If you troll the internet on agility blogs and websites (I do, I admit it) you see there’s some scuttlebutt of wanting an ‘ABBC’ class- that is, Anything But Border Collies (in the UK, this is the ABC or Anything But Collies) class. Some people think the Borders are just too good at what they do (they ARE wonderful dogs!) and others believe that if they win, well, they deserved to. They must have been better trained, or just faster dogs in general!
What’s your opinion on an ABBC class? Would you compete in it? We seem to have a richly diverse membership here- I know of at least two Springers, a Cane Corso, a lab, a Dane Mix, several corgis… But what do you think? If it was offered, would you want it?
Gamblers is a fairly common game played by the USDAA and CPE and several other organizations. The handler stands behind a line and sends the dog ‘away’ from them, and the dog has to complete obstacles without the handler alongside him in the time allotted by the judge. This is a real challenge!
According to the USDAA rules “Gamblers is a point-basis class wherein handlers develop their own strategy for running a course in order to accumulate as many points as possible during the time allotted by the judge. Typically, in planning their run, any obstacle can be performed twice for points and the handler may choose what obstacles they wish to perform and in what order. The judge may impose restrictions on the sequences permissible (e.g., two different contact obstacles may be performed in sequence without first taking a non-contact obstacle) and may specify special challenges to earn bonus points (e.g., a short obstacle sequence where the handler is limited as to their movement or distance from the dog). Additionally, a judge may designate an additional time period during which a special challenge or “joker” (a.k.a., gamble) may be performed for bonus points. At the end of the allotted time, the competitor with the most points is the winner.”
While Gamblers is fun and can look easy, don’t just throw your dog in there and expect to learn on the course (You can do that with Snooker, though, if your dog ‘gets you’.) Don’t worry though! Getting started in Gamblers is easy- send your dog ahead one jump. Then two. Then three. Then a jump and a tunnel and a jump. Then throw in some contacts! If your dog has difficulty, go back a step or two! Take away a little bit of the challenge. Another method is setting up your entire course in a semi or full circle and stand in the middle, turning with your dog as you send him on to each obstacle. Then leave the circle and get further back from the course. For a food oriented dog, throw out target toys with treats in them to teach him to go out. Remember though, this is about fun, so when your dog DOES go out, make sure he gets a reward just as great as staying at your side gives him.
Make certain your dog knows his commands! Go tunnel, go jump, go up, all of them are critical in Gamblers. Also be careful to train things the way they’d be in a trial- don’t gamble from a standstill! run along and then deadstop, then tell him to ‘go on’. Some handlers like to have a special command for this, and some don’t. Find what works best for you and your dog, working together.
Snooker consists of an opening sequence and a closing sequence and it’s very confusing until you understand it. In the opening, you will have three (sometimes 4) “red” obstacles, labeled with a red flag with a “1″ on it. In the opening you must correctly perform a red obstacle, then you must perform (correctly or incorrectly) an obstacle flagged any OTHER color than red, then another red, then any other color, then another red, then any other color. It’s quite simple *if* everything goes according to plan; it’s when a dog drops a bar on a red flagged jump or makes some other error that you need to be able to think on your feet.
As soon as you’ve finished the opening sequence, you need to immediately proceed to the closing sequence, which is to take obstacles flagged 2 through 7, in order. Sometimes there will be a combination obstacle.
Snooker is the biggest test of the dog’s obedience, and also the biggest test of the handler’s ability to make a fairly flowing course from very raw materials.
For more details about Snooker, see our other blog article: “Sneak Peak at Snooker“.
(Notice the red flags in this video, and the red tunnel… Want to make your own snookers course? Try these redobstacles. )
The FAST (Fifteen and Send Time) course is not offered all the time, so you may have not heard of it before. It is a newer “game” type event the AKC is trying to get going. It is a little bit like Gamblers if you compete in USDAA. Here is what it entails: You get a defined amount of time to run any of the 15 obstacles you want. Each obstacle has a set amount of points: Jumps 1 point, weaves 10 points, teeter 9 points, etc. You want to rack up as many points as you can, but for sure you need to get the minimum needed to qualify (varies). In addition, there will be a set of distance obstacles (bonus) you need to send your dog through. If you complete this you get 20 points, plus whatever the obstacles were worth. It’s kinda fun, once you figure it out.
About the author: Melissa is owned by an active Border Collie named Mocca, and 2 cats, Zoe & Kai. Melissa and Mocca compete in AKC Agility trials monthly, with the hope of continued advancing and further training. She is a Graphic Designer and Project Coordinator for the DrsFosterSmith.com and LiveAquaria.com websites. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Michigan State University and is a lifelong pet lover and owner. See more articles by Melissa R.
1) The AKC FAST class has some changes to note, such as the removal of the double whistle and 4-paw rule. Plus a new FAST title, effective January 1, 2010, was added to the AKC Regulations for Agility Trials. The addition of this title is to encourage exhibitors to continue exhibiting their dogs past the Master FAST titles and help clubs to increase their agility entries. More details covering the changes to the FAST class is here: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/events/agility/judges_newsletter/2009/0809.pdf
2) The Obedience, Agility, and Rally Regulations were amended, effective April 1, 2010 to provide for mixed-breed dogs.
If you troll the internet on agility blogs and websites (I do, I admit it) you see there’s some scuttlebutt of wanting an ‘ABBC’ class- that is, Anything But Border Collies (in the UK, this is the ABC or Anything But Collies) class. Some people think the Borders are just too good at what they do (they ARE wonderful dogs!) and others believe that if they win, well, they deserved to. They must have been better trained, or just faster dogs in general! 
Snooker
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