2008 World Agility Championships

AKC/USA World Agility Championship Team
Helsinki, Finland
Day Five - September 26, 2008

Large Team Jumping
Course Measurement: 149 Meters/162.95 yards
Time: 39 Seconds (includes 5 seconds for table)
YPS: 4.18

The final course of the day was Large Dog Team Agility (Standard class). At the end of this class the 2008 World Champion Large Team will be crowned. Judge Alan Hansen designed a course that tested both speed and control. There were 2 elements that were different than what we see at AKC Trials. The dog walk had a secondary judge who was solely responsible for the upside contact judging. This proved a good addition due to the straight line fast start over jumps #1 & 2 onto the dog walk. The second difference was the electronic table. There is no specified position on the table. Some handlers left before the beeping signaled they could and this is a fault. Also dogs came off the table which also incurred a fault and then when they got back on the table restarted the count. The turn from #18 to the weaves proved to be the undoing for many teams. The announcers took to calling it "Allan’s Corner." After the judge who designed this course.

The 1st dog to the line for the USA/AKC Large Dog Team was Scream with Ann Braue. Ann and Scream made the course look easy as they quickly moved thru it. Ann was one of the few handlers who decided to turn her dog to the right as he came over jump #18 into the weave poles. This avoided the wrong course that had been the nemesis for other teams. They did it very smoothly and with great ease. Their time was 37.34 and the placed 9th out of all the dogs that ran the Large Dog Agility Course.

Next to the line was Marcus Topps and Juice. After placing 1st among all the dogs in Large Dog Jumping Marcus and Juiced proved it was not a fluke. They ran clean and very fast once again. When Juice flew over jump #20 only 35.94 seconds had elapsed. This placed them 2nd among all the dogs that ran in Large Team Agility for the afternoon.

Carrie Jones and Jive placed 3rd overall in the Large Team Jumping in the morning. They started out very strong on the Agility course. As they made it to the closing sequence Jive got a refusal at jump #16 and then as Carrie tried to bring her back around Jive back jumped it. In the FCI Rules a wrong course is elimination. It was a tough break for a team that had done so well earlier in the day.

The 2008 FCI Agility World Champions in the Large Team was Brazil with a total of 15.11 faults over the 2 courses. 2nd Place was the Netherlands at 17.49 faults. 3rd Place was Belgium with 19.00 faults.

Tomorrow the 1st round of Individual competition will begin with Jumping. The day will close Agility Team Small and Medium. By the end of Saturday the Small and Medium Team Champions for 2008 will be known.

 

Medium Team Jumping
Course Measurement: 140 meters/153.10 yards
Time: 31 seconds
YPS: 4.94

Judge Anne Savioja presented the Medium Dog team with a course very similar in style to the one designed for the Large Dog Team Jumping earlier in the day. The course opened with a fast run to a softsided entry to the weave poles. Many dogs pulled to the left of the poles completely or slipped past pole #2 for the refusal. One of the most challenging portions was the 270 turn off the #6 double. Many dogs turned tightly and dropped the bars. Dog and handler often had communication issues from the #9 chute to the #10 jump. Many handlers chose to work the chute on their right sides and that left them needing to time front or rear crosses very carefully so as to not confuse their dogs. Refusals and bars down were the norm from #10-14. Obstacles #16-20 were not too difficult, but by then many dogs had faults. The USA/AKC team all had solid fast weave pole entries, but it was not to be as each dog found their own way around the course. At the end of the day all teams had at least 1 course fault, plus time faults. There were no teams that went clean on this course. The top 3 teams at the end of the 1st round for Medium Teams were Italy, Germany and France.

