Recent content by Sealtainn

I agree with much of what was written. OTOH, she makes a supportive statement for the opposite by stating that backside of a wingless is unfair, and acknowledges if you are faced with these challenges it is something that would need to be trained for & from what I read she hasn't & thus makes...

So its in CA this year, and we went to 3 trials I think & got all the Q's needed to enter. I've never gone before & am not even sure I will go to this one, mostly due to time off work & cost: it's a bit overwhelming to think about it & where I'll find the $'s needed for it. It's a huge cost for...

I feel like there is a lot of misleading or conflicting information out there. It's not uncommon to hear or read online public comments from nationally recognized expert A to recommend waiting until some point, yet to learn in a less public way that the same expert will disregard their own...

IMO yes, you can. OTOH, results may vary depending on the dog. Structure may be a limiting factor. Current fitness level may affect time frame.

As much as we'd hope that agility was fun and equally fair for everyone it is sadly not so in so many ways. When you get oversized dogs in to a particular height category then if they are competitive you will often see that equated to more efficient striding - for jump heights for shelties I...

Obviously ymmv. Most trials are about $70 for the weekend here. Plus, some teams have QQ rates higher than 75%. I think one of the OMD folks had written that he has a Q rate over 90%, & that can be found in this area too using meat & potatoes.

Offtopic: What is a national team qualifier? Besides that I agree. $1000 would exceed my annual budget for all of group classes, privates, seminars & club practices. Since I have no where to train (no yard & leash laws are strictly enforced at public parks) I'm not sure how I could even make...

I know you were hoping to hear from someone who is paying for this but I haven't seen any replies at all :( Like you, I feel $50/mo for that is too rich for me. The only people I know that do subscribe to it are professional dog trainers competing in agility. I guess they can deduct it as a...

Of the runs I saw Preferred had an abundance of "slower" dogs but, at least by the Challengers round onwards I didn't see too many really slow dogs in the Regular class. When it comes to AKC Nationals they favor the consistent dogs and unfortunately that encourages a large number of teams...

I only watched a small number of runs at Crufts. Given the amount of whining in the USA about our courses not being up to the same level of difficulty as those overseas, I was surprised to see how non-technical the courses were. I'll repeat I did not see all the runs, just a small sample...

This situation happens every now & then. I have never seen a dog E'd or NQ'd because of it. What I have seen is (a) the judge just lets it go with no action - if the run was clean then the run was clean (b) the judge calls for the handler to execute the obstacle (usually a jump) after the end...

I'm not really into conformation but I have seen more than a few shows on tv :) Yes, it is clear that there are many professional handlers in conformation. The "Pro" tag (or amateur) is not intended to be derogatory, it isn't an ugly word. What I have observed is that in conformation the...

I generally agree with this description. Yes, there are handlers who are paid to run others dogs... you see them with a gazillion labels on in AKC... I'm thinking these handlers are more likely to be running dogs for whom breeders are seeking agility titles in their line. All those pros are...

In recent memory I do recall one dog at a local USDAA trial repeatedly refuse to go through the tire as if it had never seen anything like it before. Afterwards the handler commented something about not being used to such a small tire or whatever the setup was that differed from what it was used...

My rationale for recognizing Professional & Amateur is not to separate anything but the recognition. i.e. you run the same courses in the same classes on the same day etc. So for local trials there would be no difference over what we have today. It is only when it comes to higher profile...