DOG AGIL IT Y

®

SM

real dogs. real people. true sport.A quarterly publication “promoting competitive excellence in dog agility.”SM

v o l . 5 , n o . 3

Visit us at w w w . u s d a a . c o m for more expanded news and information on the sport of dog agility.

OVERview™ contains abridged articles from the Subscriber Services News pages at

www.usdaa.com. If viewing this issue electronically, click on any article title where

you see an asterisk (*) to enjoy it in its entirety at USDAA’s Subscriber Services.

A publication of

United States Dog Agility

Association, Inc. 10310 Cimmaron Trail

Dallas, TX 75243 972.487.2200

Kenneth Tatsch President

Heather Smith Communications

Merlene Stiles Sales

Tev Brannan Event Administration

Brenna Fender Editor

Bfender@usdaa.com

Contributors: Tania Chadwick Brenna Fender

Sassie Joiris Susan Sexton Diana Wilkins

©2010 United States

Dog Agility Association, Inc.

All rights reserved. No portion of

this publication may reproduced

in any form in any media without

the express written permission

of United States Dog Agility

Association, Inc.

25 Years in Texas*

ONE OF THE FIRST AGILITY CLUBS IN THE U.S. CELEBRATES

A MILESTONE ANNIVERSARYBy Susan Sexton

Photos courtesy of Jo Unbehaun

The Dallas Agility Working Group (DAWG)

celebrated 25 years of agility on April 10 and

11 at their spring USDAA trial. Judges Martin

Gadsby and Greg Fontaine provided fun,

challenging courses. The 25th anniversary

committee manned a booth that included

a DAWG timeline with pictures and a Power

Point® presentation showing members and their dogs through the years. Everyone enjoyed beautiful cakes decorated with the club logo.

The trial included a Veterans Parade held on Sunday. The 28 participants had fun over jumps, through weaves, and through a tunnel. Each handler received coasters bearing their

dog’s name and the 25th anniversary logo.

Thanks to all who joined in the celebration!

A version of this article

first appeared in the DAWG

Scoop and is reprinted by

permission.

DAWG's Anniversary Booth (top), is being displayed at all five of the club's events in 2010. The slide show, created by long-time member and Membership Chair Cheri Bush-Soileau, can be viewed at the club's website by visiting www.dawgagility.org.

Committee Member Valerie Evans and Board Member Jody Faulkner (left) sport commemorative shirts at the booth.

2 v o l . 5 , n o . 3

Ken Tatsch, President, USDAA

The first half of the year has flown by and USDAA staff, clubs, competitors, and judges have been very busy. With the

Cynosport Games right around the corner, competition rule changes being finalized, and the 2012 IFCS World Championship planning underway, there isn’t a dull moment at USDAA.

The 2010 Cynosport World Games, which will take place October 12 - 17 in Louisville, Kentucky, are shaping up to be an amazing event. There will be a meet and greet social on Thursday night at the host hotel, Crowne Plaza. This will be a chance for competitors to meet USDAA Directors and exchange ideas or just visit with friends. A cash bar and snacks are planned. More details are forthcoming.

Also at the Games, the Course-A-Lure operators will be featuring a special “Lure for the Cure” event to benefit a canine cancer charity. This event will be open to the public and competitors alike on the grounds outside the Broadbent Arena.

The latest rule changes, announced July 1, 2010, have been well-received. An updated rule book will be coming soon, as the current draft is presently under review. We are spending more time than expected on it due to the need to examine it carefully for successful integration of all rule changes made since 2004. Tournament rules for the 2011 tournament season, which gets underway in late September, are being published soon. Watch the news page on www.usdaa.com for announcement of their publication.

Finally, although it seems as though we just finished competing in the 2010 IFCS World Championship, we are now forming a committee to organize the 2012 event, which will be held in the US for the first time. People wishing to take an active role in this event should contact me at ifcs2012@usdaa.com. We hope to name a committee by end of the year and look forward to more participation from other countries in the Americas.

There’s no doubt that the second half of 2010 will be as exciting as the first. With Cynosport in its new location coming soon, I’ll be looking forward to seeing many of you in Louisville!

