What venues do you compete in?

Right now we just do USDAA. I really want to give NADAC a try though, but there aren't very many trials in our area Also hope to do some ASCA

We've only competed in CPE so far, and I will likely start Recon in CPE as well. It's a little more friendly, and a little easier. There are a TON more CPE trials around than AKC, too.

But Frag and I will probably be moving on to AKC soon as well and we'll keep trialing in both venues.

USDAA is my real love, and my first choice whenever I seek out a trial. I like the highly competitive atmosphere, the seriousness of the competitors, the more challenging handling, and the higher criteria. I like the lack of entry limits, because I could never get into a CPE or AKC trial around here with my organizational skills. Plus, you know, snooker

I've done some CPE, mainly because I had a good friend who was competing in it at the time, and a trainer I really like and try to support was running some trials. They were nicely done, and very welcoming. I think the venue can be more welcoming to new people, and also has some very competitive teams at the higher level. I disliked the more lax attitude displayed by the competitors in CPE (things like being less aware of/on top of their dogs - a bit more like being around "pet" dog owners; tough with a dog reactive dog!), and the greater ease in qualifying at the lower/middle levels. I'd have no qualms about going to more CPE trials if I had people I liked trialing with competing there, but they don't draw me in otherwise.

I do AKC twice a year at the local trials; obviously that is fairly new for us, since I don't run AKC dogs. I do like that people are pretty dog-savvy at them, and the courses were very nice for Meg - less challenging than USDAA for her, but not 'easy'. I like seeing a bigger variety of breeds running. I can not stand sitting around all day for two runs, or being treated like a fool for not running AKC dogs (I had one woman seriously put her hand on my shoulder and say "good for you for running mixed breeds!" in a very condescending tone of voice).

I'd love to do some AAC since I'm so near Canada, but I refuse to bring either of my dogs into communities with BSL since both could potentially be called out as pit mixes. Given the amount of BSL in "our end" of Canada, I haven't bothered looking into it further.

NADAC just confuses the heck out of me, and I don't have the equipment to train on for either that or UKC (which also I never see around here).

I do AKC and CPE. Oh and UKC about once a year at the UBSDA National.

I like them for different reasons. AKC is what I have always done and excellent is pretty challenging at times. CPE is fun with the games and that you get lots of runs per day. And it's not entirely as "easy" as people make it out to be as you get to the higher levels. Whim has her AKC Open titles and legs towards Excellent but we still NQ'd on all 4 of our CPE runs at the last trial. Not our shining moment in the agility ring! LOL

UKC is like old fashioned agility, like agility was when I first started. It's interesting in that way. They are much pickier about the finer points of performance, taking points off for anything less than perfect. The last UBSDA trial I went to, I lost points on most of my runs because of my "launch" start with Whimsy...pushing her back while I start running. They have unusual obstacles too and I never get to train on these obstacles, so I have to say my dogs are pretty cool for doing them at trials!

I have done ASCA and liked it but haven't done it for a long time. I may give it another try. Or try maybe USDAA, since there are now very local trials. It's hard to pursue too many venues though, only so much entry money to go around! I'm a bit torn on the jump heights for USDAA though.

:yikes:

I'd say the crowds in the different venues vary from place to place. Around here, the AKC people don't seem to care at all about mixed breeds. There's rude people everywhere though, topics might be different but rude none the less. I had someone at a CPE trial comment to me that Savvy didn't get any prettier when grew up. I wanted to reply that her BC didn't get any less butt high when he grew up but probably best not to

The only equipment difference is the hoops (well, and lack of tire/table/teeter). The a-frame is shorter, but jumps/dog walk/tunnels are identical. It's all just numbered courses at that point. Nothing fancy. (Not that you should add another venue, but it's a surprisingly simple one!)

NADAC is a ton of fun, I think people under estimate it.

UKC has weird equipt but that makes me want to try it. Sway bridge? Heck ya!

This. I got nasty comments from CPE people when I got a Breeder Purebred (the horror) but have never gotten grief or even a veiled comment at an AKC agility trial over Kim or Webster, both of whom are very obviously not purebreds of any sort.

Obedience people, yeah I've heard some nasty comments, but they are a group unto themselves shall we say.

