Competing in the US

OneMind Dogs leading coaches Janita Leinonen and Jaakko Suoknuuti are touring in the United States during spring 2015. Between the seminars, they have had a chance to visit some local agility competitions. Read an article about competing in the US, written by Janita.

Picture 1. Dao, Zen and Fu with their rewards.

We took three of our dogs with us on our US coaching tour, Zen (10 years), Fu (4 years) and Dao (3 years). We have sent entries to four USDAA trial weekends, and been to two of them by now. In the beginning of our journey, we got stuck in New York for a few days, due to poor weather conditions, so I got a chance to enter UKI trials with Fu and Dao. Jaakko had food poisoning, so he was stuck in our lodgings.

Competing abroad is always exciting as the rules are different, and especially in the US, there are lots of different classes that are not familiar to us Finns. Here are some of the differences between agility events in Finland and the US. This comparison applies to USDAA trials, only.

Entries

In Finland, you can send your entries via the Internet, using an online system. All required dog and handler information is readily available in the system, so sending an entry takes a few seconds. To pay for your entries, you go to your online banking service and get an archiving code, which you then copy in your entry form; quick and easy.

In the US, all entries are sent using a paper form; honestly, with this many competitors everyone fills in a form and mails it with a check. In Finland, checks have been more or less obsolete since the 1970's, so sending our entries would have been difficult without the help of our local friends (thank you Mary-Ellen Barry and George Mariakis!), who did it for us. The event secretary then has to transfer all the details from the paper versions to the computer (picture 2), which is more or less ridiculous from a Finnish perspective...

In Finland, we have one organization sanctioning trials, the Finnish Agility Association, a member of the Finnish Kennel Club. In the US, there are at least five different organizations, each with different rules or jump heights. We have now visited AKC trials, and competed in USDAA and UKI trials with our own dogs.

Picture 2.

An event secretary has to transfer a lot of information from the paper forms to the computer. This is the amount of work Helen McNenlyn was facing.

Entry fees

Entry fees are pretty similar in both countries, roughly 13 euros each, but in Finland you can usually only compete on one day per weekend, whereas in the States you can compete on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Finnish trials have 2-4 courses a day, but in the US you can run up to 10 courses each day. In our first two trials, we ran 5 courses a day with each dog (2 for Zen). In Finland, our average trial weekend costs 80-130 euros. In the US, the cost was 485 euros.

Getting there

The invitation and starting lists are available roughly a week before the trial, in both countries. When you get to the event, in Finland you need to register with the organizers and hand over your record books, which are a remnant from a time before computers. In the US, you register separately for each course, by checking your name on the list, to indicate that you intend to run the course (picture 3). This is quite handy, since there can be several courses each day; this way, you don't have to tell the organizers you won't be there, if you decide to skip some of the courses. In some trials, there are two rings running at same time. If you think you might have conflicting schedules, you can write a C (for conflict) next to your name on the list, so the organizers will know you might be late for your turn. In Finland the vaccinations of all dogs are checked in every competition. The rabies vaccination is required also in the US, but no one ever checks if the vaccination is valid. In both countries, the results are visible on a computer screen while the dogs are running, on result lists after the course, and in an online database after the trial. Picture 3.

A list in the check in. Click for a bigger version of the picture.

Height classes

There are three height classes in Finland; small, medium and large.

In the US, the number of height classes depends on the organization. USDAA has six classes, a program with lower jumping heights (called Performance, for those who want their dog to jump lower jumps), and a Veteran program, for dogs aged 8+ years. This means 8 different jump heights. The A-frame and jumps are lower for veterans. In some classes, there were only 1-3 participants, and changing the heights for each class took a lot of time each day.

In Finland, a dog is measured if it is entered into the small or medium category. The dog is measured once, by one judge, before its first trial.

In the US, all dogs are measured, and you get a jump height card for the dog. The dog has to be measured in its first three trial weekends, by three different judges. Even after this, the dog has to be measured again on its second and third birthdays.

Competition classes

In Finland, dogs run on one day per weekend, on average. For example, we might have levels 1 and 2 on Saturday, and level 3 on Sunday, or vice versa. There are 2-4 runs per day, agility or jumpers. A typical day at a trial usually takes less than four hours, with each height class within a level running all of its courses back-to-back. For example, small dogs might run three courses in the morning, medium three courses in the afternoon, and large three courses in the evening. The order changes, sometimes your trial day is over at noon, sometimes it starts at 5 p.m. Depending on the number of entries, it is more or less common to have a trial start at 10 a.m. Course walking time is 5-8 minutes for each group.

In the US, a trial lasts for three days. The first course walking starts each day at 7.45 a.m. and the actual trial starts at 8 a.m. Often all 8 height classes walk the course at the same time. On our first weekend, we missed two course walkings, because we had no idea that Masters classes walk the course together with Performance and Veteran classes. Course walking was divided into two groups when necessary, with each group walking for 8-15 minutes. The last course may start at 7 p.m. so the days are very long. In the events we entered, one dog could run up to 21 courses per weekend!

