Comments on: The Uniqueness of the USDAA Nationals

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:47:00 +0000

I run a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a Shiba Inu and a rescue. I would absolutely love to see an ABC class. My rescue is very good but could never beat a BC in the 20″ class. I would like to give him the opportunity to be in the spotlight.

By: Maura

Maura — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:02:40 +0000

Englands had it for years and ABC class is long overdo!!!

By: Julia Lane

Julia Lane — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:24:05 +0000

I run Dalmatians in USDAA and like the idea of an ABC class, just to see some diversity and put the spotlight on less traditional performance breeds. At local shows, my 26″ Dal always places when we run clean. However, my 22″ Dal, who is often faster or gets more points in Gamblers/Snooker, never places because her class is dominated by BCs. And she’s no slouch, either! Thanks for the thought-provoking topic.

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:47:52 +0000

The recent USDAA finals did show case speed with open courses. But I’m not sure that’s always so common in USDAA in general. To see speed then you need to see some NADAC competitions.

As far as ABC I’m not in favor.

If an ABC were to be introduced I do agree it should be up to the owner to choose whether to compete in the championship against all other breeds, including BC’s or to then compete in the *non-championship* ABC class.

But IMHO I’m more concerned with how the height classes affect which breeds enter which height class. e.g. how many 16.1″ or 16.5″ shelties or aussies competing in the 22″ height class? No, those owners realize that wouldn’t be fair so they choose Performance.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:45:01 +0000

And for all the people who think they cannot compete at the National level because they do not have a BC (or herding breed) – of course you can!!!! Any breed can compete at the National level if you train hard enough. This is more of a discussion about getting into the USDAA Finals and even getting to the podium – in other words, head to head competition.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:42:45 +0000

OK, I’ve thought about it… I do agree that it would be great to showcase the brilliance of the other breeds in the large dog divisions, but not sure the ABC is the way to do it.
In one of my height classes (16″ championship) there is actually more diversity than ever – it used to be a Sheltie dominated division, and now we can add Pyr Sheps, Terriers, mixed breeds, poodles, etc to the top ranks. And, IMO, the 16″ class in USDAA has become incredibly competitive – hooray for the 16″ class!

About the AnythingButACollie class…. it is a great idea, but how exactly do you figure out who is a Border Collie and who is not a Border Collie? Does it mean that USDAA now has to get into the business of checking pedigrees? USDAA is NOT a kennel club, and I, for one, am very happy about that. So, does the dog in the 22″ division that is 3/4 BC and 1/4 whippet or 1/4 kelpie count as a BC or a non-BC?

It may sound like a no-brainer, but USDAA is a very competitive venue. If there are spots in a Finals available to non-BCs based on breed, then I do believe that people will call be quick to put their non-traditional looking BCs (or BCs without a pedigree) into the ABC class. Sorry if I think poorly of the morals of people, but…

Tracy

By: Shawn

Shawn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:55:03 +0000

I agree 100% ! I would love to see something like this set up although I’d like to see the top 5 or top 10 dogs, not just the top 3. While I run a BC now, I was running a 19″ Sheltie and while he was fast in his day he couldn’t compete with the BC’s. It is what held me back so long on getting his ADCh. I just needed those darn Super Q’s. It would also be nice if the ADCh didn’t depend solely on SQ’s… It would be nice if you could get 3 SQs or say, 25 regular Snooker Q’s… but I digress. It would be a shame if all the great dogs out there got lost in a sea of BCs.

By: JoAnna

JoAnna — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:42:14 +0000

Susan,

You inspired a blog post of my own about the topic:

http://www.thebark.com/content/anything-border-collie

I’m conflicted! But I would definitely support something to showcase the top ABC dogs at nationals. Not sure how I feel about a separate class like they seem to have at Olympia in the UK.

JoAnna

By: Claire Duder DVM

Claire Duder DVM — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:06:32 +0000

One reason that I really enjoy the AAC regionals and nationals format is that Border Collies do not dominate the large height divisions as much. Not that they don’t do well, but the cumulative format and the fact that faulting removes time bonuses brings a different flavour of competition to these events.

By: Sara Reusche

Sara Reusche — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:02:39 +0000

I would support an Anything but a Herding Breed class. I think Aussies, Cattle Dogs, Kelpies, and Shelties are all also sought out by agility competitors who think only herding dogs can be competitive. There are plenty of nice Pit Bulls, Golden Retrievers, Dobermans, German Shorthaired Pointers, Poodles, and shelter mutts out there who are talented agility dogs. I remember watching a very talented Pharoah Hound running once and thinking that I was much more impressed by that dog than any dime-a-dozen Border Collie.

Classes that are made up of all one breed also aren’t as interesting for the casual spectator. I have a student with a lovely little Lab cross who went to a local agility trial and was disappointed to see so many BCs – she honestly thought she couldn’t do agility with her dog because her dog wasn’t the ‘right’ breed! What a shame that there are people out there who are led to believe such a thing and never embark on the wonderful journey of agility training simply because of an erroneous misconception.