# What venues do you compete in?



## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

In anything... just curious.

So far we have only done USDAA agility but have sat in on AKC trials too. Once our weaves are where I want them, we will probably do AKC since there's about 20x the AKC shows in the area vs anything else.

I'm considering entering in some non-weave classes in NADAC with Summer and my mini schnauzer friends are trying to talk me into TDAA.

Once NACSW has trials in the area, I think we will do nosework trials through them.

I'm also considering doing AKC rally- I've taken classes and it would be easy to get their RN at least.... I'm not sure I can talk myself into it but I'm thinking about it.


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

Not competing yet but training in CPE agility.
I'm also very strongly considering starting AKC rally at the end of the month.

Is it hard to switch between venues? Do you have to go back to the basics (training classes, etc.) to compete?


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

CARO rally, AAC and CPE agility, NAMBR for Ob and earthdog, and soon to be SDDA for nosework.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Kirsten&Gypsy said:


> Not competing yet but training in CPE agility.
> I'm also very strongly considering starting AKC rally at the end of the month.
> 
> Is it hard to switch between venues? Do you have to go back to the basics (training classes, etc.) to compete?


It depends on the venue. Summer and I did UKC agility several years ago and it is very very different. AKC and USDAA have very similar obstacles but UKC has a lot of different ones.

Now... the rules change between venues and that is confusing for me. I am just now starting to understand USDAA pretty well. AKC is fairly straightforward but I was reading some NADAC stuff and am totally confused. Some venues have a lot of games (like USDAA gamblers and snookers) where you won't see things like that in AKC. NADAC doesn't have a lot of the obstacles and has others- like gates and barrels and hoops. So you'd have to train other obstacles. Supposedly NADAC is a lot of distance stuff too. 

I know nothing about CPE, it's not around here at all. I know USDAA is sometimes considered pretty intense compared to other venues- higher jump heights, shorter course times. AKC is known around here as being more uptight/less newbie friendly. I think CPE is supposed to be fairly laid back and same with NADAC.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

The only Agility they have around here for crossbreeds is AAC. There is a NADAC club on Vancouver Island that looks interesting but it is so expensive to go to their trials by the time you pay the ferry and stay somewhere that I have not looked into it much.

They have CARO Agility that lets crossbreeds compete in and may look into that. I don't know if I want to go CKC with Kris or not.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

I do AKC obedience, rally, and agility. All levels. I also do some CPE agility.


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## MafiaPrincess (Jul 1, 2009)

I find AAC agility the most straight forward out of the two we do, but it's also harder to Q as it's fault free. When we play CPE I take my rulebook along and quickly re-read each game before we go in the ring to refresh myself on their rules and what goes and doesn't.. as CPE doesn't allow training in the ring at all.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

We've done both AKC Rally and WCRL (was APDT) Rally. The rules are extremely similar but on the whole I think I have a slight preference for WCRL, it might be the club/venue that hosts them (only one around here does so far) but I've found that the trials tend to be more relaxed and the atmosphere more supportive than the AKC trials we've been to.


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## LoMD13 (Aug 4, 2010)

Just USDAA, and that's probably all I will do for the for foreseeable future. It's comfortable and I know what to expect.


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## kadylady (Sep 23, 2010)

We are just starting to compete but so far I have done AKC Rally with Luke and CPE Agility with Zoey. I really enjoyed the AKC Rally trial we attended last month and we will do our second one in December. The CPE agility was great, we have our next trial in 2 weeks. I have been told several times that CPE is the most laid back and newbie friendly agility venue. There also seem to be a decent number of CPE trials close enough to me so I figure we will probably stick there for awhile. We may try AKC once we get weaves down as the club I train with hosts a couple AKC trials as well as CPE and UKC.


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## MrsBoats (May 20, 2010)

Let's see..obedience: AKC and UKC right now. I would like to try that CDSP obedience at some point. 