Want to make NO friends in obed? Run a Malinois and discuss trying your almost nine year old rescue pit bull.

Ha!

Or even better yet, beat out a couple BCs and Goldens in Rally with a pit bull who is under 2. That sets the tongues wagging quickly. Especially when they see how awesome her heeling is.

Looking back, it was hysterical. All I could think of was someone putting their hand on a person's shoulder after they were last in a race and saying "Well that was good trying!". Mind you, Meg is now in Excellent and has only ever not-Q'd once in AKC. It isn't like she doesn't do well there. At the time, I just sort of gaped at her.

The AKC group around here is...unpleasant, to me, but I've been told it is just those who come out for the local trial, and that if I traveled at all, it would be different. I thought about getting Meg's MACH because I think it is attainable for her if I really focused on AKC for 18 months, but I just love USDAA more.

Aren't there *barrels* now instead of curved tunnels? Or at least the option for them?

Don't get me wrong, I am blown away by many of the people I see run NADAC. If I had those distance skills, I'd be dancing a jig! The venue itself just seems to get stranger to me every year. And yes, there's that whole "I do not need another venue!" thing.

Rumor is, there will be an announcement regarding jump heights soon. I'm guessing there will either be breed allowances, or they will stick another height in between 16" and 22".

No no, they absolutely still have curved tunnels! The barrels do not show up in any of the normal classes (just contacts, jumps, tunnels, weaves, and hoops). Really, the only things different about NADAC compared to AKC is that they require more distance and discrimination skills than AKC (and much faster course times). AKC has additional obstacles and tighter courses.

They introduced "extreme games challenges" last year (maybe 2 years ago?) but those are completely separate classes that are just for fun--they don't count towards titles or anything as of now. I have yet to see them at a trial, although the place I'm going in April is going to offer it at the end of the day...we'll see how it goes! I have a feeling my dog is going to go completely wild being the end of the day and obstacles she's never seen.

Around here it is AKC only. We had our first USDAA trial the other day so I'm hoping that takes off. It was fun watching the AKC crowd trying to figure out the rules.

When I first started with Summer we trained at a UKC agility club. It's definitely... different.

Are there no Mals doing obedience where you are? I wouldn't say they are a common breed here but it's not terribly unusual to see people trialing them either. Same with Pit Bulls/Amstaffs, not common but you see them and we've had a few very active members at the training club with them.

Interesting, although probably wouldn't help my concerns (would have when I wanted to try it with Ziggy though!). Well maybe it would with Savvy. My issue is not that I think my...ummm normally built dogs aren't capable of jumping 22" and 26". I am concerned with dabbling in a venue where they would have to jump 6" higher than they do in any other venue. There are going to be I think 4 3 day USDAA trials here a year and I'm unlikely to trial at every one of them. Whimsy jumps 20" in AKC and CPE. She's had no trouble jumping 24" the weekend the judge measured her out of 20". But she's 4 years old and only trains/trials at 20" otherwise. Savvy, if he measures into 20" in AKC, I'd have no problem running him at 22" in USDAA. I train at both But if he measures at 16" which I think he will...there again, will be a 6" difference between what he "normally" jumps and what he would jump in USDAA. I train at both 16" and 20" with him right now and it doesn't seem to make any difference, so I guess maybe it wouldn't matter. Also the flooring would be rubber matting, which I'm not really crazy about because it's sort of slippery for the dogs but Savvy trains often on it and Whim trains some time on it. Whim seems to have a harder time with getting her footing on the matting, maybe because she's a bigger dog.

Our Malinois are loud, unsocial, and snappy. Their tugging rewards anger other dogs and it annoys handlers. It's pretty typical from class to class, one or two people watch with enjoyed amusement while the rest share horrified annoyance. Our weave workshop had the trainer (another mal owner) telling the other handlers repeatedly my loud mouthed fast moving, growly, air snapping fool has absolutely no interest in their dogs but they still stepped back clutching their dogs with caution.

My pit bull is dog aggressive and people expect him to mold into a flesh melting dragon at any moment after you explain why you'd like space. I tried fear a time or two and then they are convinced their dog can fix mine so I stick with truth.