Watch a video of Zen's Masters Gamblers competition run. Zen won this class.

Organization

In Finland, the organizers take care of everything, and competitors are not allowed in the ring, unless it is their turn to run. Only the clubs that are members of Finnish Agility Association are allowed to organize competitions.

In the US, everyone is welcome to help set up the trial, even to build the course they will be running themselves. By helping out, you may get a free lunch, or a T-shirt etc., and in some trials they had a raffle for helpers, where we won a basket of toys and a massage for one person or dog. Basically anyone who meets the sanctioning organization's requirements can set up an agility trial, and often the trials are run by a couple of people, making it absolutely necessary for participants to help out with the running of the trial.

In Finland, the organizers pay 0,7 euros per run to the sanctioning organization. In the US, the USDAA is privately owned, and the owner gets 2 e / run from titling classes, 10 e / run from Grand Prix class, 20% of all income from Steeplechase and 30% of all income from team relay classes. Additionally, the event secretary gets 1 e / run.

Judging

Finnish judges draw 9 courses at the most, per weekend, whereas US judges, for the most part, draw more than 30 courses per weekend. Finnish judges are allowed more free play when drawing their courses. They are also quite diligent in checking, that the course has been built the way they planned it. In the US, the judges send their course maps to the area reviewer for approval, so unless the reviewer is open to new ideas, their designs remain more or less traditional. The judges were also quite generous when inspecting the courses, and rarely moved any of the obstacles from where the builders had set them.

On a Finnish agility course, the dog has to take a contact obstacle at least twice, and there has to be at least seven hurdles.

In the US, all obstacles must be present on a standard course; each contact obstacle, weave poles, chute, tunnel, tire, long jump and table. This restricts course planning, especially since the judge also has to ensure that approaches to contacts, tire and long jump are safe. For example, there are seldom more than two tunnels on a course in the US, whereas in Finland, the tunnel is often used at least three times per course.

As an example, here is a very creative course by a Finnish judge, Salme Mujunen. It dates back to the time, when only one contact obstacle was required on each agility course. (picture 4). Aren't these different approaches exactly what makes agility courses interesting and fun to run, there is always something you haven't seen or tried before? If you want to see more of Salme's creative course planning, she has published two books full of her trial and training courses.

Picture 4. A course map by Salme Mujunen.

In Finland, judges get their expenses paid, plus a daily allowance of 18 e (6-10 hour day) or 40 e (10+ hour day, travel time included). In the US, judges get their expenses paid plus 1 e per run (new judges 80-90 s per run).

Courses

In Finland, you don't get to see the course map on site, except on a few occasions, when there is on drawing on the wall. In the US, all course plans were printed for each competitor, and you could pick up the maps for all courses in the morning, before the trial started.

Whether it is a coincidence or not, on several courses the angles of approach to the chute were not safe for all types of dogs. This is something that would have come up during the judge's briefing, in Finland. In the US, the table is used on every standard course, and the dog has to lie down for 5 seconds. There are no electronic countdown timers. In Finland, the table is hardly ever used, and the dog's position can be selected freely. Possibly one reason why we don't often see the table in Finland is that it takes up a lot of time, adding to the duration of the trial day.

There are some obstacle types in the US, that are not used in Europe. One is a double jump (picture 5), where both bars are at the same height, and the other is a triple jump, with three ascending bars (picture 6). In Finland, wingless jumps are never used in competitions, here they are used on every course, also when taking the jump from the backside. After getting to know these obstacles, our dogs had no problems with them in trials.

Picture 5.

A double jump. Picture 6.

A triple jump.

In the US, jumps are rarely taken from the backside of the jump. When jumps are mostly taken from the front, jumping angles become more difficult, interfering with the flow of the course. From a Finnish point of view, the courses are quite monotonous, which is most likely caused by the rules governing the use of obstacles. European courses are highly technical in nature, and you can get through without running a single step. These courses, on the other hand, are so straightforward, that it would be very difficult to get through without running, and we have never run as much as we have on these courses. The techniques we use have proven useful on some courses, where we have been able to find the ideal line for our dogs, get better jumps and tighter turns, and avoid traps. Since most courses require only front crosses, our challenges have mostly been in the classes we don't have in Finland, snooker and gamblers. They bring a nice change. We did miss a few Q's, not knowing all the rules, but you learn from your mistakes.

In Finland, the judge gives you permission to start. In the US, the timekeeper presses a button that says Go. At first we were wondering if the same guy travels around saying go in every trial, but then we found out that it's a recording, coming from the timing equipment.

Prizes

In Finland, we have a prize giving ceremony for each class and the best three (or sometimes 5, if there are a lot of competitors in a class) often get a free run coupon for the next trial, dog food, a rosette, a trophy, and often something extra donated by sponsors (oil, dog toy, bones or treats, towel, mug, etc.).

