USDAA people: Explain "snooker" please?

CaliTerp07

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#1
I have read the USDAA site and sort of understand, but then I looked at the sample course posted for snooker.



What would your suggested path for this course be?

A friend is putting on a USDAA intro trial next month, so we are entered to support her.
 

MandyPug

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#2
I would do red between chute and tunnel, 5, red by the tunnel, 7, red by the start line, 7 ,then into the closing.

Basically it's like shopping. You have to take out money every time before you buy something. So you go to a red (the ATM) then "purchase" a numbered obstacle. Then when you've taken out your money and purchased your obstacles at least 3 times (there can be up to 4 reds) you begin the closing sequence.

You can only take each red once but you can do as many of a numbered obstacle as long as you have a red for each time you take it.

Make sense? Lol
 

CaliTerp07

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#3
So the "closing" is 1-7 in order, but my last red/color can't be the start of the closing sequence? Basically one of the red jumps is repeated to do the closing?
 

MandyPug

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#4
No, the closing is 2-7. Each red is worth 1 point and each numbered obstacle from 2-7 is worth the number it is.

How many points you need depends on the level.
 

CaliTerp07

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#5
ohhhhhh! That's where my confusing is coming from! I thought you had to end with 1-7. 2-7 makes it much cleaner.

Thanks!
 

Shai

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#6
Yep like Mandy said, the idea is to get as many points as possible and complete the closing sequence under time. So you pick out the highest point obstacles...then figure out how you can do them with a red in between each time... so you path will be red - obstacle - red - obstacle - red - obstacle then the closing sequence in order 2-3-4-5-6-7.

Ideally (point-wise) you would go red - 7 - red - 7 - red - 7 - closing sequence but since you can only do each red once, it would be really tough to get from that far left red all the way over to the 7 point obstacle. So you have to figure out how to get the most points while also having a functional path that you can complete under the time limit.

In CPE there are 4 Reds but you can only use 3 -- I don't think USDAA usually has that rule unless a judge specifies it.


ETA: I type slow lol
 

BostonBanker

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#7
"It's not snooker unless you are doing all sevens!"

Okay, don't take my advice as serious ;) I just adore snooker and trial with some pretty competitive friends. Nothing like trying to out-do each other!

Mandy explained it well, although the points needed actually doesn't change by level (at least in USDAA) - you always need 37 points. The closing adds up to 27, so you need to get a minimum of 10 points in your opening. 3 reds gives you 3 points, so you only need your 'numbers' to add up to 7. Of course, more points = higher placement.

If you have a dog who is good about staying with you around a course, snooker is your game. If your dog tends to seek out obstacles on her own - you need to be a bit more careful planning your course! Meg is a killer snooker dog - I can call her off just about anything, so weaving between a bunch of obstacles to get to the high point ones is easy for her. With Gusto, I have to force myself to focus on making a nice flowing course, because I don't want him stressing about me pulling him off things. You'll have to figure out what Lucy needs from you and the course.

With Meg, I'd totally do 3 sevens on that course. I'd lead out to the red by the chute, and release her with myself between that red and the tunnel on my right. Front cross and run her behind the tunnel (her on my right, so I'm not opening up the other red in the middle). Seven, back to the red in the middle, seven, red near the start line, seven, and into the #2 tunnel to start the closing.

With Gusto, I'd do the red right at the start line, chute, red by the chute, 5 jump, last red, 7 jump, and then into the #2 tunnel.

Remember that if you use the #2 tunnel as your last obstacle in the opening, you need to go back and take it again to start the closing (ask me how I know...).
 

CaliTerp07

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#8
Super helpful guys, thank you!

BB, this is not going to be our game at all! NADAC stresses distance work heavily, so we've been doing a ton of seeking out obstacles away from me. I'm not sure how things are going to work in close quarters! Pretty sure if I did the lead out to the red between chute and tunnel, she'd be taking one or the other depending how I was facing.

That's okay though--that's what the intro trial is for! It'll be a fun day--it's only 40 minutes away which is awesome (especially since we're trialing the day before somewhere else).
 

Laurelin

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#9
We had an intro trial here a few weeks ago and the snookers course was HARD they set up. Of course most here are AKC only people so it was a brand new experience.
 
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#10
I have been stuck in Advanced Snooker all last year as Remmy kept doing his own thing. I am hoping that at the March trial, all the practicing I have been doing at Class will have helped him to stay focused on me and we can finally move into Masters in Snooker, the only game I need to get his AGDC (Advanced Games Dog of Canada). He competes in Masters in everything else but just has not seemed to be able to get the Snooker.
 

MandyPug

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#11
I don't like snooker, but we do best in snooker. I'm not a choose my own adventure kind of gal. We're one Q away from our masters title of course lol. I do however go with the "choose the smoothest and flowiest route" because its better for Iz. Strategy, thy name is snooker.

And I've been in masters snooker for a while now and can't remember if the points change in AAC because I have a crappy memory when it comes to things like that.
 

Flyinsbt

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#12
My old Tully girl was the best Snooker dog ever. :( She wasn't super fast, but we had a couple of SuperQ's, because she had very little obstacle focus. So we'd get the courses where everyone was burning out trying for 3 or 4 7's, I'd pick some solid but unspectacular course that my girl could finish in the allotted time, and bingo.

I don't tend to try for the high scores myself until (and unless) the dog is in Masters, because before that, a Q is a Q. I pick a course that we can enjoy, and preferably, enough points in the opening that we still Q if we blow something partway through the closing.

I admit, I love Snooker. But I haven't tried to run it since I lost Tully, it might make me cry now.
 

MandyPug

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#15
hey Mandy, post some AAC Snooker for the good folks and scare the hell out of them :)
Stupid me deleted a bunch off my phone and all my paper ones are of starters (before they went to no handouts) so here's the masters snooker we Q'd on at our last trial. It isn't the most hurky jerky one I've done, some they put out I swear these judges want to see us cry lol.

 

Shai

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#18
Stupid me deleted a bunch off my phone and all my paper ones are of starters (before they went to no handouts) so here's the masters snooker we Q'd on at our last trial. It isn't the most hurky jerky one I've done, some they put out I swear these judges want to see us cry lol.

I haven't done snooker in years other than playing with friends so my sense of how much time I have is rough at best, but with Mira who is fast I'd probably go

Lower right red - teeter - upper middle red - through to AFrame - lower left red out - AFrame - push to outside of left red - AFrame - closing sequence.

If it took more time than anticipated it also allows me to skip the last red-AFrame and go straight into the closing sequence.
 

CaliTerp07

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#19
So we Q'd our snooker run today, woohoo!

Lucy found it incredibly demotivating (what, I don't take the obstacle right in front of me? I have to do this awkward 180 turn instead? Yuck!) but I was super proud that she stayed with me and finished everything I asked of her.

Question though--we finished WAY under time. Like, the time allotted was 52 seconds, I think, and we finished it in 35. Is there any benefit to that? Could we have gone back to get more points? Or is time strictly a tie breaker, and once you finish the closing you're finished?

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8DCTLTKtBM
 

Flyinsbt

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#20
You can't go back for more points, once you finish the closing, you're done. Finishing under time isn't particularly beneficial, but if you got what you needed, I'd consider that more important than trying to get more points.
 

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