Clean Run - September 2013 - 7

Everything you
always wanted to know
about agility

By Brenna Fender

I am moving my dog from the USDAA Championship division to Performance. We just move straight across, correct? We don’t lose qualifying
scores, do we? Do I have to do anything special besides mark “Performance” on my next entry?
For those unfamiliar with the Championship and Performance
divisions of USDAA agility, these are two “tracks” to getting titles and advancing to harder levels. Championship was
the original track. Performance allows dogs to jump a height
lower than they do in Championship classes, and they have
more time and no spread jumps. Dogs of any age (older than
the USDAA’s minimum of 18 months) may enter in either
program and dogs may be moved back and forth between the
programs during different times in their lives.
In USDAA, you never lose qualifying scores that you have
earned. You may transfer to Performance at or below the same
level you are entering in the Championship program. So, if
your dog competes at the Masters level in USDAA, you can
compete in the PIII level of Performance (or PII or PI if you
prefer). But individual qualifying scores do not come with you
into the Performance program. So if you have 2 legs in Masters Standard, when you move to PIII, you will have no PIII
legs. If you return to Masters at a later date, your qualifying
scores will still be waiting there for you to apply toward a
future title.
What if your dog has some titles in one level and some in another? For example, what if you are in Starters for most of the
classes but you’ve made it into Masters in Jumpers? Well, you
can move to PI for all of your classes except Jumpers and you
can move to PIII in Jumpers, but this actually may not save
you as many entries as you think.
There are two ways to title and move through the levels in
USDAA. A dog may earn 3 legs in each class to complete titles
and move up into each class individually. For example, 3 Starters Standard Agility qualifying scores will lead to the Starters
Standard Agility title. After earning the SSA title, a handler can
move a dog up into Advanced Standard Agility (while staying
in Starters in the other classes until their titles are earned the
same way). Three Advanced Standard Agility legs equals the
ASA title and entrance into the Masters Standard Agility class.
So it takes 15 qualifying scores at the Starters level before a
dog can be completely out of Starters, if the handler proceeds in
this fashion. These same rules apply to the Performance classes.

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.

Another way to move up in USDAA is by earning a Versatility
title (which actually will happen in the process of completing
every individual title as indicated above). The versatility titles
(Agility Dog, Advanced Agility Dog, and Master Agility Dog)
require 3 qualifying scores in the Standard class at the appropriate level and 1 Q from each of the nonstandard classes
(Gamblers, Jumpers, Snooker, and Relay). So, by finishing
only the Versatility titles at each level, a competitor can make
it up to Masters much more quickly (with 7 Qs per level as
opposed to 15).
What does this have to do with moving from Championship to
Performance? Well, let’s go back to our “in Starters for everything except Masters Jumpers” example. You have to transfer
into Performance at the PI level for all your classes except
Jumpers, in which you have the option to start in PIII. If you
do this, that’s fine, but once you qualify in PIII Jumpers, you
may no longer move down to PI Jumpers. This means you will
no longer have the ability to earn the Versatility titles at the
Starters and Advanced levels. The only way you can progress
from Starters to Advanced will be to earn each of the class
titles, which, as you recall, will require 3 qualifying scores a
piece. So even though you jumped ahead in Jumpers, you will
then have a slower path to Masters for the rest of the classes.
If you planned to earn each of the class titles anyway, than this
isn’t a problem. But if you didn’t, you might be unhappy with
your choice.
To move from Masters to Performance, you simply write
down the name of the division you intend to enter on the entry
form. There are no other requirements necessary to switch.
If you need more information on this topic, check out the
USDAA rules online at www.usdaa.com/rulesReg_eBook.cfm
or contact the USDAA office by phone at (972) 487-2200. D

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September 13 | Clean Run

http://www.usdaa.com/rulesReg_eBook.cfm

Clean Run - September 2013

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