Root Beer Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 It is so QUIET!!! A noise phobic dog's handler's dream!! No teeters banging, no whistles blowing, no mechanical voices saying "GO"!! Today Dean was normal dog at an Agility trial like all the others. It was very, very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 My favorite venue...very dog and exhibitor friendly and I love the choices of classes they offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 I did my first NADAC trial last month. It was fun! Too bad we only get two a year around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlasl Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 We have quite a few NADAC trails close to me (within an hour or two anyway). Almost one a month. Looking forward to it when Maya is old enough and we are ready. But other than AKC that is about it. There is one or two USDAA trials a year within a couple hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretBC Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 I adore NADAC. And this class is why -- I LOVE Chances. Working with your dog 30' or more away from you is an amazing feeling when it all comes together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted May 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 Wow! That's impressive! How much "easier" is it in Novice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 Yep, I too love NADAC - and do some USDAA as well. NADAC is so about the safety of the dog - the "next dog doesn't leave the start line until the previous dog is on leash" is soooo wonderful! And the default is now that the leash runner (children not allowed to do this either!) hands the leash, collar open, to the handler - unless you want something else (it can be left on the ground or a chair, or handled by someone else). NADAC is all about speed and distance, so this is a typical Elite course (funny....we did that very one not long ago!). Elite distance from the farthest obstacle is usually about 20-25'. Open is 15' or so, and Novice usually 10-15'. The earlier classes are not so likely to have the change of direction, but could well have an obstacle discrimination at distance. Well done, Lukester! diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSmitty Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 Karissa, that was great! The only video we got was of Tunnelers (my friend took it). I almost didn't enter the class, but it was so much fun, I'm glad we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted May 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 And the default is now that the leash runner (children not allowed to do this either!) hands the leash, collar open, to the handler - unless you want something else (it can be left on the ground or a chair, or handled by someone else). We ran into that on Sunday! Dean LOVED it. He thought that standing in front of the lady with his leash, gazing at her adoringly, was the best part of the entire run. I'm serious!! We will have to do a bit of training to teach him not to run around the last obstacle to get to his leash buddy, but compared to the challenges we have in venues with teeters and whistles, that's just a nice simple bit of training. His adoration for the leash lady was comical - and very typical Dean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretBC Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 The difficulty of the Chances class has gone way up since we first started. The rules of the class have changed as more & more people have started to focus on the skills required for the class. When the Q rate gets too high, Sharon bumps everything up a notch again. The unfortunate byproduct of this is that people new to NADAC are often scared to death of the class.... There used to be hard-set rules for Chances. There are three "tests" in the classes -- Distance, Discrimination and Directionals. When I first started, Novice participants would see only one of these tests and have distances of no more than 10'. Open was two tests and 15'. Elite was all three tests and 20' to 25'. Now Novice participants can and will see all three tests in their classes, with distances easily reaching 15' or more (depending on the skill/test). It is not unheard of to see a 25' distance in the Open class. Elite? Yeah, we've had a few courses lately that have sends out past 30'. Many, many courses require us to work from within a "box" the entire course. The "lines" you see are active 100% of the time -- old courses used to only apply them to certain sections. It's definitely a class that you need to practice in order to be successful -- but it's so much fun. I started Kaiser (my second agility dog) with distance work from day one and he's actually happier working away from me. I plan to go the same route with Secret. I originally hoped to turn my first BC into what's called a "Super Stakes" dog -- where you do the entire course from pretty much behind the start line -- but I'm thinking Secret isn't going to be that type of dog. lol NADAC courses are indeed fast, flowing courses. Off course opportunities abound and it's tons of fun to maneuver through a course at top speed. I have friends putting in upwards of 9 YPS on Tunnelers courses these days. That kind of speed is INSANE. The best part of NADAC, IMO, has to do with their devotion to safety. I love that almost every NADAC club in my area now has rubber contacts. I love that almost everyone has gone to 24" weave poles (USDAA is still in the stone ages and refuses to allow more than 22"). I love the 5' a-frame and the lower jump heights. That whole anal-retentive leash rule I could do without.... Or at least the 10 minute lecture about it at the start of every trial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted May 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 The difficulty of the Chances class has gone way up since we first started. The rules of the class have changed as more & more people have started to focus on the skills required for the class. When the Q rate gets too high, Sharon bumps everything up a notch again. The unfortunate byproduct of this is that people new to NADAC are often scared to death of the class.... Actually, if it were not for his anxiety issues, I think I would love this class with Dean. When he's comfortable, he's a dog who loves to work at a distance. I think, though, that if we focus on Novice, we can train for this class. It will be one of those things where he will be able to do it when he's in the right frame of mind, but not when he's not. And that's OK because that's part of who he is. In any case, I think he will enjoy training for this sort of thing. Distance discriminations will be a worthy training challenge. NADAC courses are indeed fast, flowing courses. Off course opportunities abound and it's tons of fun to maneuver through a course at top speed. I have friends putting in upwards of 9 YPS on Tunnelers courses these days. That kind of speed is INSANE. That is one thing I noticed on Sunday! There were a lot of off course opportunities. Dean handled them well, though, and he actually didn't go off course at all. He thought about it a couple of times in Tunnelers, but he called off very nicely! These courses really suit him, though. The best part of NADAC, IMO, has to do with their devotion to safety. I love that almost every NADAC club in my area now has rubber contacts. I love that almost everyone has gone to 24" weave poles (USDAA is still in the stone ages and refuses to allow more than 22"). I love the 5' a-frame and the lower jump heights. I have to disagree with you there. The best part (for me) is the QUIET!!!!! But that's just me! :D Seriously, I do like the focus on safety, though. And the flowing courses. The tight course times are a bit daunting, but Dean can be that fast, so I don't mind. I would never seriously do NADAC with Maddie because she's totally velcro and I would have to be a lot faster to make course time out of Novice with her! I might take her along with Dean and me for fun sometimes, but just for the fun of it. She would have enjoyed running the courses on Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Posted May 27, 2010 Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 From the rules for Chances: "At the Elite level, distance tests shall be set at a minimum of 20 feet . At the Open level, distance tests shall be set at a minimum of 15 feet. At the Novice level, distance tests shall be set at a minimum of 10 feet." At every trial I've ever been to, the Chances course is the same for all levels. Only the location of the distance line changes. We will have to do a bit of training to teach him not to run around the last obstacle... This is generally more about handling than the dog's training. Most of the time when the dog skips the last obstacle it's because the handler in their mind has already finished the course and stopped handling the dog - not consciously, of course, but unconsciously. In addition to whatever training you are planning, you'll want to figure out how to really maintain that connection with your dog until after the finish line is crossed (I speak from personal experience here... ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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