Continuing Content Has Been MOVED

Featured

Future content can now be found at:

https://www.ultimuttds.com/idal

The new address is being used because there are many limitations and challenges in using a WordPress site without purchasing a plan. Since we already have a webhost and domain, the content will now be posted there.

Thank you for understanding!

2022 Winter-Spring 40×85 IDAL League Results

Congratulations to Homie and Lauren Sanchez-Suzmann for being the Top Dog for the Regular 40×85 League.

Congratulations to Simla and Karen Perse for being the Top Dog for the Initiate/Dabbler 40×85 League.

This post presents the results for the first season of 2022 for the 40×85 league. The first season ran from January through April. This is the first season in which we had a separate league for our less experienced handlers/dogs. We are trying several new things this year.

40×85 Regular Results

Here is the rank ordering of the dogs by total LPP for the Season.

Here are the totals and subtotals by Club to help you find your dog.

40×85 Initiate/Dabbler Results

Please interpret the club rankings with a grain of salt because not all clubs ran a minimum of five dogs. The individual rankings are more relevant as a result.

An Open Invitation to New Players

New clubs and individuals are always welcome to join us and play these courses. Contact the League Secretary to help with the details at pagc.live@gmail.com.   

Follow us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TopDogAgilityPlayers/

Read our blog:
https://topdogagilityplayers.wordpress.com/

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Questions, comments, snide remarks, and feedback go to Melissa Wallace, IDAL Secretary, at pagc.live@gmail.com.

October 2021 IDAL League Courses

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The following courses are for October 2021 IDAL play. This month we have some more new courses. The 60×90 course concept was designed by Melissa Wallace for competition in TDAA just last month. Obviously, the course has been spaced out for the larger dogs. Interestingly, TDAA has started allowing dogs from 20” to 22” to play as long as the club uses full size equipment. However, the spacing remains tighter than what you have in this month’s league courses. How will the big dogs do? I am curious to find out.

I modified the 60×90 to nest somewhat with the 36×85 and 50×70 course sizes. I am looking forward to running these two courses. I already ran the 60×90 à la TDAA style.

If you would like to design courses for the league or learn how to design courses, give me a shout. I will add you to our group.

50×70 Fast & Fun

The October 2021 50×70 Fast & Fun league game is a Numbered Course, based on a design by Melissa Wallace. Follow the numbers, keep the bars up, and hit the yellow.

60×90 Masters

The October 2021 60×90 Masters league is also a numbered course designed by Melissa Wallace. A Numbered Course is scored Time, Plus Faults.

36X85 Fast & Fun

The October 2021 36×85 Fast & Fun league is a numbered course based on a design by Melissa Wallace. A Numbered Course is scored Time, Plus Faults.

An Open Invitation to New Players

New clubs and individuals are always welcome to join us and play these courses. Download the scorekeeping worksheet below. Contact the League Secretary to help with the details at pagc.live@gmail.com.   

The 50×70 Fast & Fun League is intended to allow the dog to work at full extension with modest handling challenges.

The 60×90 Masters League focuses on advanced handling challenges.


The 36×85 Fast & Fun League is intended to allow the dog to work at full extension with modest handling challenges.

  • Existing league franchises will be emailed their scorekeeping worksheets set up with their current rosters. If you would like multiple scoresheets, just let me know.

Follow us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TopDogAgilityPlayers/

Read our blog:
https://topdogagilityplayers.wordpress.com/

BLOG1602 IDAL

Questions, comments, snide remarks, and feedback go to Melissa Wallace, IDAL Secretary, at pagc.live@gmail.com.

August 2014 Top Dog Agility Challenge

We’re making a modest start with Top Dog in the month of August, 2014. At Queen City Dog Training Club in Cincinnati, Ohio we’ll run a tournament of three challenge courses with no more than 40 dogs.

This has been called the YouTube Invitational. The idea is that we will post results of the tournament in this BLOG, including a link to the YouTube recording of each of those performances. Anybody who sets up the course, anywhere in the world, will be included in those results.

Anyone (club, group or individual) may set up any or all of the Challenge Courses. For results to be recorded for this event the courses must be run in the month of August, 2014, and results must be reported by midnight on August 31, 2014.

