Clean Run Magazine - January 2007 - 62

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Judge’s Debriefing USDAA Snooker: Course Analysis and Primer for
Beginners By Bonnie McDonald The game of “Snooker,” a variation on the
game of pocket billiards, originated sometime in 1875 and was invented by a
British colonel while he served in southern India, according to the most
commonly accepted story. The verb form meaning “to cheat” is from the
early 1900s, probably because novices can be easily tricked in the game,
an apt description of this fun yet challenging USDAA class. Like its
poolgame counterpart, agility Snooker is lots of fun once you understand
how to play! To understand the USDAA version of Snooker you need only
understand some basics and have a willing and trained canine partner.
These basics are the same regardless of the level Starters/Performance I,
Advanced/Performance II, or Masters/ Pe r f o r m a n c e III . As you
move up in levels the courses become more complex and the challenge level
increases as your time to complete the game decreases. In Masters/PIII you
are required to earn “Super-Qs” on your way to earning the highest
USDAA titles, the ADCH Agility Dog Champion and APD Accomplished
Performance Dog . This is when you truly can get “snookered.” Keep it
simple and learn the basics of how to play before you try to “win.”
obstacle for points. If the team successfully completes the colored
obstacle, it earns the points assigned to that obstacle points from #2 to
#7 are indicated by the number of the obstacle in the closing sequence .
The order in which reds are performed is up to the handler as is which
colored obstacle is performed after the red; the handler can choose to
take the same colored obstacle after each red. Each red may be taken only
once. So the opening sequence is one red, one color, another red, another
color, and so on. At the Starters Snooker level only, one combination
obstacle and a maximum of three reds are allowed. The closing sequence
starts when the team has performed or attempted all the red jumps
specified by the judge, and has performed a corresponding colored obstacle
after each successfully performed red jump. In the closing the team
performs all of the colored obstacles in the numerical sequence indicated
by their point value #2, then #3, and so on through #7 . The closing ends
when an obstacle is faulted, an obstacle is taken out of sequence, the #7
obstacle is performed, or time runs out. Standard Snooker Configuration 2
Yellow 7 Black 1 Reds 1 6 Pink 5 Blue 4 Brown 3 Green 1 1 Modified Snooker
Configuration 2 Yellow 7 Black 6 Pink 5 Blue 4 Brown 3 Green 1 Reds 1 1 2
as “colored obstacles” or “pointed obstacles” and are valued at 2
to 7 points. There are two Snooker conﬁgurations you might see. The one
I’ve used for my course is a modiﬁed Snooker conﬁguration. In this
conﬁguration the reds are positioned farther away from the higher
pointed #6 and #7 obstacles. The other type is the standard Snooker
configuration. In this type the reds are in the “snooker position” or
closer to the higher numbers, farther away from the beginning of the end
sequence. Figures 1 and 2 show standard and modiﬁed Snooker courses.
Snooker has two parts: an opening and a closing. In the opening teams must
complete or attempt the required number of reds as they try to earn as many
points as possible. Each successful red attempt earns the team a free pass
to attempt an additional colored Advanced/Masters Snooker T h e numbered
obstacles can also be combinations as seen with obstacles #6 and #7 in
Figure 3, my Advanced/PII Snooker Course from the DASH Dog Agility Sports
of Houston trial held on June 25, 2006. The Advanced/PII level can have
the same challenges as the Masters/PIII level. The difference between
Masters and Advanced lies in the time allowed and the titling requirement
of Super-Qs at the Masters level only. Since Snooker is a game of
strategy, the running order is decided by random draw, including the order
that each height will Clean Run | January 07 Snooker Basics S n o o k e r
is a timed game involving a minimum of nine obstacles. Colored ﬂags the
colors were taken from the billiards game with numbers or marker cones are
used to denote an obstacle’s point value. There are always at least three
jumps marked with red #1 ﬂags or cones. These are called “reds” even
if there is no colored ﬂag and just a #1 cone is used to mark each jump.
As many as ﬁve reds, worth 1 point each, are allowed on course. The other
obstacles on course that have point values are referred to 62 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