     

Small Team Jumping
Course Measurement 135 meters/ 147.64 Yards
Time: 31 Seconds
YPS: 4.76

Next up was the small team jumping. The course designed by Judge Allan Hansen proved to be a fair challenge for the teams. What looked a bit daunting on paper proved to be a fairly fast course for the small dogs. Only a few handlers lost dogs into the wrong side of tunnel #3. Most handlers chose a front cross at #3 to turn the dogs to the #4 opening. There were a few missed turns from 7-8 that caused most dogs to pull through 7 & 8. From 11-13 there were a few bars down Once dogs turned from #16 the finish was a nice clean fast one for the teams.

Melanie Del Villagio and Dara took to the course first for Team USA. They worked very adeptly through all portions of the course and made it look very smooth. They crossed the line under course time at 30.99 seconds!!

Next to the line was Joan Meyer and her young boy Neil. Joan looked confident as she lead out to start the course and so did Neil as he tried to sneak up a bit behind her. He settled on the line and waited for her direction. Neil handled the course like a veteran of international competitions and they also crossed the line under course time at 30.99 seconds! The final run was from Dee Anna Gamel and Kelsi. They started out very strong negotiating #3-4 with a clean front cross, they then drove to #7 and into the 270 degree turn. Kelsi works as a solid, very responsive dog to Dee Anna’s direction. As she landed after the 270 degree turn Kelsi turned and then pulled left thru #7&8 jumps before Dee Anna could redirect her. It happened in a blink of an eye. They finished the course with fast clean lines throughout it.

The next course will be Medium Dog Team Jumping.

Large Dog Jumping
Measurement: 144 meters/157.48 Yards
Time: 30 Seconds
YPS: 5.25

Finally the day we have all been waiting for is here, the 1st day of the 2008 FCI Agility World Championship.

The morning started early with the teams assembled for the opening ceremony. At 8am the ceremony started with the FCI Board and delegates leading the parade of countries. Andy Hartman, AKC Agility Director was part of the procession of delegates. Then the delegates welcomed each county to the competition. The USA/AKC team was led by Team Coach Nancy Gyes and Kathie Leggett, Asst Coach as the flag bearer. The ceremony made everyone feel welcome and excited to be part of the weekend.

Large Dog Team Jumping was the 1st course of the morning. The walk-thru’s were divided up due to the large number of competitors. The U.S. walked in the second group and got a good look at the technically challenging course designed by Judge Anne Savioja. Once wheeled it was determined the course time would be 30 seconds.

From the beginning many dog and handler teams struggled with the course. There was no one spot that caused the most problems, they were spread out. Many dogs pulled early out of the poles as the handlers worked to keep them off of the obvious jump at #14 (which was set more in front of the weave exit than shown on the course map) and turn the dogs to jump #4 which was not visible to the dogs as they exited the weaves. The other common problem was downed bars as handlers tried to flatten their dog’s path from #10-15.

The USA/AKC team effort was led off by Ann Braue. Scream was more than ready to take on the course, but unfortunately he pulled early out of the weave entrance and before Ann could call him back he was over jump #4. A wrong course in FCI rules is an elimination of the team. They ran the rest of the course solidly.

Next to the line was Marcus Topps and his Border Collie, Juice. Juice showed her mettle as a veteran in international competition. She and Marcus worked cleanly and quickly through the course and posted one of only 3 times that was under the standard course time of 30 seconds. They crossed the line at 28.85 to have the fastest time of all the dogs in Large Dog Team Jumping.

Our anchor team was Carrie Jones and Jive. Carrie really worked each and every turn with Jive from #10-15 and kept her clean and with tight smooth lines. They were rewarded for this picture of teamwork with a clean run and a time of 30.09. They do not truncate here so it did result in a .09 time fault for the team. Carrie and Jive were one of only 11 dog & handler teams to have a clean run under 31 seconds.

At the end of the Jumping Round the USA/AKC team is in 16th place out of the 30 teams. Full results can be found here.

The top 3 teams all had 3 clean rounds but incurred time faults. In 1st place Brazil with 2.12 faults, 2nd place Belgium with 3.05 faults and in 3rd is Slovakia with 7.0 faults.

Next will be Small Team Jumping.

Friday Courses