Clean Run - November 2016 - 7

Everything you
always wanted to know
about agility

By Brenna Fender

The Chute Has Been Eliminated from Use in Nearly Every USA and
International Agility Organization
Agility competitors are bidding farewell to the chute, an obstacle
that has come under fire recently for its role in causing various
canine injuries. While most organizations haven't declared a permanent ban at this time, organizers are calling for a major redesign before reinstatement.
AKC, ASCA, CPE, DOCNA, TDAA, UKI, and USDAA, as
well as international event organizations WAO and IFCS, have
all stated they will remove the chute (at least temporarily) from
use. The FCI has not yet made an announcement regarding the
chute, but the FCI is an organization made from a group of country representatives and decisions like this must go before the FCI
central board, so it may take some time.
The UKC has not eliminated the chute at this time. A representative says, "We will address the safety of this obstacle along with
the regularly scheduled agility revisions for 2017. Dogs are vulnerable to injury on any agility obstacle. Potential accidents or injuries involving the chute are equal to any of the other obstacles on
a UKC agility course. The UKC course times, judging philosophy,
and course requirements are designed to minimize these risks for
all dogs participating." (The full UKC statement is available on the
Clean Run blog at https://cleanrun.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/
united-kennel-club-makes-a-statement-on-use-of-the-chute/.)
North American Dog Agility Council (NADAC) removed the
chute from their list of eligible obstacles many years ago.

2017 AKC Agility Invitational
In 2017, the AKC Agility Invitational and Junior Agility Competition will be held in Orlando, Florida, on December 15-17, 2017.
The Invitational has made this site its home for several years and
shares the facility with many other AKC and dog-related activities that weekend.

NADAC News
* NADAC's 2017 National Championships will be held in
Springfield, Illinois, from September 28 to October 1. Qualification requirements can be found at https://nadacnews.
com/2016/09/17/2017-nadac-championships.
* NADAC has created a Beginners Agility Handbook which is
available at http://www.nadac.com/docs/Beginners_Agility

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.

_Handbook2016.pdf. It explains the program, which, according to the handbook, is designed for the purpose of demonstrating "the ability of the dog and its handler to perform
many of the basic tests to prepare them for a future agility
career." The program has three levels (each with its own age
requirement) and is judged by a "tester" who is someone the
host club feels "holds the characteristics needed as an evaluator for these tests. This person should be an agility instructor or experienced person within the sport that has excellent
canine evaluation skills so that participants are being tested in
a safe environment. The tester should be able to set up the test
sequences or approve the course if setup by someone else."
* The NADAC Calendar has a new feature: you can now
download premiums directly from the calendar. See http://
nadacnews.com/2016/09/19/nadac-calendar-page.

2017 UKI US Open
The 2017 UKI US Open will be held at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center in Jacksonville, Florida, November 9 -12, 2017. The
organization announces, "The move to the Jacksonville Equestrian Center provides a world class facility for the US Open, great
hotels, and easy access to the beaches and attractions of Florida."

USDAA Regional Championships Announced
The United States Dog Agility Association has announced the
dates and locations of its 2017 regional championships, which
started September 6, 2016 and runs through September 4, 2017.
See www.usdaa.com/events.cfm. D

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.
November 16 | Clean Run

http://www.cleanrun.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/united-kennel-club-makes-a-statement-on-use-of-the-chute/ http://www.cleanrun.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/united-kennel-club-makes-a-statement-on-use-of-the-chute/ http://www.nadacnews.com/2016/09/19/nadac-calendar-page http://www.nadacnews.com/2016/09/19/nadac-calendar-page http://www.nadacnews.com/2016/09/17/2017-nadac-championships http://www.nadacnews.com/2016/09/17/2017-nadac-championships http://www.nadac.com/docs/Beginners_Agility http://www.usdaa.com/events.cfm

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - November 2016