Clean Run - February 2011 - 7

Everything you always wanted to know about agility
By Brenna Fender At a recent agility trial, I saw on the trial summary reports that only a small percentage of dogs qualified in each class. Does AKC or any organization track how many dogs Q on each course? And does this information affect course design for any of the agility organizations? Would having Q-rate information help handlers train differently or more effectively? A representative for the American Kennel Club (AKC) says while qualifying percentage information is recorded, it is not used in the course design process. The AKC is not looking to reach a “qualifying quota.” AKC agility is designed specifically to be “for all breeds,” so course design and other regulations are created with the idea of encouraging breed variety at trials. But statistics aren’t really a factor in this. The United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA) also records qualifying rates and reports them in the event results section of their website, but does not use those statistics for course design purposes. USDAA president Kenneth Tatsch says, “USDAA has a definitive set of guidelines for course design that provide direction for judges in designing courses to achieve certain qualitative attributes in performance (for example, timing of movement in a change of side where poor timing could result in a penalty to some degree, whether it be loss of time, a refusal, or wrong course).” He says that these guidelines were developed over time and with research that helped determine the desirable goals that demonstrate physical agility and competitive skills at each level. “Each level is designed to prepare for the next level in a natural progression,” says Tatsch. The North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC) does not keep statistics of this kind at all. President Sharon Nelson says, “NADAC does not keep any stats on qualifying percentages and we do not have any qualifying quotas. We have found that a course might be very difficult in one area of the country and very doable in a different area. All parts of the country have their strengths and weaknesses, so that will change a qualifying rate just by whether a course has tests that are strengths for the training in that area or if the tests identify a weakness in that area. NADAC judges do not design their own courses; they are created by a course design team and those courses are never designed for any particular area nor are they assigned by any particular tests or trial area. NADAC breaks down the country into 10 different zones and a set of courses are used once in each zone and then are retired.” The Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA) also does not track this data.
Do you have a question about agility rules or anything else agility related? Mail your questions to Brenna Fender: brennafender@gmail.com Brenna collects the questions and forwards them to us so we never see the names.

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Dogs on Course in North America closely examines Q-rates at their trials and uses them for research purposes. Unusual qualifying rates might prompt questions about how the course was set or other factors. There is no qualifying quota or expected Q-rate at DOCNA events. The Canadian Kennel Club also reports recording some qualifying data but does not use it in course design decisions. Teacup Dog Agility Association board member Jeff Boyer reports the same for TDAA: “TDAA has all of the information needed to compile the statistics for the various classes but does not do any specific analysis to determine if rule changes are appropriate or to determine the variation in difficulty in the same class from judge to judge. In fact, there is no expectation of a certain Q-rate.” The Agility Association of Canada (AAC) has a similar policy: “The AAC does keep some statistics, based on the submitted results, for individual dogs and titles earned. These statistics can be broken down by breed and by region but the overall qualifying runs to total runs ratio (Q-rate) is not one that the organization currently tracks,” says president Cindy Swiney. All judges are expected to uphold the course design and judging standards of their governing organization. While there may be some judges who always include the maximum number of allowed course challenges and some that use the minimum, it’s hard to objectively determine whether one judge is harder than another, with or without the use of Q-rates. Qualifying rates are a problematic way of measuring the quality of course design. There are many other factors that can affect Q-rates, including handler and dog skills, which tend to vary by region, competition surface type, and obstacle appearance. For training, it’s likely you’d be better served by reading course design rules and studying courses directly.

NOTE: While it is not permissible to make copies of Clean Run magazine, we wish to give readers permission to make copies of this particular column for personal use. This means you are free to share copies of this column with students, friends, or club members. The information may also be included in not-for-profit newsletters as long as credit is given to Clean Run. February 11 | Clean Run 7



