This past weekend I went to a USDAA trial. I don’t do a lot of USDAA for a few reasons:
1) MY dogs are slightly over 16″. that means they would have to jump 22″ in the USDAA championship program. While they are perfectly capable of doing so, I have heard Remy land after a 22″ spread. It’s loud. Do I like this? Not so much. And while the performance program is a perfectly viable option, let’s face it, Agility folk–USDAA performance people are 2nd-class citizens.
2) No matter what they tell you, USDAA competitors are the most competitive EVER. I rarely hear cheers or compliments on my GOOD runs in USDAA. I get lots of kind love for my sucky ones in AKC. Go figure. I received tons of compliments for a quick recovery after falling on my ass at an AKC trial. USDAA, nice NQ? Not so much.
3) I’ve put on USDAA trials. MONEY SUCK. TIME SUCK. Just saying.
4) There seems to be a general feeling among primarily USDAA folk that primarily AKC folk look down on them. And yet, I was sitting with a bunch of first-time or almost-first-time USDAA people in the Starters/Advanced ring who normally do AKC and were cheering all the nice runs, even NQs. Huh. Dead silence when Remy and I qualified in P3 standard in the MASTERS ring. Maybe it was because we got 1st place?
After this weekend, I’m about done with USDAA, and I LOVE snooker, really enjoy the trials despite the objections above. But I am tired of the received wisdom that everyone is “nicer” and “less competitive” in USDAA. Sorry y’all–I’ve seen enough to know better.
January 24, 2009 at 4:16 am
BTW, I want to mention that at least 2 of those “never done USDAA” people mentioned in my post had put in the time and work to get a MACH on a dog. These were NOT newbies, not that there’s anything wrong with that. They were experienced people trying USDAA for the first time, and knew a nice run when they saw one, even if it was an NQ.