a down on the table... everywhere except at USDAA.  He is getting faster and faster and faster.  We took some excellent seminars with excellent trainers.  So much wonderfulness for the Murr and I.

I also spent over a month, starting in December, battling with Ramsay Hunt syndrome (a form of shingles) which ultimately caused the left side of my face to be paralyzed for several weeks.  It's better now, but if there's one way to stop overusing verbal commands, it's not being able to speak properly!

Through all that, I have one thing and one thing to say:  Agility People Can Be Awesome.  I could make a small book with the emails and messages of random agility people (and other dog people) sending me "how's it going" messages.  Or paining me with their own shingles stories (there is a surprisingly high correlation between agility handlers and shingles victims).  Or cheering on Murr's droopy faced handler at all those trials, because, yes, I was still playing agility with my little buddy during all of that nonsense.  Thank you.

So now that that's all over (and my energy is up and it's far enough away that I haven't been thinking about it), I can actually FORCE myself to write.  If only I could find some creative energy around these parts!