AKC Rule Changes - 2010 and beyond!

I'll be honest, I haven't read them all!! There are many dealing with entries, aggressive dogs, and over various topics that I wouldn't probably ever need. That being said, if you have a dog that, barks at the judge, will run toward a dog at the start line, or any other type of behavior that could be seen as 'aggressive', I'd suggest you read that part of the rule changes.

On to Equipment!! It wasn't clear to me when some of these changes go into effect. I've heard that the table is as of 9/1/10, but not sure about the others.

First off, weave poles! I don't know about you, but I thought they were going to "Require" 24" poles as of 7/1/10, that is NOT the case! (Not until January 1, 2012) So, you might want to stay practiced in those 20"-22" poles!

A-Frame Height - The height of the A-Frame is to be set within 1 inch of 5 feet 6 inches, except for 4-inch and 8-inch jump heights, which shall have the A-Frame set to within 1 inch of 5 feet 0 inches. (I'm not sure when this changes?) I know in USDAA it's rather a hassle and there are times it's not changed, although their height isn't this low. If you're the first dog up in a class that (has or had) a varied A-Frame height, please be sure you're looking!

Dog Walk - It appears that the up contact on the dog walk will not be judged. I'm sure this is due to so many running dog walks now a days! It's almost impossible to be at both ends. This does NOT apply to the Teeter however, so you must hit the up side there.

Table (I can hear some of you cheering NOW!!!)

The dog shall pause on the table for five cumulative seconds. The judge’s count shall
start once all four (4) paws have touched the table (and the dog remains on the table top). Neither a sit or a down position shall be required.

Tire Jump’s height shall be set one jump height lower than the Bar Jump height, with the exception of the 4-inch jumping dog.
I'
Tire Jump Height vs. Bar Jump Height
4 Inches 4 Inches
4 Inches 8 Inches
8 Inches 12 Inches
12 Inches 16 Inches
16 Inches 20 Inches
20 Inches 24 Inches
24 Inches 26 Inches



Standard Course Times - The 8" and 24" divisions will see a slight increase in SCTs.

o 8-inch Division: 1.85 yards per second, plus 5 seconds for the Pause Table
o 12-inch Division: 2.0 yards per second, plus 5 seconds for the Pause Table
o 16-inch Division: 2.15 yards per second, plus 5 seconds for the Pause Table
o 20-inch Division: 2.25 yards per second, plus 5 seconds for the Pause Table
o 24-inch Division: 2.20 yards per second, plus 5 seconds for the Pause Table
o 26-inch Divisions: 2.25 yards per second, plus 5 seconds for the Pause Table

Placements for 1st and 2nd place will no longer have multipliers as of 7/1/11. That makes perfect sense to me, as those dogs more than likely don't need the points. It might have been fun to give multipliers to the bottom two dogs in the class? Those are probably the ones that need them!

There as also new titles being added in the future, life time achievement titles, etc. That's something you'll want to follow up on if you're interested. There are 61 pages of material to sort through. I think I've hit most of the highlights!

USDAA Rule Changes! July 1st and after...

The weave pole requirements are the biggest change! It's the one that most people were hoping for, so it's nice to see that the Board was listening.

I heard a rumor that there will be a USDAA Trial in Davenport next March.

Jump Heights for USDAA Championship Classes

Over 21" = 26
21" and under, but over 16" = 22"
Under 16", but over 12" = 16"
12" and Under = 12"

(Performance Classes would be one jump height down)

----------------

The USDAA Board has released the following approved rule changes effective July 1, 2010, unless otherwise stated -

• Weave poles specifications have been expanded to provide for greater tolerance in measure of spacing. It is important to note that existing weave pole sets that meet the 2009 specification will also meet the new specification. Effective immediately, poles shall be set officially at 22" (55cm) spacing when measured center to center, with tolerance in construction permitted of plus or minus 2" (5cm).
  