Off the Leash Hydrate Your Dog By Diana Wilkins

Always make sure that your dog has plenty of fresh, cool

water to drink and that he remains hydrated. Dogs don’t cool

themselves as efficiently as humans do through evaporative

cooling (that’s a nice way of saying they don’t sweat). Make sure

that your dog has access to plenty of fresh cool water throughout

the training session. Just because you have provided the water

doesn’t mean your dog will drink it. The stress and excitement of

training sometimes inhibits a dog’s normal drinking behaviors.

Observe him carefully.

Be aware of your dog’s personal heat tolerance. Certain types

of dogs are more sensitive to heat (for example, obese dogs and

brachycephalic—short-nosed—breeds like Pugs). While some

breeds can be expected to tolerate heat more easily than other,

each dog is an individual. Some tolerate the sweltering heat of

the summer easily; others don’t. If you have doubts about your

dog’s heat tolerance, observe his behavior carefully.

USDAA Gets a New LookUSDAA is in the process of phasing in its new logo,

developed through input from competitors, spectators,

and marketing consultants. The logo features the

progression of a weaving dog (without the poles) over

a crescent depicting the surface of the globe, with

the new stylized USDAA acronym. In printed form,

the dogs are gradient color implying motion; in solid

color form, it appears as three dogs in three different

positions while weaving. The new logo is coming soon

to a ribbon near you!

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The 2010 IFCS World Agility Championships in Review* By Brenna Fender

AWARD HANDLER DOG EVENT HEIGHT

Gold Daneen Fox Masher Individual Snooker Toy

Gold Angie Benacquisto Dylan Individual Snooker Mini

Silver Angie Benacquisto Dylan Individual Jumping Mini

Silver Janelle Julyan Eve Individual Agility Toy

Gold Stephanie Spyr Rage Individual Agility Midi

Gold Rosanne DeMascio Drifter Individual Gamblers Maxi

Silver Ann Zarr Skylar Individual Jumping Maxi

Silver Ann Zarr Skylar All Around Maxi

Bronze Angie Benacquisto Duncan Biathalon Toy

USA Medals

The 2010 IFCS World

Agility Championships were

held May 14-16 in Clevedon,

North Sommerset in the

United Kingdom. The US

was represented by Angie

Benacquisto with Toy Fox

Terrier Duncan and Rat

Terrier Dylan, Daneen Fox

and Papillon Masher, Janelle

Julyan and Pembroke Welsh

Corgi Eve, Rhonda Koeske and

mixed breed Tack, Elise Lynch

and Border Collie Ting, Kate

Moureaux and Border Collie

Driven, Stephanie Spyr and

Border Collie Rage, Rosanne

DeMascio and Border Collie

Drifter, Dudley Fontaine and

Border Collie Maverick, Ann

Zarr and Border Collie Skylar,

and Suzanne Wesley and

Poodle Sonic. The team was

coached by Stacy Peardot-

Goudy.

Unfortunately for Team

USA, the competition

started off on a dramatic and

unhappy note. On her first

run (Team Jumpers), US Team

member Dudley Fontaine

fell, dislocating her elbow.

Dudley was unable to run for

the remainder of the event.

Teammate Ann Zarr said, “It

was very sad when Dudley

got hurt. She did a great job

remaining positive through

such a difficult time.”

The rest of the team found

the WAC courses challenging

and fun. They enjoyed their

experiences at the event,

describing the excellent ring

flooring and beautiful hotel

room views. Getting to visit

with other US team members

and competitors from all over

the world were also big perks.

In addition to having fun,

the USA team returned home

with a number of individual

medals. In the medal count,

the team finished fourth of

all the countries, with a total

of nine.

But despite the efforts of

Team USA, the Russian team

Team USA in the opening parade.Photo by Karen Moureaux, dogsportphotos.com

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Unfortunately, upon

returning from the

Championships,

Angie Benacquisto’s

Dylan was diagnosed

with Lymphoma and

is now undergoing

treatment. The USDAA

community sends its

concern and sympathy

to the Benacquisto

family as they deal

with this difficult

disease.

