Dogs on the Run dot net

I thought it was cold on Saturday! It was 32 degrees on Sunday morning, and it took a long time for the sun to come out. Extra brrrr!

Sunday Ken and Jolt had no Qs, though he got through his opening in Snooker and through 4, and then timed out, with 34 points. Ken’s goal for snooker was not to be whistled off the course, so that was good. And I’m the snooker queen, so I can criticize, right?

Genie sat in the van all day Sunday and finally ran Snooker and then Jumpers. She was quite full of herself. After her Snooker run in which she said “no” to the weaves after several attempts to enter them and ran into a tunnel, she and I played with her monkey on a stick for a while, but she was still running some of her own course in jumpers. She was happy, and really was a good girl. No hurry for a baby dog.

Jig was awesome all weekend. Both days he sat ringside for long periods with me with nothing in his mouth except occasional cheese that I gave him for looking at a dog and then at me. He was calm – for Jig. Being first in our jump height really helped, too. The whole experience at the trial was fantastic for him.

Jig did beautifully in his snooker run on Sunday. I opened with a jump to the weaves (12), which were right next to a tunnel. A little tough getting into the weaves, and he popped at 11, but got him back in and got that 7. We then got the rest of the opening and through 6, for a second place Q. Read more…

In an email discussion list I’m on, I’ve recently answered some questions about my favorite agility venue and would like to share this info. So here is my USDAA FAQ – which may be added to as more comes up.

Q. With what I can read on the USDAA website, it looks like the dogs run “naked”. At least the people get to wear their clothes. Also looks like USDAA runs all “Starters” together without “A” and “B” classes.I couldn’t find the definition of a Q in the rules, just info about faults and the number of obstacles at different levels. There’s a fault listed as “touching the base of the wishing well”. What is that? Dogs jump through an obstacle that looks like a wishing well? That’s kinda scary.Is there a lot of competition to get into USDAA trials like there used to be for AKC trials?

Is there any etiquette that we need to know about that’s different from AKC, UKC or NADAC? If my dog gets too wild n crazy, may I ask the judge to leave? Speaking of wild n crazy, if my dog is his “usual” self on the agility course, would we get whistled off for lack of control?

A. Do read those rules! But don’t get too crazy with them. The performance criteria change for each level. You’ll be out of starters pretty quick.

Some quick answers:

Yes, the dogs run naked. Collar = elimination. Outta there. Sometimes they whistle you off immediately, and sometimes they don’t. But if they see the collar you are out. They do appreciate it if handlers are clothed, however. Read more…