  
• The tire jump definitioin has been expanded to permit an option to use a "displaceable" tire under a particular set of specifications stated below:
  
  
  • "Displaceable" shall mean that the tire may be separated or displaced upon impact with forces of no less than 18 pounds (18#). Tires that displace or separate with less force are not permitted.
  • For such a design, bungees and other flexible cables shall not be used as it would change the dynamics of the "break" force.
  • The tire components must remain suspended within the frame when separated or displaced so as not to have flying debris that could cause injury to the dog or handler.
  • When the tire is displaced or separated, a penalty of five standard fault points shall be assessed.
  • Other designs for displaceable tire jumps may be permitted provided designs are submitted for approval and it can be demonstrated that the designs are both functional under the rules above and safe. Such designs shall be submitted at least six months prior to their intended use. (Submission does not assure approval is forthcoming.)

• For the tire jump in general -

  • Cabling on any tire jump, displaceable or non-displaceable, should not create a web in which a dog could become entangled.
  • The aperture of the tire shall measure approximately 20" (51cm), within standard tolerances (i.e., plus or minus 1" or 2.54cm). (This specification previously stated the aperture could be between 17" and 20".) To be effective January 1; earlier adoption is encouraged.
  
  
• Time for a round shall be measured to the point where the dog crosses the finish line following performance of the last obstacle on a course that has a defined sequence (e.g., standard, jumpers, or relay classes), whether timed electronically or manually. (The measure of time was previously not stated in the rule book except with respect to the use of electronic timing; this rule is to establish consistency in measuring time between the two methods.)

Effective for the 2011 and subsequent tournament and/or calendar year -

• Title name changes will be made in the Performance Program to more closely align titles between the Championship and Performance Programs (e.g., Performance Dog, Advanced Performance Dog, Master Performance Dog, Performance Dog Champion, etc.) Name changes will be implemented no later than January 1, 2011. Note that class names will remain unchanged (i.e., using levels 1, 2, 3 designations in correlation to Starters, Advanced and Masters levels, respectively). This is to avoid confusion in administration of entries in the classes of the two programs.
  
  
• A new Veterans Program will be introduced for the primary titling classes. Details will be published on the new Veterans Program by October 1 to allow for class offerings beginning 2011.
  
  
• The Performance Speed Jumping tournament will introduce Regional Championship classes and a Championship Quarterfinals class in the annual Championship event beginning in the 2011 tournament season (beginning September 13, 2010).
  
  
• For the 2011 tournament season, a competitor/dog team must qualify in at least two of the three tournaments within a Program (Championship or Performance), in order to advance to the annual Championship event.

Previously announced and implemented rule changes -

• The Standard Course Times for the Starters Jumpers Class shall be based upon the following table:

Jumping Heights	Standard Course Time Rates
	Operating Range	Absolute Minimum Rate
12"	3.00 - 3.25 yds/sec	3.00 yds/sec
30cm	2.75 - 2.95 m/sec	2.75 m/sec
16"	3.25 - 3.50 yds/sec	3.00 yds/sec
40cm	2.95 - 3.20 m/sec	2.75 m/sec
22" & 26"	3.50 - 3.75 yds/sec	3.50 yds/sec
55cm & 65cm	3.20 - 3.40 m/sec	3.20 m/sec

Creating "Trial Stress" at home

Mad Dog - Courier Ball Drop Exercise
(Photo By Marsha Kingsley)
http://www.agilityig.smugmug.com

It doesn't matter what type of dog sport you participate in, your dog will have 'Trial Stress'.

Stress reactions can or will vary from dog to dog. There are stress yawns, and scratches. Stress 'rips', where the dog seems to be having a lot of fun running all out, but in fact, this is how the dog's releasing it's stress. Some dogs might slow down or avoid a piece of equipment. After the first attempt, they might then willing complete the obstacle or exercise. Other dogs might bark or 'freeze' in certain circumstances. Just like people, all dogs are individuals, and will behave as such.

