Clean Run - June 2017 - 29

As the future of the sport, it is imperative that we invest in this population of competitors,
so among other ideas, consider lower entry fees for juniors for trials and seminars alike.
And of course, re-examining the competition systems we currently have in the US, with an aim
to evolve and grow the sport rather than let it stagnate, is going to make all the difference
over the next 10 to 20 years of US agility's progression
compete. That is to say, if you're talented
enough to be at the event then you only
really need a car that can traverse a few
hundred miles at most. This isn't always
the case in the US. A year when AKC
Nationals is held in Reno, Nevada is going to attract different competitors than a
year when the same event is held in Perry, Georgia (or Tulsa, Oklahoma, or Lexington, Virginia, and so on). Crossing a
country (or even half of a country) that is
3.797 million square miles is costly. Plane
tickets are expensive, but so is the time
required to take off of work (or school),
and it is not always feasible. So we pick
and we choose; sometimes we pick and
choose venues and other times we pick
and choose location. But as a result of
this we rarely get the chance to compete
against the entire range of our country's
talent. This is an issue as growth begins
with competitors pushing each other
forward. In order for that to happen we
must compete.

Instruction and Coaching
Quality of instruction and/or coaching
within agility can clearly be impacted by
location as noted above. While online
classes are a great opportunity for individuals without local instruction, or for those
who want to work with an instructor they
don't live close to, access to quality, inperson coaching can be invaluable. Again,
the UK appears to have a geographical
advantage over the US in this capacity.
Any coaching available within the UK is
relatively easy to access by anyone who
lives there. On the other hand, the diversity in instruction that is inherent to a
country as large as the US is also advantageous. With this diversity come fresh
ideas and creativity in problem solving.
It isn't always clear when weighing these
two pros-ease of travel versus more diverse coaching-which has a more solid
advantage over the other. More clear-cut,
however, is examining dog agility instruction from a financial perspective.
June 17 | Clean Run

Dog agility in the UK is cheap. One
competition run typically costs £3 to
£6 (currently a bit less than $4 to $8).
That's compared to one US competition run that can range from $10 to $25.
Moreover, instructor income is not that
of those in the US. Where instructors
can earn anywhere from $600 to $2000
for one day of teaching (generally 7
hours) in the US, instructors in the UK
typically average £200 to £400 (currently
around $250 to $500) per day (generally
6 hours). While there is nothing wrong
with paying instructors for their time, it
isn't difficult to understand that higher
coaching fees mean that fewer people will
have access to the instruction. Conversely, lower coaching fees make instruction
more accessible. When instruction is
more accessible competitors tend to be
more successful.

Event Size and Season
If you've ever attended a national competition in the US, you know attendance
is through the roof at an event like this.
Now picture that every weekend. Whether it is a local or national event, a large
portion of shows in the UK have so many
competitors in attendance that typically
six to ten rings are needed. There are exceptions of course; smaller venues or unaffiliated shows don't usually get this big.
But when the main show season begins
you can reliably expect this type of event
every weekend.
The main show season? US agility
competitors can probably individually
identify with a show season, but the best
time to trial in Florida (i.e., winter, when
temperatures are just bearable) is not the
same as the best time to trial in a northeastern state (i.e., presumably summer
when it isn't freezing and/or snowing like
all of the time). Our country is huge! The
weather varies. It would be impossible
to have one show season for every state.
But consider UK weather: sure it's a lot of
rain pretty much everywhere, but that's

just it, it's relatively consistent everywhere.
As a result the show season is consistent
for all competitors, meaning training
programs for both humans and canines
can be set up relatively uniformly to sync
up to national events.

Competition (Sport)
Geography, coaching, and when and how
events are put on are all major factors
that come together to affect one main
outcome: competition.
I have only lived in Wales a short time. I
have only been to a handful of dog agility events. But what I have seen among
British competitors is something we are
lacking in many areas of US dog agility: sport-like competition. Now, we are
dedicated to our sport in the US, and
more and more I observe US competitors taking initiatives to become stronger
and more skilled. However, it is still
rare to see consistency in competitive
atmosphere. Certain pockets of US agility do possess this type of competitiveness and sportsmanship. Often these
are geographical pockets that have been
born out of the availability of specific
resources. This might look like access to
instructors who facilitate efficiency and
speed among students, or it may look like
a large and active agility community with
massive trial attendance during the show
season (and thus more inherent competition among competitors).
But the US is at a disadvantage here.
Naturally, in states that have underdeveloped dog agility programs, competitor
growth is going to happen more slowly.
But what we in the US must realize is
that we have to be smarter about how
we share information across the nation.
A smaller country like the UK, with the
right resources, is better set up to share
those resources among competitors than
is a spread out nation such as the US.
Supporting this culture of competition in
the UK are the organizations, the com29

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - June 2017