Clean Run Magazine - April 2007 - 7

Everything you always wanted to know about agility but were to ask afraid By Brenna Fender ? My friends have told me that the AKC has rules about which clothes I can wear in the ring? What are those rules and do NADAC and USDAA have similar ones? According to an AKC representative, an agility competitor is not allowed to display the name of a person or a person’s dog or titles on clothes worn while in the ring. Advertising is also not allowed on clothing worn by competitors or ring crew. This applies to all advertising, whether it is agility-related or not. Clothing that displays profanity or other writing that is in poor taste may not be worn. Club shirts may be worn, and exhibitors may wear clothing that includes a picture of their dogs. The full clothing policy is available online at www.akc.org/events/ agility/clothing_policy.cfm. NADAC representative Becky Woodruff says, “NADAC has no restrictions as long as the clothing being worn is in good taste.” USDAA representative Heather Smith says, “USDAA doesn’t have restrictions on clothing worn in the ring except when the tournaments are being run. No business logo, signs, symbols, or names may be displayed while in the ring competing in a tournament. This [restriction] is to protect any USDAA sponsor.” Competitors who find themselves out of compliance with a clothing rule while at a trial can take simple steps to solve the problem. They can cover the offending word or words with an armband sticker or a piece of duct tape, or they can turn the shirt inside out. Can you explain the NADAC Chances class, Double Shot, and Bonus Box? 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. Dogs that earned Gamblers points after January 1, 2004, but before the change on August 1, 2005, automatically received an extra 10 points in the last level in which they had qualified. Some trials may choose to offer a Double Shot of Tunnelers, Weavers, or Touch N Go. A Double Shot course is a normal course with a tunnel or two after the finish that leads back to the start of the course. Handlers who register for Double Shot send their dogs through the tunnel(s) and complete the course a second time. Each round of the class is judged separately. A dog can qualify in both rounds and earn two qualifiers. A fault in one round results in a non-qualifying score for that round only. Competitors can enter only one round of the class if they choose, and in that case they run the class without sending their dog through a second time. The Bonus Box is an optional challenge that a judge may add to any course except Chances. It is a distance, directional, and discrimination challenge similar to (but more difficult than) the distance challenge that is part of the Regular class. Handlers who attempt and succeed at the Bonus Box during an unfaulted run earn 15 points for their qualifying score instead of 10. More NADAC regulations can be found at http://nadac.com/ Rules_for_NADAC_trials.htm. Since I often lose track of my dog’s qualifying scores earned in USDAA, how do I make sure my records are correct? The NADAC Chances class leads to a Gamblers certification. The course consists of 10 to 15 obstacles in a sequence. At the Elite level, the course includes a distance test, a discrimination test, and a directional test. At the Open level the judge selects two tests to be performed, and in Novice the judge chooses only one test. Each test is performed at a specified distance, which increases as a competitor advances through the levels. Each dog has 40 seconds to complete the course without faults to earn a qualifying score. The dog is faulted if he returns across the line once sent for the test sequence, and the handler earns a fault if she steps on the line during the test. The class is pass/fail, so there are no placements given. For every clean run under time, teams earn 10 points. The Gamblers certification previously required 20 points but now requires 30. The USDAA offers a subscription service that allows competitors to access their dogs’ records online. Information on subscriptions is available from the USDAA website at https://usdaa.com/subscribe.cfm?. Competitors who do not wish to purchase a subscription can buy a competition results report from USDAA’s online store and then keep accurate records in the future. 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. April 07 | Clean Run 7
http://www.akc.org/events/agility/clothing_policy.cfm http://www.akc.org/events/agility/clothing_policy.cfm http://nadac.com/Rules_for_NADAC_trials.htm http://nadac.com/Rules_for_NADAC_trials.htm https://usdaa.com/subscribe.cfm
Clean Run Magazine - April 2007

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