New Podcast: Mixed Breeds in Dog Agility
Our very own Jennifer Crank is an AKC Breeder of Merit (Shelties). She also owns a purpose-bred sports mix, a Border Collie/Papillon cross named Skittles. In this week’s podcast, Jennifer, Sarah, and I talk about purpose-bred mixes, rescues, the “All-American” label, and the special awards given at events like Westminster and the AKC Nationals.
In the agility world, “not purebred” can mean a lot of different things. So we start by sorting out the language: purpose-bred sport mixes, such as BorderPaps, purpose-bred mixes more broadly, true unknown-background mutts, and rescue dogs, which can be either purebred or mixed. We also explain why many handlers choose a sport mix in the first place. It is not just about performance. It is about specific traits, including size, durability, speed, and a temperament that fits both their home life and their training goals.
From there, we zoom out and look at how major organizations label and recognize dogs. We clarify what the AKC’s “All-American Dog” designation actually means and what it does not mean, and why it sometimes gets conflated with “rescue” in mainstream coverage. Finally, we discuss special awards, such as Westminster’s High-Scoring All-American, and how the meaning of those awards may shift as purpose-bred sport mixes become more common at the highest levels of competition.
Listen here:
Episode 380: Mixed Breed Dogs in Agility
Dogwalk Data Coming Soon
Just today, the Canine Sports Science Consortium announced an update on its ongoing research into incidents involving the three contact obstacles. The post quickly gained traction on social media, with organizations such as UKI and NADAC sharing it on their Facebook pages.
Rather than paraphrase, we are including the full text of the announcement below:
Given the recent discussion surrounding the safety of the dogwalk obstacle, we would like to provide an update on the current status of our research efforts. Any incident is upsetting, and it’s exactly why we’ve been building objective data, so this conversation can move from anecdotes to evidence.
Update on our research:
From mid-April through early November, we collected prospective incident reports across participating agility organizations, totaling 1,000+ trials. To our knowledge, this is one of the largest coordinated, multi-organization datasets specifically tracking incidents on contact obstacles (dogwalk, A-frame, teeter).
Data cleaning and matching are nearly complete. We expect to share observed incident rates and descriptive statistics for all three contact obstacles within the next few weeks.
In addition to incident rate data, we are performing formal video analysis of dogwalk falls to identify common patterns and contributing factors. We also have a separate manuscript in final preparation on dogwalk footfall patterns and performance characteristics, which is a few weeks from submission.
Big decisions (widening, lowering, or removing the dogwalk) deserve transparent risk estimates and objective data. We appreciate the organizations, judges, and exhibitors who made this work possible.
What We’re Watching
While we’re waiting for the next half of Bridgerton, we stumbled onto a new series that we’re enjoying quite a bit. The Artful Dodger is a Disney+ and Hulu series centered on Jack Dawkins, the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist.
It has strong feminist energy, quick-witted dialogue, and a surprisingly modern score. The medical scenes can be a little gruesome, Sarah and Hannah look away, but otherwise it has been a fun watch so far. Full disclosure, we are only three episodes in.
Email me at team@baddogagility.com with comments or questions, especially about The Artful Dodger!
Happy Training,
