Thoughts on AKC?

[Sharon]

Akc

And you Q faster in AKC too... unless you were doing the "short" NADAC route. I wasn't. I was doing the long route aka getting 10 q's per level.[/QUOTE]

 

[Sharon]

Akc

And you Q faster in AKC too... unless you were doing the "short" NADAC route. I wasn't. I was doing the long route aka getting 10 q's per level.

[/QUOTE]

You Q faster in AKC ???????????????Really I don't think so.And maybe where you are AKC people are rude but not where I am.I will say yes there may be a couple but nothing like what you say.

 

[Calliesmom]

I started out in NADAC (I ran that for my first full year), so let me see if I can answer anything no one else has.



Yes you can move up during the weekend. You just have to turn in the paperwork before the evening is over.

Some comparisons.

NADAC is VERY strict about leash rules in the ring and you don't remove the leash until they say "okay".
AKC, many people bring the dogs in off-leash and when AKC says "ready", they expect you to start running or lead-out, NOT remove the lead (me and a few of my friends got dirty looks when we did that at one of our first AKC trials).





I also remember you talking about not being able to memorize a course. On the upside, in AKC, you have winged jumps to help you discern one jump from another. Also in Jumpers (w/weaves), you also have weaves and tunnels to help you remember where you're going. You also get a course map. Yup, your very own (not sure if you get them now in NADAC, but here they don't).

And lastly, IMHO, the AKC groups of people are a bit more unfriendly. Don't get me wrong, their are a ton of nice people, but at AKC trials, their a bit more rude. Whenever I go to an ASCA/NADAC trial, I always sigh a relief at how nice the people are. So, if you know anyone running AKC, I would see if you can talk them into going with you. It also helps with the stranger type of rules. It was weird to me to go to AKC and "meet" very standoffish people.

If you choose to do AKC, let me know and I can point out the biggie rules that may not be in the rulebook.

Since I'm probably the only person that did NADAC pretty heavily here (and am doing AKC now), ask away and I can answer what I can.
(granted, I can only give you a west coast idea of how things are here, things could be very different there)

I have done NADAC and AKC too. not too many trials yet though.
but at the AKC trials that I have been to, you must enter and exit the ring with your dog on leash- which is the same as at Nadac trials.
Lots of AKC people tug on the leash with their dogs- don't do that at a Nadac trial. falls under toys in/near ring- not allowed.

I have not taken leash off any dog until the go/ok signal. haven't gotten any flack from that.

I will say that at the Nadac trials- it seems to be more about fun and less about competition while AKC seems to be more competitive which I guess can be construed as rudeness.

 

[k9kreationz]

You Q faster in AKC ???????????????Really I don't think so.And maybe where you are AKC people are rude but not where I am.I will say yes there may be a couple but nothing like what you say.

Lemme rephrase that. You can title faster in AKC.
And yes, you do. In NADAC, the short route is 3 Q's. The long route is 10 Q's. Most people I have met, move out of Novice/Open pretty fast in AKC. In NADAC, most people took the long route, which meant they moved up much slower.

And again, as for AKC and the people, that was my experience. No other venue treated me so poorly as a novice runner (and it wasn't just the workers).

 

[k9kreationz]

I have done NADAC and AKC too. not too many trials yet though.
but at the AKC trials that I have been to, you must enter and exit the ring with your dog on leash- which is the same as at Nadac trials.
Lots of AKC people tug on the leash with their dogs- don't do that at a Nadac trial. falls under toys in/near ring- not allowed.
.

Just to cite the rules....
In NADAC and AKC, you must enter and exit with the lead on. However, in NADAC, you canNOT remove the leash until the judge says "good luck". In AKC however, once you're inside, you can remove the lead immediately. e.g. I walk in carrying Koji, lead on. As I walk to the leash runner, I remove the leash then hand it to the runner. I set up Koji and wait until I get the "ready". If I did that in NADAC, I'd be E'd immediately (but usually someone would have said something by that point).

I hope that made sense.

I have not taken leash off any dog until the go/ok signal. haven't gotten any flack from that.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I got dirty looks about the whole "ready" leash bit. I'm sure by the time I ran as a novice, everyone was tired, grouchy, and ready to go home. I'm also wasting time by waiting to remove the leash when they say "ready" versus just leading out or running. Who knows. I think a judge had told me at a different trial that we can remove the leash as soon as we enter the ring and the "ready" means to lead-out/run.