If you would like to play, these are important resources for you:

TDAP Pup Registration Form (it’s free);
Scorekeeping Package for August 2014 Challenge Courses (Excel file);
Top Dog Rules and Regulations (Our simple system for scoring performance)

Challenge Courses

We are honored that our courses for this challenge were designed by Stuart Mah, a judge and competitor with a tremendous depth of knowledge and skills, a beloved old-timer, and a pioneer in the sport of dog agility.

The judge for the event at Queen City on August 5th is Brenda Gilday.  Brenda is a popular judge for Canine Performance Events (CPE) and the Teacup Dogs Agility Association (TDAA).

First Round Game: Steeplechase

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Briefing

This is a simple numbered course. The scoring basis is: Time, Plus Faults.

Follow the numbers, keep the bars up, hit the paint. And have fun.

Second Round Game: Time Warp

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Briefing

This is a simple game, run like a standard course. The Scoring Basis is Time, Plus Faults, Less Bonus. There is an opportunity on this course to earn a 50 point bonus which is subtracted from the Time, Plus Faults part of your score: If you can stay on the opposite side of the containment line through your dog’s performance of obstacles #12 through #15, then you will earn a 50 point bonus. Note that the bonus is not lost for any faults in the distance challenge.

Secretary’s Pick

The course will be used for the league challenge.

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This is a standard course. The scoring basis is Faults, Then Time. Follow the numbers, keep the bars up, and hit the paint. And have fun.

 

League Challenge

The event at Queen City is intended to be a role model for the conduct of a league competition. A league team represents a community of agility enthusiasts. The team itself is limited to five dogs. The performance scores of these five dogs will be the team score.

As no league committee exits at this point, to establish league rules, to set calendar and objectives, we will recognize only a short set of rules:

  • Each dog in a league must be registered with Top Dog Agility Players
  • Dogs will be scored observing TDAP rules for performance, and are eligible for TDAP titles and honors.
  • The five league dogs must be identified before the competition.

That last bullet is an important bit. At Queen City we will be running maybe 40 dogs in the competition. We can not run the 40 dogs and then pick the top five scores to represent the league team. Consequently, the first two games are intended as Qualifying rounds. Each dog’s combined scores from those games will represent their qualifying score. The top five dogs from the Qualifying rounds till be delegated the league team.

That is not to say that this is the only way for a club or group to define their official league team. Flipping coins would be an acceptable method for selecting the team, as would “hand picking” the team. The only stipulation is that the team must be defined before the competition.

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston Houston.Bud@gmail.com. Visit the web store at: www.dogagility.org/newstore. Please note that the web store carries The Book of Agility Games. This is an important reference for any club who plays the variety of games that we’ll play in Top Dog Agility Players.

League Play

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We need an earnest discussion about the “agility league” especially and obviously as it relates to Top Dog Agility Players. Just a couple days ago we published an Introduction, which outlines how the opening night of league play will work at Queen City Dog Training Club in Cincinnati, OH on August 5, 2014.

And now, the real question for which inquiring want an answer. Why is the final league team randomized? Why not come into a competition with a team already assembled. After all, that builds team spirit and camaraderie.

Bear with me on this. One club only gets one team. Can that club preselect the team? Of course they can. What we have at Queen City is a competition to which about 40 dogs will be invited. Why would they show up if “the team” were already selected? What we’re going to do is have two rounds of qualifying courses or games. Every dogs placement against the field accumulated over the two rounds will determine who gets to be on the five dog team. And then, in the final round, the scores earned by those five dogs will constitute the score of the Queen City team. And this is the score will be recorded against any other teams that report a score for league play.

A league must have rules. One of our really basic rules is that the team must be selected before running the challenge course. It would be unfair (and, obviously, against our rules) if we ran 40 dogs on the challenge course and afterwards picked the top five scores to represent the team score. That wouldn’t be a team at all.

At this point we don’t even know if other clubs around the country (or around the world) will compete with the Queen City team. This isn’t going to be a quick and easy start-up.

If you are going to play, or feel like you want to… get in touch with me. I’ll help you get started! ~ Bud Houston Houston.Bud@gmail.com.  Come out and play with us!

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston Houston.Bud@gmail.com. Visit the web store at: www.dogagility.org/newstore. Please note that the web store carries The Book of Agility Games. This is an important reference for any club who plays the variety of games that we’ll play in Top Dog Agility Players.

