So, I have done probably 6 trials now. My last one was in October and Ben had a panic attack and Woody found a snake on the course. Needless to say, we took a month break from agility, and just started back up going to practice. I’ll get into Ben’s panic attack another time but below is my understanding of the rest of the games I left out. I didn’t pay member dues this year (because I didn’t know) so I have to wait until December to get my official status of where I am in regards to levels, but some games we are level 3 and some we are level 2. AND Ben has level 1 jumpers still…. hahaha. 

Handling:

Colors-Well this was easier than I thought. Basically there are two standard courses set up that overlap one another.There are typically 8-12 obstacles on both courses. You must choose one course or the other. Sometimes, obstacle 1 could be obstacle 1 on both colors, or obstacle 2 could be the same and you may have to take the obstacle from a different direction. Sometimes you may think you’re going to do the blue course but then your dog takes the red course and you must adjust. It’s a pretty simple game to understand! 

Wildcard: This course looks like a standard course, but at three different spots you will have to choose obstacle A or B. In level 1-2 you will choose two A obstacles and one B, and in the higher levels you will choose 2 B and 1 A. So, again, you can correct yourself a little if your dog chooses an A or B when you didn’t want them to! 

Strategy:

Jackpot: This one is confusing to me because most of the time they do what they call a “non-traditional” jackpot. Meaning, it doesn’t exactly follow the standard rules. I THINK the standard rules are something like this: 

You do whatever you want for the first part of the game. You collect points like full house and you need a min number of points based on level. THEN a buzzer goes off and you are to do the “gamble”. The gamble is typically 3-4 obstacles that your dog must complete but the catch is you can’t cross a certain line (they put tape down). So essentially your dog must be good at distance. You must complete the gamble with no faults and end on the table to Q. So, I’m glad most of the time it is a non-traditional jackpot. 

In non-traditional jackpots they can kind of do whatever they want. The courses I have seen is that during the opening time, you could complete the gamble and it may not require distance. IDK how that’s allowed but I like that. Then the buzzer rings and you still have that “gamble” time to collect extra points or something. IDK I just wait for my score haha. Some how it works out and the score you!