As Handlers, we also suffer from stress. Handlers stress reactions are just as varied as the dogs. Sometimes we move slower or faster than we would during training. Some will get louder or quieter when at a trial. Others will even feel an overwhelming lack of confidence. No wonder our dogs are stress, they look at their teammate and have to wonder, "Who the HECK are YOU!!"

I know it's silly, we are trialing because we love the atmosphere, the chance to have fun with our dogs, as well as visiting/eating with our friends. We have a common love for dogs and dog training. So, why do we get stressed?

Maybe we need 'one more leg', or 'one more DQ', or just want to be able to ..... (Input your exercise here.) I will admit, it's really hard to work past that. However, both you and your dog will benefit if you can.

Knowing 'us' Handlers are not perfect, we need to figure out a way to help our dogs work through 'Trial Stress' at home. It's really not all that hard, you just need to get 'creative' and keep it POSITIVE!!!

You're reinforcement MUST be better than the distraction.

One way you can create stress is by distraction training. You'll need to be sure that the distraction isn't too "distracting" at first. Then slowly move the distraction closer. For example, the chickens in the weave poles. Let's face it, I wouldn't take a dog that had never seen the chickens before and expect him to weave. I might let him weave 20' (or whatever distance he could successfully weave), from the chicken pen first. The birds are confined and he's not terribly interested in them. Then I might move the weaves closer to the pen. Working up to the point where chickens were loose, but not necessarily close to the poles.

If you don't have chickens, you can do the same thing with people. Although, they probably don't need to be penned up. G You can have people in various positions or wearing various things in practice. Again, work up to the level of distraction, you want your dog to be SUCCESSFUL!! Build up his confidence. Your "people" distractions can then sit down, lay down or even 'hover' over the area you are working. Maybe open an umbrella, or snap a tarp. Be CREATIVE!!!!

No People Available? How about food or food bowls? HELLO!! If someone put a 'Lock N Lock' container out on course and it appeared to have "treats" in it, you can be I'd be DISTRACTED! So, start off with a couple of 'empty' bowls at distance, that's not distracting to the dog. You wouldn't want him to 'know' they were empty of course. Then slowly move the bowls in closer. Start dropping food in the bowls and move them back. Let the dog 'see' you put food in them. Slowly move them closer. Work up to being able to drop the food on the ground. Once they are good at this, you can release them to clean it up!

I'm sure there are THOUSANDS of ways to help create and work through 'Trial Stress' at home.

What have you tried?

Got Dirt?

I LOVE DIRT!!

It is my favorite surface to run on. Granted, it can be dry, it can be wet,
it can be sandy or it can be hard clay. I don't care! I still LOVE IT!!!

I really enjoy the Muscatine Agility Club's trial.
They are a good group of agility folks and have
the right attitude!
HAVE FUN WITH YOUR DOG(S)!!

Seeker and I are 'getting there'.
He had some moments of brilliants,
and a couple areas he can improve on.
ME TOO!
So, I guess we're in this together!

We took home some homework,
that's for sure!

Here's a few of his runs....
I thought the music was pretty fitting for
MOST OF US!



Seeker finished his MXJ over the weekend.

Kruz finished both his Preferred Excellent
JWW and Standard titles to move into the
B Classes at the next trial.

(GREAT JOB BOYS!)

There were also many DQs!!
Bea, Coz, Phoenix, Sydney.
Sorry if I missed anyone!

Don and Stella finished their NA!!
Out of Novice A FOREVER!
GREAT JOB DON!


HUGE Congrats to...

Dawn and MACH2 Tess!!!



--------------------
(From Laura)
WAY TO GO ORANGE CREW!

Many, many thanks to EVERYONE for 3 days of hard work this past weekend to help MACI put on our second agility trial and enjoy watching all of our friends play the agility game. It was so great to see so many people out setting courses, asking if we needed any help, filling in those open spots. I believe for every class we had several extra people ready, willing and able to fill in if needed. We could never pull off a trial without every one's help!! Thank you to all for simply being the wonderful agility community that you are!!!

