My first run of the day was in Excellent A Standard Agility. I made two big mistakes, but at least everyone thought my weave poles and jumps were beautiful. In this agility run Joe made the same error as our agility teacher and pulled me off my entry to the tunnel. Later I blew past the chute under the A-Frame. It is an unusual combination and one I had not practiced. Now that I have seen it, I’m sure I won’t make the same mistake again. Here is the run:
My second run was in Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves. All was going well until I looked right instead of left. Joe panicked and sent me over the wrong jump. Still, it was a beautiful run. Watch me soar over the jumps at the end!
Contact obstacles in AKC agility include the A-Frame, Dog Walk, Seesaw (or teeter) and the Pause Table. They are called “contact” because you must touch them in the prescribed way during your standard class agility run. (Contact obstacles are not used in Jumpers with Weaves.) On the A-Frame you must ascend one panel and descend the other and touch the yellow “contact zone” with any part of one foot prior to exiting the obstacle. On the dog walk you must tough the “contact zone” with one foot on both the up and the down sides. The teeter works the same way, with the added caveat that you have to touch the down zone after the plank has touched the ground and prior to exiting the obstacle with all four paws. In my first run of the day I forgot everything I know about contact obstacles. Unfortunately, the judge in today’s agility trial did not forget these rules and so I was far from qualifying. It is not pretty, but let’s take a look:
My second run in Jumpers with Weaves was far better. It was clean and fast. I won a “Q” for this run and 9 points. Only 732 more to go. We were all very happy. Here is my Jumpers run:
In AKC agility once you have worked your way up to the top class, Excellent B, you start earning points toward your MACH or Master Agility Champion title. You need 750 points and 20 Double Q’s to earn your title. In my run last week at McCook, IL I got my first points.
Here is how it works:
One point is awarded for each full second under standard course time. Standard course time varies by dog height and event. In standard agility for 20″ dogs like me, it is 3.1 yards per second plus 5 seconds for the Pause Table.
Dogs earn points from the Excellent B standard class and the Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves class.
If you place first, you double your points.
If you place second your receive 1.5 times your points (all fractions are rounded down).
In order to receive your MACH you also have to have 20 “Double Q’s.” A Double Q is an event where you have perfect scores on both Excellent B Standard and Excellent B jumpers with weaves on the same day.
So after my 9 point score, I need only 741 points and 20 Double Q’s to be a champion!
Day three starts fresh and I was ready. My first run of the day was in Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves. That is the top class and no errors are allowed. I was focused and fast and got my first “Q” or qualifying run of the weekend. This is my first “Q” in Excellent B and that means I can start earning points toward my Master Agility Champion, or MACH, title. In this run I earned 9 points toward the 750 I need. I’ll talk more about points later. Now, let’s take a look:
My second run was in Standard Class Agility. Frankly, it was not so pretty. I ran a big “off course” with several wrong jumps and missed my weave poles. Nothing to brag about in this run, but Joe is to blame for the weave poles – I just did what he told me. Take a look:
My third run was minutes later in FAST Class and it was a beautiful one. I did a great send from fifteen feet away over the triple, through the tunnel and over the teeter. Look at me go! I qualified (no errors and a successful send) and took home a blue ribbon for first place. Here I go:
The day ended with another practice run in the new AKC agility test event, Time to Beat. Here it is:
Special thanks to our agility instructor, Anne Riba, for her encouragement and advice!
Day two of the Blitzen Agility Trial in McCook, IL was an early one. After a lovely walk along the lake with a pretty sunrise we headed out at about 6:30 a.m. At least there is no traffic at that hour.
Our first run was in Jumpers with Weaves. I felt I was ready, but those daarn weave poles messed me up. This foreshadowed a bad weave poles day. The rest of my run was beautiful. Take a look:
Our second run was in FAST Class. In FAST my handler designs the course I am supposed to run. I was very distracted from the start. After missing my weave pole entry at the beginning, I still felt I could design a better course than Joe and I tried to do so. Unfortunately I am not as good a designer as I thought I was. Next time I plan to pay attention to Joe’s plan. Here is the FAST Class run:
Our third run was in Standard Class. I was focused and ready. At Joe’s signal I took off like a rocket into the tunnel. My pause table was perfect (all the practice paid off). My dog walk and jumps were clean and fast, but those darn weave poles did me in again. Here is the run:
As a bonus, we got an additional run in a new event being tested by the AKC. It is called, “Time to Beat” and formerly called, “Run and Done.” I hope they keep looking for a new name. Our bad weave pole day continued, but there is the run:
Friday at McCook started off well with three great (but not great enough) agility runs. Our first run was in Jumpers with Weaves. Joe’s strategy was right on the money, but unfortunately his execution was off by about two feet. I was required to enter the tunnel on the right side. Joe did a nice front cross in an attempt to block the tunnel left side, but he ended up showing me the perfect entrance to the left side, which I took without hesitation. It’s too bad, because the rest of the run was beautiful. Here is my Jumpers with Weaves run:
In our second run, agility Standard Class, the fault was mine. There is only a second of lost focus between winning and not qualifying. I spent that second looking at the bar setter sitting in the back right corner before sailing right past the entrance to the weave poles. Again, except for one critical error, this, too, was a beautiful run. Here is my second agility run:
The third agility run was in FAST Class. In Excellent FAST Class you need to have your handler send you from a distance through a series of obstacles. I followed Joe’s signal a bit too closely and did not make it. Let’s take a look:
The AKC let’s you list your titles after your name. Once you become a champion you can list your champion title in front of your name. The title for an agility champion is MACH (or Master Agility Champion).
I compete in three AKC agility events: Standard Agility, Jumpers with Weaves and Fifteen and Send Time (FAST). At the McCook trial, I received two new titles. I had my third qualifying run in Excellent A Jumpers and my third qualifying run in Open FAST.
As you receive titles at each level you can add them after your name. The higher title will supersede the preceding title in all AKC records.
The titles for Standard Class are in Novice (NA), Open (OA), Excellent A (AX) and Excellent B (MX).
The titles for Jumpers with Weaves are in Novice (NAJ), Open (OAJ), Excellent A (AXJ) and Excellent B (MXJ).
The titles for FAST class are in Novice (NF), Open (OF), Excellent A (AF) and Excellent B (MXF).
You need 3 qualifying runs to to recive a title for Novice, Open and Excellent A classes. You need 10 qualifying runs for an Excellent B title.
I’m glad the open agility fast title is not called OAF.
In my last post I mentioned I need practice on the pause table. No, I am not allowed on the furniture (even though my agility instructor always says to just set things up in the living room to practice), but the pause table is indeed a table. My new pause table is coming from a company in Georgia called Pacific Rim Imports. It is a 30 x 30 table that folds in half.
Pause Table
According to the AKC agility rules, during a competition I am required to “…pause on the table for five cumulative seconds in either a sit or a down position, as specified by the judge prior to the beginning of the class.”
For a 20 inch division dog, the height of the table should be 16 inches. For 8 inch and 12 inch divisions it should be 8 inches and for 24 and 26 inch division dogs it should be 24 inches.
Once I am in the correct position on the table the judge typically counts backwards: “Five and Four and Three and Two and One and GO!” Then I’m off to the next obstacle.
