chic_n_cheeze Posted January 30, 2001 Report Share Posted January 30, 2001 Help! I was just looking at a calendar of Agility events. Can anyone please explain what the following terms mean? Gamblers Jumpers 2 for $25 standard $10 games That's all the terms I can recall for now- thank you Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholla Posted January 31, 2001 Report Share Posted January 31, 2001 Best I remember and don't hold me to it: Gamblers is a class where the obstacles have points, the more difficult ones more, and you make up your own course so you can get over the most jumps and the ones with the highest points in the time permitted.You can repeat jumps only x times. In horses is called "gambler's choice". Jumpers is a class without pause table etc. that goes faster than a regular standard class. Never heard of the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Posted January 31, 2001 Report Share Posted January 31, 2001 Gamblers is run as follows. The opening, where each obstacles has a point value, you can take each thing up to two times, you can take obstacles in the closing sequence but may not run any of the closing obsicles in sequence. The closing sequence is a course of three to four absticles each given a point value and must be run in order. There is a line on the ground and you may not go past the line. The higher the level of the class the further the line is away from the equipment and the more complex the closing sequence. Both the opening and the closing sequence are timed, they will blow a wistle when the open is over, you then move to and do the closing. The goal is to get as many possiable points in the opening and to complete the closing before the wistle blows. There is a minimun number of points you must have to qualify including the closing done correctly. The class is won by having the most points, then the fastest time. Seems confusing..but it is not when you watch a few runs you will quickly see how it works. Jumpers is a course of jumps, tunnels, shoots and tire jump. The course is usually designed to be fast. Knocking a bar is 5 fault points off. The class is won by getting the fastest time with the least amount of faults. In novice there are no refusals, so don't worry about that but do watch and learn about them because as you move up to the higher classes they will become fault points. NADAC requires less than 10 fault points off and under the allowed max. time to qualify. USDAA does not allow any fault points to quailty, and you must be under max. time allowed, but you can place with fault points. 2 for $25 standard means you get both standard classes for $25.00 Standard is called standard or titleing. $10.00 for games means all the games cost $10.00 each. Games include gamblers, jumpers snooker, pairs. If it gives a package price that means you get both standard runs and all the games for that price. Have a great time! Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chic_n_cheeze Posted January 31, 2001 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2001 Thank you both for your replies! As you can tell, I'm just getting started at pursuing Agility. I have a one yr male BC that is about the fastest, most agile I've ever seen. I adopted him from Rescue and we are currently working through some fear agression issues. He has made leaps and bounds of progress just in a few weeks time. I'm hoping that this spring he may be ready to take some classes. I am going to watch as many trials as I can and learn thru osmosis=0) My dream with this dog is Flyball! I think I have a Champion here. However, the closest one to me is over an hour away. With 3 kids, 2 dogs, a full time job and a husband- I don't have time in any given night to drive over 2 hours for a class. I'm still looking for one closer, or at starting one in the area. Debbie- How long have you been doing Agility? What makes a good agility dog? Thanks again for the info! Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Posted January 31, 2001 Report Share Posted January 31, 2001 What makes a good agility dog? Well that depends on who you ask! This is what I like: a dog that is self motivated, wants to do the course, not fearful..being bold and confident. I like a smaller dog that can turn on a dime and can get their back feet underneath their body. I like a dog that runs a tight course, another words one that is turning mid-air and cutting off every inch of the course they can. A dog that tends to run tight to me..meaning it will come in and wrap around my legs when asked. A dog that is responsive to body lanuguage, stays focused on the job at hand. And one that is very fast! So in a nut shell, little, tight, fast and bold. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meredith Johnson Posted February 10, 2001 Report Share Posted February 10, 2001 Hello Chic_n_Cheeze, I chose agility for my border collie Tess and WE love it! This is my second BC. I really regret not doing something structured with my first. We have a group lesson once a week. There are several dogs in my class that have agility twice a week, though I wouldn't say they advanced any faster than my dog. One of the dogs has an injured back now and can't jump at full competition height. I always thought the owner pushed her dog too hard. I'm just letting you know that more training time every week doesn't necessarily mean your dog advances faster. My BC is supposed to jump 24 or 26 inches in competition, but I always jump her at 20 in class, with 16 inches for a warmup. BC's love activity, but they're definitely not machines. She has no problem clearing the bars in competition. I guess my point is that we have lots of fun, but I'm careful not to overdo anything. I see some people who acquire BC's simply because they know BC's are very good at agility. I don't like that too much, especially when I see competitors curse their BC's once off course for mistakes. I know how sensitive BC's are and it pains me to see this. We use only positive reinforcement in our class. It's a great idea to watch agility. You'll see that 99% of the mistakes are caused by the handler. It's your job as the handler to learn how your dog reads your body language and to adapt your directions to your dog's style. If I even turn my head or shoulder the wrong direction on the course, it affects the way my dog runs. You'll be amazed at the subtleties your dog reads in you. You and your dog will be a team, not a dog responding to commands. If you really want to learn a lot, volunteer to work on the front lines - timimg, course builder, leash runner, etc. Clubs always need volunteers. Have fun! Meredith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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