Agility - How many venues do YOU compete in?

CPE, though this past summer EVERY weekend we were trialing or testing in something else, never had time to really compete in agility.  So I would do AKC too if we weren't doing so much other stuff.  We have fun doing agility in training, don't necessarily need to trial every weekend where as the other things we do have trials maybe 1-2 times per year so we can't pass up those opportunities (herding clinincs, TTs, TDI tests, Dog Sport trials...).  So we have the "too many options" problem too, just over a variety of sports.

Maybe at SOME training centers.  I'm not teaching anymore, but when I was I surely didn't get so much as a discount on my trial entries....

The facility does offer reduced fees at the NADAC trials for everyone who does back-to-back trials.  It saves $24 in entry fees for those (like me) who enter all 12 classes in a weekend.  There's also a discount for full trial packages, so my total savings is $48.  It helps, but it also just brings their fees more in line with the other trials...  My local trial is an expensive one for whatever reason.

I haven't sat down and figured out what I'm going to do when I have two dogs competing...  That day is fast arriving, though, so I should probably put together a plan soon.  I can't afford double the entry fees, so I'll have to start picking particular classes for each of them, I suppose.

I'm having the same dilemma with Nikon and Kenya.  It was fine when Kenya was on a "break" and Nikon was under 6 mos so his entries were no more than $8 a pop, but now Kenya is coming back full swing and Nikon's entries count for points.  Kenya's Dog Sport entries were $30 each.  Nikon's German style conformation is $45-$60 for each entry fee and then $75-$100 each time for a handler.  I miss rally and agility fees!!!

You miss agility fees???  Then you haven't done many full trials. lol

A full weekend of NADAC costs me a minimum of $120 and up to $150 for one dog.  At the cheapest trial, entering both dogs in all classes will cost me $240.

A weekend of TDAA for Kaiser is a package deal at $86 for 8 total classes (four per day) -- per class is $14.

A CPE trial I looked at was $13/class with no weekend package.

USDAA seems to run in the same $12/14 per class range.

AKC agility is definitely the cheapest, but that's mostly because you only get to do two (three if they offer FAST) classes in a day.  The other organizations offer four to six classes a day and that adds up.

Kaiser's UKC conformation looks to have a pretty common entry fee of $25/show with most offering a pre-entry discount and a package deal that will give you four shows in one weekend for $75-80.  Still not cheap...

KarissaKS

You miss agility fees???  Then you haven't done many full trials. lol

Yep I miss those fees!  Just wrote checks for $160 for Nikon to be in the ring probably 10 minutes for a single entry, lol (and that fee doesn't include the fee I had to pay to join the organization - $60 - plus the fees for the necessary paperwork in order to enter - $32 and $20, and he is not even registered with this organization yet b/c he is under 12 months so that will be another fee down the line). Now when he is older and needs a German handler not only do the handler fees increase with each class, but then you have to pay their travel expenses.  Then eventually he will have to go TO Germany and I don't even want to think about that....

The last weekend trial Kenya did for agility was $65 for the weekend (CPE so I think there was 5-6 runs a day, with the games split between the two days, plus one or two jumpers and two standard runs each day).  But the weekend CPE trials we do are at her breeder's facility and it's a smaller trial so it's insanely cheap.  This has us spoiled and is why we started with CPE and will probably never switch venues.  I haven't ever seen trials besides AKC and CPE over here though anyway.  I think there are some other venues on the southeast side of the state and in Ohio.  The club here in my city does AKC and CPE.  So luckily as far as agility venues the choice has already been limited for me.

UKC conformation is not bad here either, though I put Nikon in a 3-day 5-show event and it was over $100 because they couldn't offer a package deal. They had a similar show in Dec. and I think it was $75 for the weekend (at that time he was too young so we could only enter two NLC puppy for $8 each).

These fees are getting insane, I can't keep them straight!  I wish we could like pre-load accounts with each venue and draw from that.

I was thinking of putting an RAE on Kenya but that's a $500 title for sure.

jdata

Agility makes a killing don't they? Have you ever calculated how much they make for a 2-3 day trial? Its EYE OPENING. Now factor in another 1-2 days for a big show! I have run two dogs for a month until Chloe's injury and that caught me off guard because it was actually happening! What interesting is that I plan to add more dogs! I am addicted to this sport in a big way. But I have to use some common sense here. My instructor runs up to 5 dogs! I know at the IX center I calculated it to be around 1000-1200 for 5 days.