Both of our judges for the weekend were very impressed with how well everything ran and they both commented how great the workers were. Jacque was pleased to know that she would have such a wonderful group of people to work with when she does SCKC's trial in August 2011, and Karen was also very happy with the venue and how everything worked out.

So, thanks again to everyone. We couldn't do it without you and we are all very grateful for everything that you all do!!

Sue Ann and Barb, could you please pass to ICDOC and the Orange Shirt Crowd, respectively? Thanks :)

PAX Scamp!!!!

Liz Drexler and Scamp finished their PAX
(Preferred Agility Champion) on Saturday 6/26/10!

They are the first "Orange Crew" member to earn this title!!

Way to go Scampster and Liz!!

In order to earn a PAX title, you need to earn 20 double qualifying (2Q) scores from the Preferred Excellent B classes. A "2Q" is earned when a dog qualifies in both the Excellent B Preferred Standard and Excellent B Preferred Jumpers With Weaves class on the same date at the same trial.

Ultimate Weave Challenge - Iowa Style!

Do you ever get tired of the same old weave pole training?

Does it seems like you're either working entries, or training weaves while coming from a chute or panel jump. ME TOO!!! So this week I decided to put a different spin on weave training. Weaves are fun! RIGHT???

Photo by Marsha Kingsley
http://www.inflightphotog.com/Agility-Trials/Ames-June-2010

So I used the 19" - 'practice poles' to do some distraction work. Until USDAA decides to move to 24" weaves, Seeker needs to stay 'tuned up' on the narrower poles. I personally feel most dogs find it's much easier to do the 24's than the 19's as the dog doesn't have to bend or collect as much. Maybe someday USDAA will change? It would sure make a LOT of people and clubs happy. Alas, that's another blog topic.

Distraction Training! For us, training almost ALWAYS involves Cougar the cat. If Cougar thinks there's food involved, he's there! Gee, this sounds a lot like my friends! Cougar is around so much, that he's not even considered a distraction anymore. Unless he pounces on Seeker, which he does occasionally. I guess that's "Cat Humor"?

I start off our distraction training by dropping toys all over the ground. They were either on or near the weave poles. I even dropped his favorite toy of all time!! The Red SQUEAKY BALL!! Trust me, this is an OUTSIDE ONLY TOY! If you hate your friends, then get their dogs THIS toy for Christmas!

The toys weren't a distraction at all. He was perfect. Of course you'd want to go back and proof this at different angles. Simply work your way around the clock.

Next came food and Cougar! Popcorn! YUMMY!!!! I can hear Bill yelling now, "That's MY POPCORN!" Not to worry, it expired last month, so I'm really doing him a favor! HONEST!
I had Seeker do a trick, gave him some popcorn, and then made sure he watched me pour it onto the ground! I think Cougar was more interested in this part than Seeker.

Through the poles again, no problem. You'd want to work a lot of different approaches on this one as well. Maybe even pick up a piece of food from the ground to reward your dog.

The final distraction for this day involved poultry! They will also clean up the popcorn! Unfortunately I didn't have my flip on, and missed the best weave performance with all the birds. One thing about the "girls", they are only good for 'maybe' one distraction session every couple months. They REMEMBER! Luckily, Tom, the Bourbon Red Turkey, and a few of the other hens are more food motivated.

Since I only get one 'shot' at the poultry, there's no since trying to convince them that we need to work different angles. GAME OVER!!

That was it for distraction for that day. I tried to get Rilda to come out to see if she could distract him. No one I know can make a dog lose it's concentration like Rilda! They LOVE HER!!

Day Two involved Handler Positional Changes.

The positions were: Sitting in a chair, sitting on the ground and laying on the ground.

Seeker struggled with me in the chair, but we were able to work through it. Seeker missed his left entry several times. The right entry he rarely missed. The other positions weren't as difficult, but then he'd already worked through the toughest parts with sitting in chair position.