Letter from the EditorIt won’t be long before the 2010 Cynosport World

Games are here. I’m looking forward to seeing the new

site and finding the perfect spot for online reporting.

I’ll be bringing you results and updates from the event,

and hopefully you will feel like you are a part of all the

excitement. Watch the news page at www.usdaa.com

for more information.

The Games rely heavily on dog sports enthusiasts

as volunteers in providing a wide range of support

services. If you are interested in volunteering, please

visit http://www.usdaa.com/se_volunteer.cfm for

details or email Leslie Bickel at volunteers@usdaa.com.

Already this year, USDAA website subscribers

have been treated to many interesting articles on the

Subscriber News page this summer. In addition to some

of the articles found in this newsletter, subscribers

currently have access to stories about handling systems,

recent trials, training tips, health and safety, and more,

many incorporating full color action photos from trials

and events. Recent titles include Handling Outside the

Box by Marla Friedler-Cooper, MA CPDT, Training 101:

How to be Fair to Your Dog by dog blogger Pam Hogle,

and The Three Commandments of Dog Training by Robin

Nuttall. Roving Reporter Ricky Roo (with help from her

owner, Deborah Davidson Harpur) often “interviews”

some of USDAA most competitive canines to find out the

source of their success. Courses and training exercises

are also available from league expert Leona Hellesvig,

top competitor Tania Chadwick, and others.

If you don’t subscribe, consider checking out all the

advantages of doing so. Visit https://www.usdaa.com/

generalInfo.cfm and click on “Purchase Data Services

and Dog Registration” to learn about Subscriber Services

and to purchase a subscription.

I hope you enjoy this issue of the USDAA OVERview.

If you have any questions, comments, or submissions,

please contact me at bfender@usdaa.com.

—B. Fender

COUNTRY GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL

Russia 14 12 10 36

Great Britain 3 4 6 13

Canada 1 5 5 11

USA 4 4 1 9

Japan 2 — 1 3

Belgium — — 1 1

New Zealand 1 — — 1

Netherlands — — 1 1

Medal Count by Country

was nearly unstoppable. It

was not unusual for them

to capture two medals in a

class, including the prized

Team Championship, where

two Russian teams took

the Gold and Silver (the

Canadian team earned the

Bronze medal). The two US

teams were seventh and

ninth. The Russians finished

as the clear victors in the

2010 Championships with

an impressive 36 medals

(14 gold, 12 silver, and 10

bronze).

All competitors’ runs

from the WAC are available

for viewing on demand at

https://www.usdaa.com/

video/index.cfm. Log into

competitor services first

and visit the “On Demand”

tab to purchase. If you don’t

have a dog registered with

USDAA, simply register

when prompted.

The 2012 IFCS World

Agility Championships will

be held in the United

States. This will be the first

time that the WAC will be

held on American soil.

More information will be

coming soon!

See courses and more

photos from this event on

the USDAA news page.

5 v o l . 5 , n o . 3

DOG AGIL IT Y

®

SM

real dogs. real people. true sport.A quarterly publication “promoting competitive excellence in dog agility.”SM

Fleet is an incredibly talented six-year-old Norfolk terrier and my 20-year-old daughter, Celine, has done a fabulous job training him. He’s had some impulse control issues and he needs constant reminding on the contacts, but he really is great at agility, except for the small problem of him not really seeing where the jumps are.

Fleet was seen by multiple veterinarians, specialists, and therapists and was fully x-rayed. An ophthalmologist did not find any other problems with his eyes but said that his problems were consistent with poor depth perception.

It’s pretty darned clear that Fleet has trouble seeing jumps, most likely due to Early Take-Off Syndrome (known in the agility world as ETS). Over the last five years of training, Celine has tried every single suggestion offered to make him a better jumper, all to no avail. Eventually we settled on flooding him with vertical visual distractions so that he could not look for jump standards, and that made the biggest difference of all. His horizontal depth perception is no better than it’s ever been, but changing how he needs to find the jumps taught him to do a very fast modified stutter step as he approaches the jump, which allows him the time he needs to duck his head and see where the bar is.