I will say that at the Nadac trials- it seems to be more about fun and less about competition while AKC seems to be more competitive which I guess can be construed as rudeness

In my experience, it seems like AKC people are just more negatively verbal about how they feel about another person's run. Maybe I should express it that way versus saying AKC people are more rude.

 

[Sharon]

Akc

Lemme rephrase that. You can title faster in AKC.
And yes, you do. In NADAC, the short route is 3 Q's. The long route is 10 Q's. Most people I have met, move out of Novice/Open pretty fast in AKC. In NADAC, most people took the long route, which meant they moved up much slower.

You can title faster in AKC? Really????????????? I beg to differ with you!!People go through dry spells where they can't get a Q if there life depended on it so no you can't. If you make a mistake drop a bar no Q.Novice is aloud 2 mistakes and Open 1 mistake and Excellent A if you have the slow dog you are allowed a time fault.Excellent B no mistakes.To bad you have had to deal with snotty people but I find that in all venues.

 

[Sharon]

Akc

In my experience, it seems like AKC people are just more negatively verbal about how they feel about another person's run. Maybe I should express it that way versus saying AKC people are more rude.[/QUOTE]

AKC people also compete in other venues so if they are rude there I would imagine they would also be rude in the other venues.JMO!!!

 

[k9kreationz]

You can title faster in AKC? Really????????????? I beg to differ with you!!People go through dry spells where they can't get a Q if there life depended on it so no you can't. If you make a mistake drop a bar no Q.Novice is aloud 2 mistakes and Open 1 mistake and Excellent A if you have the slow dog you are allowed a time fault.Excellent B no mistakes.To bad you have had to deal with snotty people but I find that in all venues.

Thank you for making my point perfectly Sharon. In AKC you can HAVE mistakes. You can't in NADAC, not even in Novice. And there are definitely no time faults; if you're over, you don't Q, at any level. Therefore, moving up in AKC is easier.

As for people, I agree. If they're snotty at an AKC trial, they probably are at other trials and it's just those people. Which could just be my area. I have gotten more negativity from that venue overall. But, I have also met some wonderful people too.

We can agree to disagree, but you're not going to change my mind. AKC is overall easier to title in, IMHO. And that's all it is, my opinion. And people are people...it could be a regional thing, but again, this is what I've experienced so you can't really say I'm wrong, but I could be the exception, not the norm.

 

[3Stars]

Sorry - double post - please see below.

 

[3Stars]

Thank you for making my point perfectly Sharon. In AKC you can HAVE mistakes. You can't in NADAC, not even in Novice. And there are definitely no time faults; if you're over, you don't Q, at any level. Therefore, moving up in AKC is easier.

k9kreationz is correct - in NADAC proficient level (whether novice, open, or elite), if you are over time, go off course, drop a bar, miss a contact, take a step toward your dog when you lead out, or make any other error, you don't Q. Even at the novice level, there are multiple obstacle discrimination challenges (at my very first trial, at the novice level, every single course had between 3 - 4 obstacle discrimination challenges. Apparently this was a more challenging course than average, but it was still considered an appropriate novice course). Course times are also much faster - for example, in NADAC, the open course standard time is 3.25 yps, in AKC it is 2.65 yps. While all of the above are obvious challenges, I am sure AKC also offers challenges which will improve our handling skills - I'm looking forward to working on tight turns, for example. I think every venue has something to offer which will make a team more competitive - if I could compete in CKC, NADAC, USDAA, AKC, and AAC I would - but my finances won't allow it.

Starr is used to all of the AKC obstacles - I have access to an agility yard which sets up a variety of AKC, USDAA, and AAC courses, so he would have no problem with the equipment. I appreciate the "heads up" about retiming the FC/RC - I'm out of town right now, but when I get back that will be on my "to do" list.

I'm much better at memorizing courses (I'm super impressed that you remembered, k9kreationz!) - I've only gotten lost once, and it was on the last run of an extremely hot day - I think I was actually suffering from heat stroke. I still stress out about memorizing the course, but so far it's been okay.

No matter the organization/sport, snotty competitors annoy me greatly, and it would be a factor on whether I stayed with an organization or not. Luckily I travel with a friend who has a good head on her shoulders, so that should hopefully keep me in a good place mentally. I don't have much time/patience for snobbery - if I'm travelling that far, and spending that much money, I want to enjoy myself .

Again, I appreciate all of the input - thank you all so much.