# How do agility competitions work?



## GermanShepherd<3 (Jan 16, 2011)

When you enter a dog into an AKC competition, do they give you the course to practice with the dog before the competition or only for the handler to memorize with the dog performing it in the actual trial without knowing the setup? And how much time in advance to they give the course outline if they provide you with it?
Also one more thing, how do dogs win? Is it based on how clean the run was, or how fast? Or is it who did the run clean but with the fastest time as the winner?
Thanks! I really wanna learn more.  And this forum is so much more friendly than Pedigree Database I can tell you that!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I've only been to one trial (as a spectator, no less). But at that trial, participants were able to walk through the course prior, without their dog, maybe 10 minutes before the round started. It didn't seem like they had much more than perhaps 5 to 7 mins of time to walk the course.

The dogs come in unaware of the course.

As to the dogs winning, I'll be interested to read the responses. My take on it is that you are more/less competing against a clock- not against others. The course has a set time known as the "qualifying time." If you complete the course cleanly under this time, then you qualify, also known as a Q. Qualify for what- well, that would be a good question; I have no idea.

There may be rankings in who "qualifies" the fastest, but I didn't stick around for any such ribbon ceremonies to find out. Also- if you get a certain number of Q's, then you may meet title requirements.

At lower levels, unclean runs penalize you by seconds (multiples of 5, I believe). So you might knock a single bar, but if you Q'ed with more than 5 seconds to spare, you'd still be good. In higher levels- you must complete the course cleanly in order to Q.

...That's about all I know. Others will chime in, no doubt.

[EDIT]- I haven't read the rulebook yet (we are a LONG way off from caring), but if interested- you can find the AKC one here: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/REAGIL.pdf


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## GermanShepherd<3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Thank you so much! I can't wait for others to chime in as well for both of us to learn. I am new to this forum.  And MaggieRoseLee on youtube really inspired me. Although I am only 16 years old, the shepherd has always been my heart dog. I was never able to have one. And I plan to get one after I attend vet school, as I want to make sure I could do EVERYTHING i ever dreamed of. As for now, it's time to actually learn as much as possible. Ask me anything of the GSD, I will know, but I want to move onto learning about the sports.
I tried reading that before, and got some things cleared out, but it makes so much more sense when people actually explain it. lol
-Nicole


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

In akc , you don't know your courses until you get to the show, they may sometimes have course maps available, sometimes not..You get to walk your courses without a dog, prior to running the class.

As for 'winning',,you need 3 qualifiying scores in one level to move up to the next level. Each 'height' within a class, has a 1,2,3,4 place winners with ribbons. Based on clean runs (no errors) or least errors allowed (depending on class) and fastest time..so if you had a clean run and your time was 36 secs,,and someone else had a clean run and a time of 32 seconds,,the other person would 'place' higher than you.

Each "class" has rules as to how many errors (as in refusals/off courses) are allowed or not allowed, 

That's kinda the basics off the top of my head..


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Dog agility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Has some good explanations..

This is an example of a course map and ALL we see the day we arrive. We walk it for about 8 min (AKC) with all the other people in MY WAY  in same jump height. When the dog is on it, it's their first and only time!

http://www.germanshepherds.com/wiki/File:AgilityCoursemapForPhotosInArticle.gif


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## GermanShepherd<3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Oh okay, I understand now. Lol Jen is that why in your MACH video, there was this guy in the video, and you were laughing how he was the only serious one studying the course?


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## lylol (Feb 18, 2009)

In terms of winning, in most events you want a Qualifying Score or a Q. As you suggested it is a combination of time minus errors. Each course has a set qualifying time per dog height and then points for errors are subtracted from the score... depending on your experience level. Novice dogs are allowed more errors and still be able to Q, where at some of the highest levels you can have no errors. Each venue (AKC, CPE, NADAC, etc) have slightly different rules and different "games" that have a variation on a theme of time minus errors. The new AKC class Time to Beat is a new twist that says the faster dog on course sets the "course time" and will get max points, and all other dogs get some lesser point value based on the percentage they are behind the top dogs time. So you can still Q in many events while not being the top time and still have errors. Most shows do give 1, 2, 3rd place for top three scores. There are a couple other variations about point accumulation but that info above is what most new Novice/Starter dogs are concerned about Qs and time minus errors. Hope that wasnt too confusing (and if I screwed it up anybody, please correct)


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## GermanShepherd<3 (Jan 16, 2011)

One question though..is the Q considered the leg? Or what exactly does it mean when people say they had earned a leg?


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

GermanShepherd<3 said:


> Oh okay, I understand now. Lol Jen is that why in your MACH video, there was this guy in the video, and you were laughing how he was the only serious one studying the course?


Ok, so now I'm off to watch my MACH video (can't believe how little Glory B is!)





 
And YUP, that's my friend Irwin studying the course map! You'll notice the rest of us aren't as careful! At minute 7:21 BTW, Irwin has some of the top Husky's EVER in the USA!


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## GermanShepherd<3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Lol Glory was a tiny little ball of fur! So sweet and lovable and that character is still with her to this day! Bretta has to be given credit though too! She was such a good big sister and patient.
That's awesome for Irwin! That must be very exciting to have such amazing huskies. But do you mean they are top in agility or conformation wise?  Does he have a youtube channel?


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

GermanShepherd<3 said:


> That's awesome for Irwin! That must be very exciting to have such amazing huskies. But do you mean they are top in agility or conformation wise?  Does he have a youtube channel?


Irwin is a small responsible breeder who has his dogs in conformation, obedience AND agility!!! BTW, the very first shot of the dog coming down the aframe is a good example of how to NOT do it! At least one foot needs to come down into the yellow and I'm thinking he missed


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## GermanShepherd<3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Haha the first shot with the A frame was too cute. I don't if you know the youtube user agilitymalamute, but she has a BC and her dog went so fast, she flew from the top of the A frame. Didn't even touch the other panel! She was fine though, and landed on her feet like a cat. Her owner said it taught her to slow down though. 
I subscribed to his channel! It's awesome to see breeders who actually work the dogs themselves and in a lot of sports too! His huskies seem like they are having so much fun, and so calm in a distracting environment. 
Do you have any idea when Bretta's next competition is?


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