All of a sudden, after years of working on it, Fleet is able to keep most bars up and now he’s starting to Q. When he doesn’t

Q, it’s not because he took the whole course apart; it’s just one bar down or a single missed contact.

A lot of people would have either given up on him or taught him to move a lot slower so that he would have an easier time keeping bars up. Celine never gave up on the vision of him being able to do agility at speed and with bars up. Fleet did not Q a single time for the first four years Celine trialed him. Not once. I think of this sometimes when people get frustrated because their dog has an issue and hasn’t qualified in a couple of weeks, or months, or even all season. It is frustrating, and everyone has to make their own decision as to how to proceed, but it’s not as though it’s the end of the world.

We often talk about “not caring about the Q,” but of course, we do care about the Q to some extent. I think that over the course of four years trialing without a Q, Celine got past that. She really didn’t care about the Q anymore; she just wanted to go out there and show off how fast and focused her little dog was.

And now, the dog that never qualified and the handler who didn’t let that get her down are competing in upper levels of competition and having a blast!

A version of this article first appeared at http://fjoiris.livejournal.com and is

reprinted by permission. Photo by Sassie Joiris.

5 v o l . 5 , n o . 3

On July 1, 2010, the USDAA Board released several approved rule changes, which can be read in full onlne. Effective dates range from immediate to 2011, depending on the particular change. Some of the highlights are:• The weave poles specifications have

been expanded. Poles shall be set at 22" (55cm) spacing when measured center to center, with tolerance in construction permitted of +/– 2" (5cm).

• The tire jump definition now permits an option to use a “displaceable” tire. When the tire is displaced or separated, a penalty of five standard fault points shall be assessed. Check the website for the specifications of acceptable

displaceable tires.

• All tires should have cabling that does 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).

• 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.). Class names will remain unchanged.

• A new Veterans Program will be introduced for the primary titling classes. Details will be published later.

• The Performance Speed Jumping tournament will introduce Regional Championship classes and a Championship Quarterfinals class in the annual Championship.

• 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.

A new rulebook that incorporates the changes will be coming soon.

Long-Awaited Rules Changes Announced*

Never Give Up* By Sassie Joiris

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DOG AGIL IT Y

®

SM

real dogs. real people. true sport.A quarterly publication “promoting competitive excellence in dog agility.”SM

Trainer’s Corner:

Work Your Distance Skills* By Tania Chadwick

Training sequences based on Wim Bekendam’s biathalon

jumpers course from the IFCS World Agility Championships.

FIGURE 1The opening closely resembles the actual course. Although

the first five jumps look innocent enough, achieving a nice smooth

line may be a challenge. Try these three ways handle the opening:• Use all rear crosses and aim for very timely right, left, and

shoulder turns to show your dog where he’s going next.

• Use all front crosses and aim for smooth turns and no hesitations from your dog as he moves from jump to jump.

• Try a combination of crosses with a lead-out past #2, front cross after #3, and rear crosses between #4–#5–#6 with a nice pull to the tunnel.

FIGURE 2• Don’t be frightened to drive your dog through the #3–#4–#5

sequence because of the off-course jump at #6; instead drive with confidence through the straight line of jumps by focusing on and managing the turn to #5 nicely with a timely strong shoulder pull to the tunnel.

• Run along the inside of the tunnel and have your dog exit on your left hand. Make sure he hears his name and sees you moving to #6 so that your dog drives with you instead of hesitating and looking at the off-course jump near the exit.

• The turn over #6 can go either direction, but try the turn to the right, which puts him on your right hand. Drive through #7–#8 and then front cross between #8 and #9. Send him over #9 off your left hand and get him back to the right hand with a front cross, drive up to #10, cross behind and drive to the tunnel and the last jump.

FIGURE 2

FIGURE 1

Plan Your Training Sessions to Target SkillsBy Diana Wilkins

Plan to train for a short time. Work your plan and stop. Avoid the trap that we all fall

victim to occasionally of “Let’s do it just one more time.” Get the best bang for your buck

during these sessions so that you end each one with a sense of accomplishment. Plan to

train specific skills that you want to hone. If you are super-organized, prioritize the skills and

plan a schedule for each skill. You will find that you can make tremendous progress with a

little bit of focus.