On Last Week’s Episode…
I received a lot of emails about AKC Nationals last week and while people loved the event coverage and availability of the livestream, they were unhappy with the camera work. Not one person was happy with the numerous quick cuts and tight shots of the dog on course. A sampling of comments:
“I watched and never could figure out the course from the crazy coverage.”
“I had no idea what the course was until I found it out on Facebook! “
“I absolutely agree that the tight focus on the dogs is a terrible way to show an agility run.”
“People who only see the finals on some replay miss out on the beauty of the sport.”
On an amusing note, kudos to sharp-eyed reader Toni O. who pointed out that 24C class champion Amber McCune’s name was spelled incorrectly on the livestream, which was ironic given that her dog’s name is “Typo.”
Several people asked why the 24C class will not be a part of NAC going forward. Per Sarah, the announcement came in the AKC News and Updates:
Sarah doesn’t know precisely why, but she has some data about the 24C class and offers this opinion:
“The 24C is the only optional jump height at the Nationals. It’s a remnant of an era where ISC classes were offered at 14”, 18”, and 26” which corresponded to old FCI jump heights. Ultimately, it made choosing your jump height part of the AKC Nationals game. You might choose 24C to get away from the hyper competitive 20″ class. Or you might choose 24C because it’s a small class, and so the chances of making the challengers round are extraordinarily high. The 24C class has gotten smaller and smaller in recent years to the point that in 2021 over 50% of the class was in challengers or finals (compared to the less than 15% of the 8”, 12”, 16”, and 20” classes). This article has some good data:
https://baddogagility.com/what-does-it-take-to-make-finals-at-akc-nationals/
Lastly, Nationals results are no longer used to pick the AKC/FCI Agility World Championship team, so there’s no need to have a 24C class. It never made sense to have it as a jump height (unless you’re going to have a 12C and 16C for 8″ world team hopefuls that have to jump 12 internationally, etc). All of these factors together likely led to it being discontinued.”
Free Webinar with AKC Nationals Finals Judge
In case you missed it, Heather Dickinson and Sarah put on a wonderful webinar, “The Evolution of the AKC National Agility Championship Finals Course.” 300 people attended the webinar live and were able to comment and ask questions, while over 3,000 watched the replay (you can still watch it). Heather shared her inspiration for the course, how she set up and ran different versions of it, and how she felt it ran at the event.
Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico
This past week, Sarah flew from Houston to San Francisco with our daughter Hannah to compete at the Olympic Development Program National Championships for water polo. En route, Sarah tracked their flight on an app and it showed they were flying over a town called Truth or Consequences. Of course, she had to learn more, and I love what she discovered on Wikipedia:
“The city changed its name from Hot Springs to Truth or Consequences as the result of a radio show contest. In March 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the popular NBC Radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that he would air the program on its 10th anniversary from the first town that renamed itself after the show; Hot Springs officially changed its name on March 31, 1950, and the program was broadcast from there the following evening. Edwards visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next 50 years. This event became known as Fiesta and eventually included a beauty contest, a parade, and a stage show. The city still celebrates Fiesta each year during the first weekend of May. The parade generally features local dignitaries, last year’s Miss Fiesta pageant queen, and the winner of Hatch Chile Queen pageant. Fiesta also features a dance in Ralph Edwards Park.”
What We’re Watching at Home
I’ve loosely ranked them by my own preference, and included the Rotten Tomatoes audience score. We never judge a series or movie based on the critics’ votes. In fact, if the critics give it a high score but the audience gives it a low score, we run away from that movie. The Mandalorian gets the #1 slot here because the entire family watches it together, and we love how the new season is going!
- The Mandalorian 85%
- So Help Me Todd 84%
- Magnum PI 86%
- Quantum Leap 55%
- Ted Lasso 94%
[PHOTO]: The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda
What We Have Recently Watched in Theaters
- John Wick 4 94% (86%, 89%, 89% for the first 3 movies)
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods 51% (90% for the original movie)
I can’t comment on Shazam because Sarah hasn’t seen it yet. She was at AKC Nationals when I went with the kids. We still plan to watch Creed 3 with Isaac (already out in theaters), and Dungeons and Dragons as a family (coming out this weekend). We love all the John Wick movies, probably because we play a lot of Fortnite. Keanu Reeves is a great dude and his character is so honorable, determined, and competent that you are completely invested in him.
Until Next Time
This week, I hope to finish watching all the dog agility from Crufts for a Wrap Up post. Until then, check out this podcast (available on youTube with video) from Crufts competitors Dave Munnings and Chris Kerton. For my fellow Americans, you can turn on subtitles to help you figure out what they’re saying!
Email me at team@baddogagility.com with any questions or comments.
Happy Training,