Rally: AKC, UKC, and APDT

Agility: AKC, USDAA, and NADAC. I will admit, I'm falling out of love with NADAC because they are introducing those gates and barrels which your dog has to run around. Barrels will eventually take the place of curved tunnels on courses and I don't know how I feel about that. I'm really not interested in teaching my dog to run around an obstacle because I think it will lead to dogs going around jumps if the handling cues aren't clear. Everyone thought I was nuts to think that...but guess what I'm starting to see from NADAC handlers who go to the other venues where refusals count...their dogs running around jumps and they can't figure out why they are now doing that. Too much grey area for my tastes. NADAC courses are very wide open and they are all about "the flow." They don't have much collection on their courses...and with a young dog who doesn't like to decelerate much anyway, I'm backing away from courses than enable my dogs to run full throttle on every time they are in the ring.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Generally AKC. For now just doing conformation, but I plan to do AKC Rally and Obedience, possibly tracking in the future. I'm also planning on an NACSW trial in the spring for nosework.

I'm not sure what is most popular for agility around here. We will start classes this winter, hopefully, but not sure if we will trial. I know there are a lot of AKC events, and I believe CPE is around too.


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## quatro (Aug 14, 2013)

We train and compete in IPO.


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

Right now I only compete in CPE with Frag. Recon and I will be doing CPE and AKC. AKC is a little bit harder because they require more right away, don't have as many games, and require fewer faults for novice levels. They have more complex courses from what I have seen as well. CPE is much more user friendly and newb friendly IMO, but AKC isn't too bad around here, either. Very different rules. 

All three boys compete in UKC dock diving and Frag competes in UKC lure coursing. AKC herding will be in our future, along with UKC barnhunt and nosework most likely. AKC rally, as well.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

Conformation, Stockdog, Tracking, and Obedience we do ASCA
Tracking, Obedience, and Agility we do AKC


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## Indigo (Mar 31, 2011)

AAC, CKC, and AKC were the only agility venues available to us and that's what we competed in. I would have preferred NADAC at the time. There was one UKC club but they did not hold trials. Switching venues isn't difficult, especially if you train for it.

For flyball our team was registered with NAFA (people apparently use UFLI now).

For herding we were under AHBA.

Disc dog we were under CDDA.

We also worked on samoyed versatility titles under the OWS (http://ows.samoyed.org/).


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## Finkie_Mom (Mar 2, 2010)

AKC for everything for us.


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## So Cavalier (Jul 23, 2010)

We do mostly CPE agility. My girl, Gemma, just needs one more Standard Q to get her C-ATCH. We have two trials coming up, so fingers crossed. We also do NADAC, but not as much as CPE. I haven't seen the Extreme Games in NADAC, but some of my friends really love it. I have also done AKC Rally but not past novice. Agility is my first love.


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## Jmc1985 (Nov 27, 2012)

AKC rally and conformation currently. Hoping to start agility with NADAC this winter once my boy is old enough. We're also going to try our hand at lure coursing, but just as something fun.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

Conformation: CKC
Flyball: NAFA
Agility: AAC
Rally: CARO

most of my dogs are mix breeds so I really don't have a choice in venue around here.


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## Poly (Sep 19, 2007)

Kirsten&Gypsy said:


> Not competing yet but training in CPE agility.
> I'm also very strongly considering starting AKC rally at the end of the month.
> 
> Is it hard to switch between venues? Do you have to go back to the basics (training classes, etc.) to compete?


Hard? Not really. Automatic? No- you do have to train for them. I wouldn't say you have to start from the beginning for every venue, though.

In companion events, we've done AKC (rally, obedience, agility), UKC (obedience). CDSP (obedience) , USDAA(agility), NADAC(agility), and APDT/World Cynosport(rally). 

Generally speaking, if you've worked in one event/venue, and want to move to the _equivalent level or lower_ in a different venue in the same event, it isn't a serious issue to prepare for that. You can pick it up fairly easily. Overall, the 'degrees of difficulty' in the different venues are quite similar. You just have to study the rules of each venue and train yourself and your dog to work accordingly. I don't think it's necessary to attend a course for every venue, but you might want to work a couple of extra sessions with someone who knows the 'new' venue. There's always little things that don't seem to be completely covered by the rule books. 

Moving to a _different_ companion event, or to a _higher level _ in the same event - that's when it becomes much more of a training issue. And yes, I would say in those cases, you do have to think about training class(es). 


In field and performance events, things may not be so straightforward and can be _very_ different - so different that different venues may seem like totally different events. You'll have to be more specific if you want to know about those.


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