Another Year of Agility Has Begun

Silaria

Silaria

Forums Sage
Yesterday was a great day; we started our 2015 agility year with a single day entry in a local CPE trial. It was so much fun to get the dogs out to play a game they both enjoy and to feel that connection when working together as a confident, experienced team.

Edan and I had a fantastic day; 5 runs and 5 Q's. I realized when I got home that we now have accumulated enough Jackpot Q's for our C-ATCH2 and that we haven't NQ'd a Jackpot run since earning our first C-ATCH. That, in and of itself, is a great accomplishment. (For those not familiar with CPE, Jackpot is a distance challenge game similar to Gamblers in USDAA and FAST in AKC. It's rules are similar to Gamblers.) We only need 5 more Standard runs for C-ATCH2 and will most likely earn it later this year.

CJ was 4 for 5 yesterday. She and Glen needed a Standard and Jackpot to finish the requirements for Level 4. Unfortunately the run she NQed was Standard. However, they did Q Jackpot for their CL4-S (CPE Level 4 Strategy Games) title. That title requires 4 Qs each in Snooker and Jackpot. She should wrap up Level 4 in June, the next CPE trial we will be able to attend. Overall she and Glen looked GREAT out there. Their Jumpers, Colors and Wildcard runs were very nice. Jackpot was a little slow (last run of the day) but she stayed with him, followed his lead, and qualified.

Not to bad for the first agility trial since the end of November for both dogs.

Next week is my club's Teacup trial. Back to back agility weekend make this agility addict happy.
 
Congrats on a great weekend outing:yes:

Two back to back weekends of agility by my two clubs have left me very tired:winkgrin:
the loading and unloading process is tough....at least we get help from some of the other competitors.....
 
labgirl said:
Sounds brilliant, a great start to 2015. What is Teacup Agility? Just for very small dogs?
Click to expand...

Teacup agility (TDAA - Teacup Dog Agility Association) is a venue for smaller dog. Officially dogs up to 20 inches can compete though some clubs, due to the size of their facility do not allow dogs over 17 inches. (PLEASE everyone, I know the argument that 20 inch dogs aren't Teacup. Can we please not re-hash it again?) TDAA's mission is to give the small dog and handler team similar experiences the big dog and handler teams have on a full size course. (Basically my 12 inch jump height Sheltie would be a "small dog" in full size venues but is a "big dog" in TDAA. It can be the equivalent of handling a Boarder Collie at times.)

Everything is scaled down from the size of the obstacles to the distance between them. Distances between obstacles average between 8 and 15 feet; 8 feet on straight line jumps, 12 feet on any approach to a contact obstacle, weave poles, and coming out of a tunnel or chute, at least 15 feet for turns such as pinwheels, 180s, etc. Jump heights range from 2 - 16 inches; 2 inch jump heights are reserved for 4 inch dogs with a veteran (7 years old) or body type (long body or dwarf legs) exception

Here is a video of Edan running a Teacup Standard run: http://youtu.be/f_KpfqvYtcI. You can see how scaled everything is.

For me, personally, Teacup has allowed me to sharpen my handling skills because I have to be really on my game to give the proper cues at the proper time otherwise you can be off course before you know it.

I'm also a Judge in the TDAA venue and we strive to put as much flow into the courses as possible. (I've run AKC Jumpers With Weaves courses that are jerkier than many of the TDAA courses I've run. Yes, when Teacup was a newer venue the courses were a bit herky-jerky. Since 2011 effort has been make to provide a smooth, flowing course. We can also use things other venues don't permit, such as back-side approaches and threadles. It really isn't as easy a venue as it sounds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top