Home | Dog Sports | What’s New | About | Contact | Store | Links

 

Agility | Conformation | Disc Dogs | Dock Diving | Earth Dog Trials | Flyball | Herding | Field Trials & Hunting | Lure Coursing  Obedience | Rally- O | Schutzhund & Protection Dogs | Therapy Dogs | Tracking | Pulling Sports

Dog Agility Lingo at AthleticDogs.com

The Lingo of Agility

Like any other specialty activity, dog agility has its own vocabulary. Your first time at an agility trial can feel like visiting a foreign land where they speak a language that you took for two years in high school – you will understand bits and pieces, but the point will fly right over your head! Here is a short glossary to get you started in understanding what everyone is talking about:

Canopy  Pop-up tent-like that many competitors take to outdoor trials to provide shade between runs.

Catalog  The published list of Exhibitors for a given Agility Trial.

Crating Area  An area designated for competitors to set up your crate, chairs, etc. for the day.

Chairperson Staff member at an agility trial who is responsible for ensuring that the event takes place, usually a ranking member of the hosting club. Also called the show manager.

Chief Course Builder Staff member at an agility trial who is responsible for setting up the agility course according to the course map, with the appropriate distances between the obstacles, etc. Usually has a few volunteers as course builders to assist.

Chief Ring Steward Staff member at an agility trial who is responsible for finding and assigning workers (volunteers) to staff the trial. These positions include the timer, scribe, and pole setters. Also called the ring manager.

CST (or SCT)  The Course Standard Time is the time to beat for the run. The CST is calculated by measuring the course in yards, and dividing the result by the yards-per-second requirement for the class (which is specified in the rules).

Dog Show  Any form of canine competition - conformation, agility trial, etc.

Exhibitor  Competitor are referred to as exhibitors by most sanctioning organizations.

Four-Paw Rule  In some trials, if a dog puts all four paws on a contact obstacle and then jumps off, the handler will be asked to go on to the next obstacle. The intent is safety – at that time, your dog is deemed not ready to do that obstacle.

Fun Match  A low-key practice event run by a local agility club – formatted the same as a trial, but without timers or judges.

Games  Courses that are NOT Standard Agility; e.g., Jumpers, Snooker, Gamblers, Pairs. Some don’t use all of the obstacles, and the rules and strategy are quite different from Standard.

Leg  Another name for a Q, but in NADAC you can get half-legs or half-Qs (5 points toward a title).

Performance Class  A category in USDAA that allows dogs to compete at lower jump heights.

Performance Event  Any non-conformation event, including agility, dock diving, herding, lure-coursing, tracking, etc.

Placement  Finishing position relative to the other dogs in your class for a given event.

Pole Setters Staff members at an agility trial who ensure that jump bars are reset when they are knocked off and change jump heights for dogs of different sizes. Also called ring stewards.

Premium The documentation provided to competitors at an agility trial, describes the specific competition, summarizes the rules, describes the trial site, and includes an entry form. Sometimes called the schedule.

Q  A Q, or Qualifying Run, is a term for a successful official run at an agility trial, within the time and course requirements set by the sanctioning organization. As in “Baxter earned his first Q in jumpers today!” Qs are accumulated toward earning Agility Titles. Some organizations require a clean run to earn a Q, others allow partial Qs with nearly clean runs.

Ring Manager Staff member at an agility trial who is responsible for finding and assigning workers (volunteers) to staff the trial. These positions include the timer, scribe, and pole setters. Also called the ring chief ring steward.

Ring Stewards Staff members at an agility trial who ensure that jump bars are reset when they are knocked off and change jump heights for dogs of different sizes. Also called pole setters.

Schedule The documentation provided to competitors at an agility trial, describes the specific competition, summarizes the rules, describes the trial site, and includes an entry form. Sometimes called the premium.

Scribe Staff member at an agility trial who records the judges calls as the dog runs his or her class.

Secretary Staff member at an agility trial who is responsible for providing competitors with the show premium or schedule, receiving completed entry forms, sending out running orders, producing running-order lists, and compiling the results at the trial, and forwarding those results to the sanctioning organization.

Show Dog  Any dog that exhibits in Conformation or Performance Events. A particularly useful term if a hotel clerk ever gives you any grief about your dog…”But he’s a show dog” can be more effective than you might think!

Show Manager Staff member at an agility trial who is respon sible for ensuring that the event takes place, usually a ranking member of the hosting club. Also called the chairperson.

Show n' Go  The AKC name for a Fun Match. Many are open non-registered and mixed-breed dogs, in contrast to most AKC events.

Standard or Regular Agility  A traditional agility course, incorporating all obstacles the organization uses.

Timer Staff member that records the dog’s running time at an agility trial.

Titles  The rewards for accumulating Qs. Standard Agility Titles are awarded in all organizations at all levels; Games Titles are awarded at all levels in NADAC, but in Masters only in USDAA.

Trial  A competitive event sanctioned by one of the established agility organizations.

Check out the AthleticDogs.com line of agility training products!