Everything That’s Old is New

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We are working on some sweeping changes to the basic rules, mostly to simplify and make play in Top Dog more attractive and easy to assume. Stand by for a gentle rewrite of our Rules and Regulations.

Not too long ago somebody told me “If you keep picking at it, it will never get better.” The point is well taken, of course. In my own defense you should understand that I have always observed the Antonio Stradivari method. He is rumored to have said “I just polish and polish until they come to take it away.”

The rules change that I’m most excited about is removal of the closing date for a posted course or a game. Results will be collected perpetually for any published event. With that in mind, we are going to go back through posted courses since the first moment we launched Top Dog. Some of these have robust results… and some are orphans.

This also means, you should know, that any player can call for an immediate “Mulligans” or a do-over. Both runs/attempts, should be reported in results. This is a dramatic departure from the way nearly any agility organization in the world operates. Who is to say that the “standard” is actually the best rational standard? All systems of rules at their core are irrational. We will observe our own standard of the irrational.

I wrote about today’s posted rerun in my personal blog: http://wp.me/pmSZZ-19L.

July 2013 Event Rerun

This is: 113012A86x98. Click to download the score sheet (complete with course maps for CRCD).

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This course is both the oldest and the latest course challenge for Top Dog Agility. We’ve had a subtle rules change that allows re-running of any course. What it really means is that a course or game never “closes” but is left open like the high scores on a video game at the arcade where everybody has a shot at getting to Top Dog.

I’m having a conversation with a club down in Valencia, Argentina about joining us in the play of this course. That should be fun! Hey… isn’t it Winter in Argentina?

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston Houston.Bud@gmail.com. Visit the web store at: www.dogagility.org/newstore. Please note that the web store carries The Book of Agility Games. This is an important reference for any club who plays the variety of games that we’ll play in Top Dog Agility Players.

July Top Dog

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In consultation with the Top Dog Steering Committee we are introducing a few changes to the format. These really aren’t small changes. So try to follow along.

  1. All events will be permanently open. Results for each event will be maintained on a historical basis. Therefore, all closing dates documented for events are no longer in effect; (give me time, and I’ll remove all of them).
  2. A dog may repeat a course or game; and each score recorded individually. The repeated run may be on the same day… or at any later date.
  3. Titles will be normalized to reflect systems used by other agility organizations.

The rules need to be edited to reflect these changes.

Events for July 2013

We begin July with two numbered courses. Please note that the second is a Jumpers course. Because it is not a game… it becomes a numbered course.

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  Numbered Course
  Time Plus Faults
  160 yards

 

Qualifying: 4″

92

seconds
8″

82

seconds
12″

74

seconds
16″

67

seconds
20″+

60

seconds

 

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070113B60x90
  Numbered Course
  Time Plus Faults
  160 yards

 

Qualifying: 4″

50

seconds
8″

45

seconds
12″

40

seconds
16″

36

Seconds
20″+

33

Seconds

 

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston Houston.Bud@gmail.com. Visit the web store at: www.dogagility.org/newstore. Please note that the web store carries The Book of Agility Games. This is an important reference for any club who plays the variety of games that we’ll play in Top Dog Agility Players.

New Events for May & June 2013

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Today we are opening two new numbered courses and a wicked fun distance/jumping game. These events will close at the end of June.

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Numbered courses are always scored: Time, Plus Faults.

Qualifying:

4″           82 Seconds
8″           74 Seconds
12″         67 Seconds
16″         60 Seconds
20″+       54 Seconds

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Numbered courses are always scored: Time, Plus Faults.

Qualifying:
4″           89 Seconds
8″           80 Seconds
12″         72 Seconds
16″         65 Seconds
20″+     58 Seconds

Jumplers
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Briefing

This is a simple numbered course. If the handler can run the entire course without ever stepping inside the red box, 15 bonus points will be earned. If the handler can run the entire course without ever leaving the red box, 25 bonus points will be earned.

Jumplers is scored: Time, Plus Faults, Less Bonus.

Qualifying:

4″                    60 Seconds
8″                    53 Seconds
12″                  48 Seconds
16″                  43 Seconds
20″+                39 Seconds

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston Houston.Bud@gmail.com. Visit the web store at: www.dogagility.org/newstore. Please note that the web store carries The Book of Agility Games. This is an important reference for any club who plays the variety of games that we’ll play in Top Dog Agility Players.