Is that how much the club made?  Or the trial brought in?  Because each trial has judges fees, filing fees and then per run fees.  Plus facility fees and utilities, etc.  It adds up!

I do CPE and USDAA.  I run 1 to 2 dogs and if I run 2, then I do 1 dog in Snooker and Jumpers and the other in Standard and Gamblers.  Just depends on what they need to determine what they run.  In CPE I will run them in 3 classes each day so they both run in the same class only once.  Plus they are in different levels so that helps a bit with tiime for me to breathe in between.

In USDAA the trials are 2 rings most of the time, so conflicts are a HUGE problem.  I'm only running one dog in USDAA right now.

I'm pretty sure he means that it costs his trainer $1000-1200 to run her dogs in a trial on any given weekend.

I know a woman who runs 5-6 dogs, too, and generally puts them in all classes.  That's about $700-800/weekend and she is out doing it EVERY weekend in various venues, it seems.  It's obviously none of my business *how* she affords it, but you certainly do wonder.  She doesn't seem like a woman of great means, but maybe she just doesn't show it.

It's easy to see what the problem is -- We're all just crazy, that's all. 

Tashakota -- Do you really find it to be that big of a problem running two dogs?  I've been to several two-ring NADAC trials and they are very good about handling ring conflicts.  At the beginning of the day they always state which ring takes precidence and if you have a conflict they have no problem going back to a jump height/running out of order/letting you do a walk-through out of order.

I expect to find this out first hand in July.  Kaiser's first NADAC trial is a big two-ring event, so I'll be faced with the issue of Novice starting in one ring in the a.m. and Elite running in the other!  Thankfully Kaiser runs with small dogs and Luke runs with the big dogs, so that will help the timing issue slightly!

I have trialed CPE, TDAA, AKC and Josie and I just did our 2nd USDAA trial (way fun)...I will probably focus on AKC & USDAA.  I feel really luck that in any one month I have a choice of almost all the venues.   I usually volunteer at the trials and earn vouchers for future trials, which is helpful when I also run Suds, plus hopefully this summer I will have Ella ready for the ring.

~Melissa

I know of many people who compete in multiple venues and it boggles my mind how they can afford it.

me too. I know people who think they need to compete every single weekend. I don't get it, who has the time or the money or the inclination to compete so much? I enjoy training so much more than actual competition. So I picked my two favorite venues, and decided to never trial so far away that I felt the need to get a motel room. Also, you know, it's OK to not enter every single class every single day of a trial.

mudpuppy

I know of many people who compete in multiple venues and it boggles my mind how they can afford it.

 I enjoy training so much more than actual competition.

That's kinda how I feel as well, at least about agility.  Kenya doesn't care if it's training or competition.  Usually what we do at our club is our instructor picks out a course map (something actually used at a trial, or we can bring in ones we've run at trials) and we set up that course and run it.  I like this a lot b/c it's a full course on the same equipment, I'm not paying every time I run, and we just take turns until the time is up, so we can experiement with using different crosses and what not.

We did some competitions just to make sure we were on the right track and she won all but one run we've entered, with no NQs, but it's just too expensive with the club's equipment just sitting there for us to use.  I am a perfectionists and somewhat competitive, so I get a bit stressed at competitions.  The big AKC trials we have in town, I prefer to volunteer rather than compete.  Then I can watch and enjoy the trial, do my vendor shopping, and not be stressed out all weekend or spending all my money on entries.

Also, you know, it's OK to not enter every single class every single day of a trial.

No doubt that is something I'll have to learn when I have two dogs competing at the same trial.  For the last two years it's just been Luke, though.  He has 2x as many points in some classes as others and yes, I *could* not enter him in those classes for a while, but those are the classes he LOVES.  So I enter him in those classes because they are the highlight of his day and I enter him in the other ones because we need the points.  Once Kaiser starts running, no doubt Luke will have to skip out on a few Tunnelers, Touch-n-Go & Hooper runs since we just don't need those points.

Personally, though, I think I'd rather enter fewer trials and be able to enter more classes, than to travel to more trials and only do a few classes per dog per day.  It's just how I am -- I like having a full/busy day.  And more chances to Q.  lol

I'm one of the crazy people who really, really loves going to trials.  If I had the money, there is no doubt I'd travel to one every weekend.  The need is less intense in the summer when I have my equipment out at home -- It's been put away since the end of November and I'm just feeling very much in withdrawl right now.  During the winter, trials ARE my practice/training, which is why I tend to find myself doing 2 to 3 a month.

I went through the same thing with horse shows for a while.  I'm very much an all or nothing person, it would seem...