Clean Run Magazine - January 2007 - 36

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Role on the World Stage 17 8 6 1996 9 14 5 10 4 3 13 18 11 2 19 1996 FCI
Agility World Championships Morges, Switzerland Team Agility Large Dog 147
meters, 44 seconds Judge: Marco Mouwen 1 12 20 20 19 18 17 2006 11 9 10 12
8 3 2 4 1 16 15 14 13 Perhaps all of these changes and the improved
handling that they have required has been part of what has allowed the
U.S. to emerge on the world agility stage. If our courses had not evolved
to the level of sophistication that they have now achieved, we would not
be able to be as competitive on an international basis. It could be argued
that for the U.S. to play a larger role in the sport, courses had to
evolve. “As the sport of agility has grown and matured, the skill level
that is required of dogs and handlers has increased dramatically. The U.S.
has become a serious player on the international agility stage and we’ve
seen the flavor of U.S. agility change as a result. Not only do our
handlers have to be more efficient, [but] our dogs [also] have to possess
skills we never dreamed of 13 years ago, and they have to perform those
skills at faster speeds than ever before. These are all positive changes
for our sport, says Anderson. ” angles with off-course possibilities at
every turn. Courses can become highly technical and jerky, without
allowing the dog to open up and run fast. Designing a challenging course
that still has plenty of flow and opportunity for the dog to run at top
speed is a skill that doesn’t always come easy to us as judges. I truly
admire those judges that think strategically and creatively to produce
courses that are both challenging and fun. It certainly can be done, but
it is not always easy, says ” Anderson. Stall agrees: “As for agility
competitors, I see a definite change in the USDAA trial atmosphere from
what it was 10 years ago. Everything has ‘ramped up’ in the past few
years, as people vying for top spots or Qs toward the national events get
into the competitive spirit. Trials used to be smaller, days less busy,
the atmosphere more laid back. Now there are more Border Collies than any
other breed at most shows, and most of them are revved up for each and
every run. This alone makes for a charged atmosphere, but add to that
people worrying about ring conflicts, where they are in the running order,
the need to use a practice jump, the playing with a tug toy ritual, and so
on, and it all adds up to a pressure cooker at times. In the old days,
there was a greater variety of breeds and mixes of breeds at shows, and
while there was a competitive spirit it wasn’t as do-or-die as it often
gets these days. While I think that this trend toward better/faster/more
competiti ve is good for the overall evolution of the sport, I do miss at
times the way it used Price of Change 7 6 5 2006 FCI Agility World
Championships Basel, Switzerland Team Agility Large Dog 170 meters, 43
seconds Judge: Mia Lamaanen FCI Agility World Championships Team Agility
Large 1996 2006 Meters 147 170 SCT 44 sec 43 sec 3.34 m/s 3.95 m/s 36
Besides concerns about injury, many experts expressed concerns about the
“fun” factor of competition. In the quest to create more and more
challenging courses, the fun can be zapped out of the sport or the
competitive nature of the participants can go into overdrive. No one wants
to see that. “As a judge, it can be somewhat difficult to design a course
that has the required challenge level while maintaining flow and speed. It
is much easier to make a course challenging by putting in too many tight
turns and tough Clean Run | January 07 Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid
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Clean Run Magazine - January 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - January 2007