a Taj MuttHall Dog Diary: USDAA Rules Change to Qualify in Team Individual Events

Thursday, November 20, 2008

USDAA Rules Change to Qualify in Team Individual Events

SUMMARY: Now your individual events in DAM tournaments can count as Qualifying scores (Qs) towards your LAAs. Maybe.

Effective Sept 19, dogs can earn Qs in the individual events in the DAM tournament.

This will be calculated similarly to Steeplechase: Average the top 3 scores in each jump height, and dogs within 15% (Steeplechase is 25%) will earn a Q.

It's nice to get additional Qs towards the LAA. But. Take Tika, who always is within Steeplechase time at 25%, but just barely. She'd never be in steeplechase time at 15%. So she'll probably never Q in Team std or jumpers at 15% of the top 3 dogs.

I did a quick look at our Team Standard from Labor Day. Forty-eight 26" dogs ran. The top 3 did Standard in 29.39, 30.52, and 31.98 seconds. This averages to 30.63. Add 15% of that, and the qualifying score is 35.22. I see only 9 that would've Qed: Dan, Reya, Icon, Rusty, Jester, Apache, Cirque, Aiko, and London. All very fast border collies, I believe, except Apache (Terv--34.68) and Rusty (Aussie--32.71, actually pretty good). That's under 19% Qs.

Tika was clean but 2 seconds over. I didn't note anything in particular that we did wrong on course. Still, hmmm, we're often comparable to Apache's and Rusty's time, so maybe on a good day...

Once again, rewarding the very top dogs and blocking out those who aren't at the top of the sport. USDAA is less and less a venue for Just People with Just Dogs.

5 comments:

  1. Ah, but if you go back past the regional to the July Bay Team, Tika got 3rd in Team Jumpers, and would have easily been within the range.

    Plus, aren't you the one that said that your dogs tend to do better in Gamblers and Snooker ... maybe you will get some extra Team Qs there.

    Regards, Debbie

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  2. OK, yes, I was 1.5 seconds under for that one. But if there had been one more dog in the speed range of the 1st & 2nd, I'd have been barely under. So OK maybe could get more than I think I could. But mostly I'm saying that she's a pretty good dog and if she's going to have trouble Qing or being on the edge, there's a whole ton of dogs who might never be able to pick up extra Qs for the classes. Why they have to use criteria different from regular Standard, Jumpers, Snooker, or Gamblers isn't entirely clear to me.

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  3. Could be a good reason to put Tika into performance now. You will accumulate lots of legs.

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  4. I agree that it's stupid. Same thing with AKC MACh points and placements... place 1st and 2nd and get to double/ point and a half your MACh points... there's no point though! Dogs in 1st and 2nd don't NEED MACh points!!! Maybe once in a blue moon...

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  5. I agree. Ahhhh...but I hear rumors of multipliers going away in AKC.

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