Here's our Flip Video. I'd rather have used the song - Monster by Skillet, but You Tube wouldn't let me. So, if you'd like you can bring up that song at the same time you watch the video. I like it better that way!

So look for creative ways to train your dog and have FUN!!!

This week we'll work send ahead and call through.

How Strong is YOUR CORE?

One of the many things Seeker needs to work on is his core strength. I will admit, I was a bit skeptical when the whole 'exercise balls' for dogs came out. One more thing for us 'dog people' to spend money on. When I had two upper level instructors suggest that Seeker's 26" jumping could improve by working his core, I did a little more research.

If any of you have ever worked with an exercise ball, you know it can be quite a challenging workout. Your core runs the full length of your torso, it works your abdominal muscles, but your back is also involved. Think of your core as the inside of an apple, the part that holds everything else together. By having a strong core, you can reduce your risk for low back problems and have better posture! Okay, I don't care about that, but I do want a Healthy dog!

While Seeker, like more dogs, loves to run, jump and in general, 'be a dog', he's not necessarily getting his 'core' strengthen. I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking about getting a 'Egg' for Seeker, but was a bit hesitant at the price. She said she had one she'd sell me, slightly used, as she needed the 'Peanut', which is a bit larger. SOLD!! Thanks Wendie!

Bill was in charge of pumping it up. Having only one functioning arm DOES have it's advantages. Sorry, no video of this, Bill declined the invitation. Party Pooper!

The initial introduction of the ball was rather interesting. I had food, which ALWAYS gets Mad's attention. Heading to the bedroom with food gets Seeker's attention. We do a lot of winter 'trick' training in the bedroom. Soon we had 'brace' egging. Mad would power on, Seeker would knock her off and get his cookie, Mad would push back and get on. I had one dog on with 4 feet and another with 2 front feet on, you get the picture. NOT SAFE! Thus rules had to be put into place.

If it wasn't your turn, you needed to be on the bed! Kruz was happy with this arrangement as long as I tossed him a cookie occasionally. Mad and Seek were fine with it, as long as they were NOT the one on the bed!

Mad took to jumping on it instantly. She's funny like that, always willing to try something new, especially if food is involved. She could sit, down, and I could lure her head to each side without any problems. The most challenging thing for her was to not do her 'back up' trick while laying down on the egg. I guess the reinforcements were fast enough?

Interestingly enough, Seeker would happily get on, but had the 'shakes' trying to balance himself. He was working his core! He was also able to sit, down and take food from each side, but he didn't have near the balance as Mad had. It was interesting.

One thing about core work is it really is hard! You need to be sure to take your time working up to a reasonable duration. Try just a 15 minute workout on your own ball and see how you feel the next day. I guess what I'm saying is, take it SLOW!

This morning I took the egg outside so I could do a short video clip. It was rather interesting getting the egg, which needs more air, out the door with one hand. The Egg was a bit slick with the morning dew. This was the first time Kruz had seen the ball. Without someone to steady him I wasn't willing to risk him jumping up onto it. Gideon was all about the cookies! It was his first time exposed to an Egg as well.

I'm going to do a few thing with Kruz on the ball. At 12, I think some caution should be used, I don't want to over do.

Overall, I think it was a good purchase. If nothing else, it will give us something else to play with on a rainy or snowy day. Luckily the Egg can be balanced between your legs. Normally you'd use your other hand to steady your dog, unfortunately I didn't have that option. A 400 plastic kennel held my flip video, Chatter helped his 'cat self' to the Zukes on top of the crate. Cougar was more dramatic and tried to take my attention off the dogs. He was the official, "you dropped a cookie" clean up crew!

The chicken just happened to show up on the video. I was off to get another dog and she apparently thought their might be FOOD involved too! Plenty of distractions! One thing you can't see or hear is "Tom" our Turkey gobbling in the background.