a Taj MuttHall Dog Diary: UNbarkingBELIEVABLE

Friday, April 01, 2011


SUMMARY: I'd have never believed USDAA & AKC would do this.
I heard the rumors--maybe you did, too--that USDAA was up to something big.

MADE up my own ideas of what that might be--more titles? Change the Performance title abbreviations to something that--gasp--actually made sense? Announce that the nationals would permanently be in San Jose, California (hmm, not sure whether I'd be happy about that or not). Add herding as a titling event?

UP to now, of course, the only hint we got--and none of us caught it-- was the whole Andy Hartman brouhaha. Oh, right, boo hoo all the AKC members were upset that he got kicked out of AKC after running a really excellent agility ship for them, and then USDAA did the big announcement that he's actually joined a real agility organization.

THIS, it turns out, was a huge smoke screen! There was no falling out! No, USDAA and AKC are merging their agility programs! Can you barking believe it? I'm wondering if someone blew it by letting the news out now, right as the AKC Nationals are starting back east (BTW, good luck, Bay Teamers! and everyone else I know who's there now). Maybe Ken Tatsch wants to make the final awards presentations like he does at USDAA nationals. Who knows!

WHOLE batches of things are going to change in the combined program. AKC competitors, of course, will now have to learn how to do Snooker. (ha, will love to see those Excellent or whatever they call them dogs trying THAT for the first time.) The worst news is that USDAA's championship will now incorporate the "double-Q" concept--except that now, to earn your championship, it will be TRIPLE-Qs: You must Q in a least 3 out of 5 of the basic classes on a single day to earn points towards your CH--so in addition to the usual 5 standard, 5 jumpers, etc, you will now have to have 20 triple Qs! I can't believe my own eyes!

THING is, I've been thinking about giving up agility anyway. Maybe this is the final straw.

FOR more information about this post, you're going to have to hunt a little from top to bottom.

YOU can do whatever you want, but I might just go take up flyball. Or knitting.


  1. If hunting from top to bottom didn't help, try this: Read the first word of each paragraph, and go here for details.

  2. Bad Ellen! No biscuit! Bad Ellen!

  3. Heh, can't FOOL me. Still need to figure out how I'm going to prank my husband. He falls for it every year.

  4. Darn you, you totally had me!! *Again*!! You are so bad :-)

  5. @Elayne: Will have to fill us in when you're done.

  6. How much work did you blow of to do this?

  7. @Ellen: None. I thought of it as I was going to bed last night, had it pretty much worked out in my head by the time I got up, knew exactly where that ken/andy photo newsletter was, typed in my text before breakfast, and was dressed & out the door by 9. :-) Just didn't post on FB until this evening.

  8. You are evil! :) I think I fell for your LAST year's April fools joke too. I am such a wuss!