Saturday Agility videos from the Crown Classic Dog show

 Thanks for those, it was neat to see.  Was that Nationals?  Or a regular AKC show?

What a fabulous collection of video!!  It is so interesting to watch the various handling styles, especially those with the super high-drive/fast Border Collies.  Those are always such amazing runs to watch.

But the unique-to-agility large breeds were equally as interesting to watch.  That is the first Malamute I have seen in agility -- and maybe he was having an off day, but I do wonder how that particular dog made it into the excellent level.  Are the times in AKC wickedly easy or something?  It was great to watch when he was having fun, but boy did he shut down hard & fast when things weren't to his liking.

Very interesting -- thanks for sharing!!

Tashkota,

Its a big show with rally, obed, barbie, and agility. It was going on at the same the AKC Invitational was. Our friend won the 16" and 8" class with her ratties.

Karissa,

While I love speed. Yes it's a guy thing. I love watching other breeds especially non-popular ones. This show's caliber (I think its in the Top5 big AKC shows) is high because the amount of people and dogs. Lots of distractions. A lot dogs are not the same when running here. There were a total of 770 runs I think on each day. Some people ran 2-6 dogs for all four days! You're looking at a $1K dollars.

Some teams just want to get up to excellent level and start working on their MACH regardless if the dog is fast. Some people aren't really in it for speed but the bonding experience. Look up the AKC Mach List and look a the breeds.

My instructor, Denise Thomas, told me that her green dog, Zachary, was at his limit. He was pretty much over the show. However, he saw me and whacked me one really good! Zippity was at her wits as well. Her aussie, Dottie, got her Mach2 right in front her breeder and friends. Linda and her had a lot of dialog because they are in talks for a seminar but nothing yet. Linda and others have been hounding for years to tryout for the World Team. Notice, Denise doesn't do running contacts which is the latest craze right now. There are fast dogs out there just fine doing 2o2o/1rto and beating running contact dogs.

Here are more videos:

Day 3 Video 3 of 4 small dogs.. Notables jenn Crank. I think she ran like 6 dogs and that isn't counting her mother's dogs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsk6DRcIujY

Day 3 Video 4 of 4 small dogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9BQ46muCig

I am in the process of working on Day 4 footage. I have also uploaded our classmate's footage as well. Cressa, Buttons, Smidge.. Cressa, small BC, was a tenth off of Zip's JWW time but Tanner the cocker just kicked ass by beating it by 3 tenths!!!

jdata

Some teams just want to get up to excellent level and start working on their MACH regardless if the dog is fast. Some people aren't really in it for speed but the bonding experience. Look up the AKC Mach List and look a the breeds.

That's my point, though -- I'm in wonderment that it's even POSSIBLE for these dogs to achieve MACH status.  That is why I say it must be incredibly easy to meet the requirements necessary for one.

In NADAC it is *hard* to get a NATCH.  Not every dog is capable of it.  In addition to the massive distance tests in elite chances, the times get pretty tight once you move into elite and many of the excellent dogs in your videos would never be able to run under elite time in NADAC.  Heck, a lot of these excellent dogs would struggle in the open level of NADAC.

I guess I just don't see MACH as being that huge of an achievement if dogs can run that slow & disconnected from their handler and still qualify.  *shrugs*

I do understand now why placements are considered such a huge deal in AKC -- because apparently it doesn't take much effort to just plain qualify.  Where is the fun and challenge in that?

 No, the times are pretty tight and the competition is fierce.  The times are set up so that as long as your dog is running at a good pace, and does not have any errors, you will Q.  Also, in AKC, the distance class is new to AKC and therefore is not required for a MACH.  To get a MACH in AKC, you have to earn titles in only 2 classes.  Jdata please correct me if I'm wrong.  So if a team is already trying to earn their MACH, they don't have to have distance, just consistent times and effort. 

And honestly, if they make the times any tighter, then non-BC dogs are never going to Q.  And if only super fast, high drive dogs can Q, then the sport will lose a lot of people and a lot of money.  I would hate to see this sport become an elite game that only a few breeds can succeed at.

In contrast, the *average* SCT for a large dog in NADAC in elite regular is in the 45-48 second range.  Elite regular has the "easiest" times -- they get tougher in the games classes and jumpers.  So while the NATCH may be attainable by a fair number of dogs, the number who earn a Versatility NATCH is far fewer because not all dogs can make time in the games.  Luke, for example, really struggles with time in elite weavers -- consistently coming in a second or two over time.  I know he can do it, but he has to be more efficient than the lighter dogs like Border Collies (no wide turns, etc.).

That is my point -- I don't understand why AKC makes it so easy to qualify.  The yards per seconds required in AKC are very, very low.

 Awesome vids!  Thanks for sharing!

Hey guys!

I haven't read the thread yet since its "eve" but here are more videos. The last is special to me because if you think about it, its about perspective.