Akc, ukc, nadac, usdaa?

[Phebe*DD]

What are the pros and cons of the different agility associations? I was reading a recent blog entry by Bud Houston and he was quite complimentary of the approach taken by NADAC, because of their emphasis on fairness to the dog and safety. It made me start to think that might be the venue for me and Phebe.

Here's a link to Bud's blog -- Reintroduced to NADAC

Thoughts?

 

[danisgoat]

Did you ever hear for DOCNA? We went to a DOCNA trial last year and loved it! I think it stand for Dog on course agility.

 

[Silaria]

My agility club is a member club for USDAA, NADAC, CPE, and TDAA. From what I've been able to tell, each club has its own pros and cons.

TDAA (Teacup Dog Agility Association) is unique in that it is limited to dogs under 17 inches. It's goal is to provide the same agility experience to small dogs that larger dogs receive on a standard course in other venues. Smaller rings, equipment, and distance between obstacles all add to this experience. (I'll tell you, it's a bit mind boggling to be in a venue where a 14.5" Sheltie is classified a "large" dog.) It's a BLAST and I highly recommend it to anyone.

CPE (Canine Performance Events) is the other venue I currently compete in. CPE's advantage is that it is structures for the new agility handler and/or dog to have success early on. In CPE Level 1 no weave poles or the Teeter are used. (Level 2 introduces the Teeter and 6 weaves.) This venue often comes highly recommended for someone just starting out.

NADAC (North American Dog Agility Council) I've never competed in but I've been told this is another good venue for starting out in.Beyond that, I really can't say much. I do know NADAC allows 'training in the ring' which can be useful if you want trial experience but aren't quite ready.

USDAA (United States Dog Agility Association) I've also never competed in but I have helped out at trials my club has hosted. Honestly, I find the atmosphere at the USDAA trials to be a lot more stressful than TDAA or CPE. The competitors, at least the ones that come to our trials, are a LOT more serious and some have been downright aggressive if they think they've been "wronged" in any way. This isn't to say USDAA isn't a good trial venue, this is just my experience there. I'll probably enter USDAA this year, since I usually work the trials anyway, for the ring time experience. I'll probably limit my participation to the Games and Jumpers but I'm not sure yet.

AKC is another venue I'll probably try next year. I know my breeder really wants me to run Edan in AKC. Honestly, the only value I see in running AKC over the other venues is if you are planning on breeding your dog because you can show not just that the dog is build properly (assuming Confirmation Championship is achieved) but that it can also perform. In my case, since Edan is neutered, competing in AKC will help my breeder because she can mention any of his AKC titles on her website, once she finishes building it.

I guess it ultimately boils down to what do you want out of your agility experience. I'm mainly in this for fun so as long as we are having a good time, I don't care where we compete.

 

[Justicemom]

Nice sum up.

I can add that UKC is unique and very beginner friendly. Generous course times that focuses on accuracy not speed with lower jumps heights of 8" 14" and 20". Dogs must go on and off the contacts straight or points are lost. No recalls over jumps or putting hands into equipment planes, judge tells you what sides dog can get on table and you can't break plane of the table to get them to sit or down.

They have different epuipment such a hoop tunnel, swing bridge, swing plank, crawl tunnel, pause box(huge PVC ring on the floor), platform jump, window jump and jumps can have plants,flower or decorations instead of bars. Weaves start at AG2. There is a 2ft around the weaves, pause box and platform jump in AG2 that you can't cross. The box is 6ft in AG3.So your dog must know distance.

I found it very fun and relaxed.

 

[corbinam]

USDAA (United States Dog Agility Association) I've also never competed in but I have helped out at trials my club has hosted. Honestly, I find the atmosphere at the USDAA trials to be a lot more stressful than TDAA or CPE. The competitors, at least the ones that come to our trials, are a LOT more serious and some have been downright aggressive if they think they've been "wronged" in any way. This isn't to say USDAA isn't a good trial venue, this is just my experience there. I'll probably enter USDAA this year, since I usually work the trials anyway, for the ring time experience. I'll probably limit my participation to the Games and Jumpers but I'm not sure yet.

I only have experience in USDAA, but I know a lot of people who do both USDAA and AKC. I agree (based on what I've seen and heard) that USDAA is more competitive. People are a lot more serious about winning when you get to the Masters ring.

That being said, there are a ton of nice people and the "competitive edge" dissipates almost entirely in starters. I've only seen a couple snarky people and they were all in the masters ring...and it came during qualifying runs for regionals/nationals like Steeplechase and Grand Prix.

I have heard that USDAA is "harder" than AKC, which may be true as far as jump heights, I can't speak to that myself since we only do USDAA. I have seen dogs that I think aren't as good as Bentley and they are doing really well in AKC, but who knows.

 

[k9kreationz]

I've only done one NADAC trial so anything I'm about to say comes from my trainer.

She suggested I start with NADAC for a handful of reasons.
1. You can train in the ring w/o getting penalized (depending on how much and what it is).
2. No refusals (a dog can refuse an object w/o getting penalized, so you can do it again and still Q)
3. It's fast (as the guy in the blog said, it's set up so you can run full speed and have fun)
4. She feels (aka less stress) its more fun than AKC/USDAA (which is what she typically competes in).
5. In standard, there's no table, teeter, and chute (I think). I can't recall if there's a tire.
6. overall, an easier venue to begin with as it's lower stress, more fun, and my dog can continue to work on teeter, chute, table while I still compete.

One reason I'm bummed about USDAA is the jump heights. they're trying to get them to add another height because one of the ranges is too large. i.e. my dog (at 17.5") jumps the same height as her small lab (21"). We'd both have to jump 22". A bit extreme for my dog (and could potentially harm him over time). So I'd have to run him performance to bring down the jump height to 16".

So far though, I really liked NADAC as a beginners course. I could see myself staying in there for another year while I get more experience and training under my belt. I'd like to move to AKC and USDAA later on when Koji is good with all pieces of equipment.

I'm also thinking about trying CPE, since their novice doesn't have the teeter. I just need to work on his chute issues.

 

[Sharon]

Agility

I prefer AKC and USDAA and have done some NADAC. Shadow has a few titles in NADAC and a few in USDAA.I do agree that AKC is very boring as they only have the 3 classes but not all the trials have the FAST class and then the new one comming out Time to Beat.AKC is also expensive.

 

[Phebe*DD]

You've all given me a lot to think about. Because Phebe is fast, fast, fast, NADAC or CPE might be a good place to start her. I think the chances of success starting out would be better for both of us. I'm not exaggerating about her speed. She loves to go fast and I usually do about 30 minutes of nonstop, long-distance fetch with a tennis ball just before class, so that she is tired enough to focus on me.