NADAC, signing up for

[AdrianneIsabel]

I need a little help understanding my form being filed for the NADAC. Under "Skilled" (which I would like to run her since this is her first trial) it only has jump heights up to 16" and then the next box is **. She's a 23" dog, is Skilled @ 16" the correct setting for her?

Also, how many runs do you do a day? How many for a first time dog?

[MandyPug]

Izzie's first trial was local (as in 15 minutes from my driveway to the trial site) and I did only one jumpers run each day. If I had to travel for it I'd probably have done more to make it worthwhile to go.

We worked up to 3 runs per day (out of a possible 4) now and I don't think I'll ever run her in 4 a day.

ETA: keep in mind this is for AAC not NADAC. Not sure how those ones run and the difficulty of their novice stuff.

[Aleron]

I usually run my dogs in the Novice level first (AKC Novice, CPE Level 3, UAG1) and run them in whatever is available the days I'm going. I generally jump them full height from the start of trialing too. Whim's first trial she did four runs in two days then the same for her second trial. She would have had no issues running more than that though, that's just all that was offered In her first three trials she jumped 20" twice and 24" once (we had some issues in AKC because she is right on the cut off between heights).

It depends on the dog and the person though. I don't enter my dogs until I'm sure they are ready but many, many people tend to want to enter their dogs ASAP. Or some dogs for whatever reason just need a slower start to trialing. Or some people do! I have suggested to some newbie handlers start in CPE level 1 because it's a nice introductory level for a first timer. Most of the hard stuff with agility is the person getting confidence and handling ability, so a level like that is a great starting point. I'm not familiar with NADAC's system but I'm guessing Skilled is similar in that it's meant to be an easy, straight forward beginner level?

So I guess the number of classes you should enter depends on if you're confident that Sloan is really ready to trial. If you are just entering to see how she does and you're not totally sure she's ready, I'd probably do just one run and in whatever you think she's most likely to succeed in. If she turns out not to be ready, you don't want her repeatedly practicing bad behaviors in a trial setting. If you're pretty confident that she is ready and will not have issues with anything you ask her to do - enter whatever sounds fun

[SpringerLover]

16" is what she'd jump in skilled. I like to enter the classes I feel confident in handling. A lot of people say "do tunnelers because it's fun" and while it IS fun, it's definitely a different handling style than if you've only run "standard/regular" type sequences before.

I personally started my dogs in jumpers and regular. I started with 1-2 runs/day and worked up to 4/day from there.

NADAC courses are designed to be short and fast... I think you and Sloan'll have fun!

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

I need a little help understanding my form being filed for the NADAC. Under "Skilled" (which I would like to run her since this is her first trial) it only has jump heights up to 16" and then the next box is **. She's a 23" dog, is Skilled @ 16" the correct setting for her?

Also, how many runs do you do a day? How many for a first time dog?

Yup, 16" is the highest for skilled. I copied the parts of the premium from 2 local NADAC trials here that make that pretty clear.





I signed Lucy up for everything to start with, because the closest trials are almost 2 hours away, and I wasn't going to drive 2 hours for a 30 second run and then come back. If you don't mind doing that, or if the trial is closer to home, my trainer suggests just entering in Tunnelers, since that's a really reinforcing, fun game. Touch N Go is fun too, if you have a "termite" (wood sucker!) Or do chances, and totally ignore the distance line. That's usually a pretty easy course once you take out the distance piece.

[MandyPug]

The main reason I advocate for not jumping in both feet and entering a full trial from the get go is it's a much different environment from practise and it's a very long day. I don't expect my dog to be used to that from the get go and I want to gradually work them up to it and not just expect them to be okay with a super long and taxing day. I want to set my dog up to be successful and not overwhelm them.

And for the record i'd do that with ANY breed i had, not just Izzie.

[elegy]

What is the difference between skilled and proficient?

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by elegy

What is the difference between skilled and proficient?

Skilled jumps a lower height and gets a few extra seconds of course time. The dogs I know who run it are a mastiff who needs the extra time and a mix who isn't built very well for jumping.

[elegy]

Ah, so then I should go ahead and enter Steve in Proficient when we get there. I'm hoping for June. We'll see. NADAC seems pretty beginner-friendly, so I'm planning to start there. (NOT with tunnellers! Maybe Jumpers, Standard, and Weavers since he's a weave sucker.)

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by elegy

Ah, so then I should go ahead and enter Steve in Proficient when we get there. I'm hoping for June. We'll see. NADAC seems pretty beginner-friendly, so I'm planning to start there. (NOT with tunnellers! Maybe Jumpers, Standard, and Weavers since he's a weave sucker.)

Yes! So beginner friendly! Everyone has always been so kind and so helpful, which was not my experience being green in usdaa or akc