Clean Run - February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2011

Clean Run - February 2011
Contents
Editorializing: When Is Enough Enough?
Tip of the Month
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Agility…
Backyard Dogs
Balance in Training
Challenges at CR Central
Bloopers
You Know Your Dog Is Aggressive If... Part 4
Challenges for Rising Stars
Helpful Tips for Running a Great Trial
Early Takeoff: A Program for Managing the Problem
Ready, Set, Trial! How to Find and Enter Trials
How Overtraining Affects Us and Our Dogs
Agility Organization Leaders, Part 2
Instructing Outside the Box: Handling Games to Get Students Thinking and Having Fun
NADAC Tunnelers Strategy and Tips
Sera’s Story: Musings from An Agility Journey
Shelter Champs: Panic
Clean Run - February 2011 - Clean Run - February 2011
Clean Run - February 2011 - 2
Clean Run - February 2011 - Contents
Clean Run - February 2011 - 4
Clean Run - February 2011 - Editorializing: When Is Enough Enough?
Clean Run - February 2011 - Tip of the Month
Clean Run - February 2011 - Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Agility…
Clean Run - February 2011 - Backyard Dogs
Clean Run - February 2011 - 9
Clean Run - February 2011 - 10
Clean Run - February 2011 - 11
Clean Run - February 2011 - Balance in Training
Clean Run - February 2011 - 13
Clean Run - February 2011 - 14
Clean Run - February 2011 - 15
Clean Run - February 2011 - Challenges at CR Central
Clean Run - February 2011 - 17
Clean Run - February 2011 - 18
Clean Run - February 2011 - Bloopers
Clean Run - February 2011 - 20
Clean Run - February 2011 - 21
Clean Run - February 2011 - You Know Your Dog Is Aggressive If... Part 4
Clean Run - February 2011 - 23
Clean Run - February 2011 - 24
Clean Run - February 2011 - 25
Clean Run - February 2011 - 26
Clean Run - February 2011 - 27
Clean Run - February 2011 - 28
Clean Run - February 2011 - 29
Clean Run - February 2011 - Challenges for Rising Stars
Clean Run - February 2011 - 31
Clean Run - February 2011 - 32
Clean Run - February 2011 - 33
Clean Run - February 2011 - 34
Clean Run - February 2011 - Helpful Tips for Running a Great Trial
Clean Run - February 2011 - 36
Clean Run - February 2011 - 37
Clean Run - February 2011 - Early Takeoff: A Program for Managing the Problem
Clean Run - February 2011 - 39
Clean Run - February 2011 - 40
Clean Run - February 2011 - 41
Clean Run - February 2011 - 42
Clean Run - February 2011 - 43
Clean Run - February 2011 - 44
Clean Run - February 2011 - Ready, Set, Trial! How to Find and Enter Trials
Clean Run - February 2011 - 46
Clean Run - February 2011 - How Overtraining Affects Us and Our Dogs
Clean Run - February 2011 - 48
Clean Run - February 2011 - 49
Clean Run - February 2011 - 50
Clean Run - February 2011 - 51
Clean Run - February 2011 - 52
Clean Run - February 2011 - Agility Organization Leaders, Part 2
Clean Run - February 2011 - 54
Clean Run - February 2011 - 55
Clean Run - February 2011 - 56
Clean Run - February 2011 - 57
Clean Run - February 2011 - 58
Clean Run - February 2011 - 59
Clean Run - February 2011 - Instructing Outside the Box: Handling Games to Get Students Thinking and Having Fun
Clean Run - February 2011 - 61
Clean Run - February 2011 - 62
Clean Run - February 2011 - 63
Clean Run - February 2011 - 64
Clean Run - February 2011 - 65
Clean Run - February 2011 - NADAC Tunnelers Strategy and Tips
Clean Run - February 2011 - 67
Clean Run - February 2011 - 68
Clean Run - February 2011 - 69
Clean Run - February 2011 - 70
Clean Run - February 2011 - 71
Clean Run - February 2011 - Sera’s Story: Musings from An Agility Journey
Clean Run - February 2011 - 73
Clean Run - February 2011 - 74
Clean Run - February 2011 - 75
Clean Run - February 2011 - 76
Clean Run - February 2011 - 77
Clean Run - February 2011 - Shelter Champs: Panic
Clean Run - February 2011 - 79
Clean Run - February 2011 - 80
Clean Run - February 2011 - 81
Clean Run - February 2011 - 82
Clean Run - February 2011 - 83
Clean Run - February 2011 - 84
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