In the US, there is no prize giving ceremony. Everyone can pick up their ribbon from a table, after their run (picture 7). Nobody checks, whether you got the result or not, you just pick up your ribbons. You get one for placements 1-3, and for each Q, aka clean run. You get also a rosette for titles. The organizers had printed out all significant results on self-adhesive strips, which you could take and glue to the back of your ribbon or rosette.

Picture 7. You pick up your ribbons from a table yourself.

In every trial, there is a steeplechase course. The course is easy and flowing, there is no dogwalk, seesaw or table, but the A-frame or weaves are performed twice during the run. There are no refusals and each fault adds five seconds to your running time. Those who get a result from the first round, get to run a similar final round, and the winner always wins cash money. The amount of money depends on the number of competitors in the class.

Titles

In Finland, a dog becomes an agility or jumping champion after getting three clean runs with specified placements, in the highest class (class 3). The dog then needs seven clean runs each year (five from agility, two from jumpers, at least two must be from consecutive runs), to be eligible to compete in the Finnish Championships, plus the dog has to win at least once, to be eligible to compete in the Finnish team selection event.

There are also three levels in the US: Starters, Advance and Masters. When a dog has become a Master (5 clean runs in Masters), and a Champion (10 clean runs in Masters), they continue by picking up their Master-Bronze title (15 clean runs), Master-Silver (25 clean runs), Master-Gold (35 clean runs), and Master-Platinum (50 clean runs). You can get these fifty clean runs and the titles that go with them from different classes: agility, jumping, snooker, gamblers, and relay. In addition to these, there are also combination titles. So quite a lot of clean runs are required, whereas wins or placements are not necessary. Most competitors here are more interested in getting a Q than winning the class or getting the best out of their dogs.

Physical care

One noticeable difference between trial venues in Finland and the US is the warming up and cooling down of dogs. When you take a walk near a trial venue in Finland, you will see dogs everywhere (even though there are only dogs from one class at any given time), as all competitors are either warming up or cooling down their dogs.

From our point of view, the warming up and cooling down of dogs was not done on an advanced level in the trials we attended in the US. Naturally, the number of trials and occasionally conflicting timetables present a challenge to the physical maintenance of dogs. If you run seven courses per day, like most competitors seemed to be doing, and use a quarter of an hour for warm-ups and cooling down, that means 3.5 hours of walking up and down the area per day. Still, we would like to remind all fellow competitors, that physical maintenance is important for the dog.

With several runs available, it is up to the handler to select a number suited to their dog. The number of height categories and programs (Performance, Veteran) means you can run a dog in a class that works best for him/her, reducing the total strain caused by jumping. With each of our three dogs, we could choose whether to have them jump 22 or 26 inches (jump height 55 or 65 cm), or run in Performance, where the jump height would have been 18 inches (45 cm). We could also have run Zen in the Veteran program, jump height 20 inches (50 cm).

Our dogs' placements in our US trials

UKI 21.2.2015

Agility Champ: Fu 1, Dao 2

Masters Agility: Fu 1, Dao 2

Jumping Champ: Fu 1, Dao 2

Masters Jumping: Dao 1

Snooker Begin: Dao 1

USDAA 6-8.3.2015

Starters Gamblers: Dao 1, Zen 2, Fu 4

Masters Challenge Jumpers: Zen 1, Fu 2

Steeplechase: Fu 1

Masters Standard: Fu 2

Masters Jumpers: Fu 1, Zen 2

Starters Gamblers: Fu 1, Dao 2

Masters Standard: Fu 1, Dao 3

Masters Challenge Standard: Fu 1

Grand Prix: Dao 1

Starters Snooker: Zen 2, Fu 3

Masters Jumpers: Fu 1, Dao 2, Zen 3

Masters Standard: Fu 1, Dao 2

USDAA 20-22.3.2015

Masters Challenge Standard: Fu 1, Zen 2

Masters Standard: Fu 1, Dao 2

Masters Jumpers: Fu 1, Dao 2

Masters Pairs: Zen & Fu 1

Advanced Snooker: Zen 1

Starters Snooker: Dao 2

Steeplechase: Dao 1, Fu 2

Masters Challenge Jumpers: Fu 1, Zen 2

Masters Challenge Biathlon: Fu 1, Zen 2

Advanced Gamblers: Dao 1, Zen 2

Masters Jumpers: Zen 1

Masters Standard: Fu 1 (SAM = Standard Agility Master)

Steeplechase Finals: Fu 1, Dao 2

Masters Standard: Fu 1, Dao 2

Masters Gamblers: Zen 1

Masters Snooker: Zen 1

Advanced Snooker: Dao 1

Advanced Gamblers: Fu 1

UKI 11.4.2015

Gamblers Champ: 1 Zen

Gamblers Champ: 1 Dao, 2 Fu

Agility Champ: 1 Fu, 3 Dao

Agility Masters: 1 Zen

Agility Masters: 1 Fu, 2 Dao

Jumping Masters: 1 Zen

Jumping Masters: 1 Fu, 2 Dao

Pictures 8 & 9.

The venue.

Text & photos by Janita Leinonen