In trials Q annoys handlers for his noise and excitement (other dogs newly show their asses seeing him) but few are anything but happy about Sloan, she's a pretty mild and non obtrusive girl in the ring.

Ah, I see about the heights. I'm lucky with my guys - I can run them performance in USDAA, and they wind up in 16" in all the venues that way. Actually, I'm not sure what Gusto would be in CPE, but I'd assume. Meg is 16" in performance USDAA, regular AKC and regular CPE.

Footing is a nightmare, end of story.

So you run in performance? I guess I could do that, that puts them about where they are in other venues, Savvy would be in 16" and Whim in 22" which is just 2" more than her normal height. I don't want people to think there's something wrong with them that they are running in performance. I know that might sound weird but that seems to be an often made assumption with AKC's preferred around here, unless the dog is older. Either the dog has a physical problem, a jumping problem, is too slow or too old for regular classes. Those things don't apply to Whim and Savvy :/

This is where most of our trials are and where the USDAA trials will be. You can see how much sliding around Savvy is doing on the turns:

http://youtu.be/omPBtbIoVVE

When I was at the BSCA National last year, I was out to dinner with a lot of other agility people and commented that I love doing agility outside on grass and wished there were outdoor trials near me. They asked what our trials are usually on and I said rubber mats and everyone was sort of...horrified. Some told me I shouldn't even go to trials on rubber mats. If I didn't train or compete on this surface, I would only be able to practice in my yard and wouldn't have many options for trials

The local training club is supposed to be moving all of their AKC trials to an indoor soccer field with that fake turf. They had one there last year and OMG I love that surface!

You know, I think whether someone likes USDAA or not really breaks down to their opinion of snooker. :lol-sign:

I do a little USDAA, there isn't a ton in the area, and tends to be less all the time. It's also possible that I won't be doing it with Pirate, I'm waiting to see if I can get him measured into 16". I did one trial with him, entered in performance 16". The judge for the weekend measured him at 16 1/4", the next day, I got a CMJ to measure him at 16". So I was waiting for him to turn 3 (which he did yesterday), and I'll see if I can get a couple more measurements at 16. I won't run him at performance 16, I'm a little too competitive for that, and he's tiny compared to the other dogs in the 16" performance class. If I can't get him into championship 16, I'll just save my money to run him in AKC, where he can be competitive running against dogs that are near his size. I would like to at least finish the MAD with Tess, though.

I've tried most of the venues. CPE is very popular here, but doesn't tend to be challenging enough for my taste. NADAC was fun back in the day, but they've just gotten weirder and weirder over time, and I've no interest in it now. It's lost a lot of popularity in the area, too, so not a lot of events. I haven't run ASCA, but I know it's like NADAC used to be, so I'd probably enjoy it fine. UKC, we don't have a lot of, but the fun of that venue is the different equipment. I'm disappointed they took the crawl tunnel out, that was always my dogs' favorite. It was a great venue for my Tully, but not so much for the dogs I have now.

Mostly, I do AKC, which is the most common in the area, and suits me fairly well. We don't tend to have the super long days that some people describe. Well, USDAA days are really long, but in AKC, our trials usually finish relatively early. And a person that really wants can get 3 or 4 runs by entering the games classes. I usually don't, but they are there.

One of my classmates really dislikes my dogs for being so loud when they're there. It would be interesting to see what she thought of your maligators.

Both my dogs run performance; neither has the slightest issue with time, so the extra seconds don't affect us one way or the other, they are both just on the low end of their height class.

Around here, the performance division is nearly as competitive as the championship. I don't think anyone blinks at someone choosing to run performance, especially given the difference in venue heights. When I was going back and forth on what I was going to run Gusto at (17" dog, so should run 22"), people were very quick to say "Why in the world would you jump him 22"? Put him in performance." I've never felt a glimmer of disrespect or judgement from anyone at trials regarding running performance, just on forums .

Same here. Izzie runs specials because she measures just out of 10" regular and I'm not jumping my barely over 12" at the withers dog in 16". No one has ever batted an eyelash or questioned it and the division is competitive at the regional and national level. No extra time is given either. The only people who get high and mighty about it are online it seems and rarely are they people who compete in my venue.