Tournaments
Tournament classes provide for head-to-head competition
The United States Dog Agility Association offers four annual tournament series to highlight the dynamics of the sport in both individual and team competition.
- Grand Prix of Dog Agility® World Championships
- $10,000 Dog Agility Steeplechase®
- Dog Agility Masters® Pairs, 3-Dog Team, and Strategic Games Championships
- Masters Challenge Biathlon℠
Tournament Regulations are updated annually and can be found under Regulations on the Main Menu.
USDAA Grand Prix of Dog Agility® World Championships
Since 1988, competitors have competed annually in local and regional competition to earn the right to enter the championship event, which has become one of the premier world events in the sport of dog agility. This individual competition is run on a standard agility course, demonstrating the competitor's full range of training and competitive skills by performing an obstacle course comprised of all obstacle types in a race against the clock. The competitor with the fewest penalties and the fastest time is the winner. The winner in each height division is named Grand Prix of Dog Agility® World Champion.
Events are open to all competitors regardless of past performance experience and are held in designated cities across North America, the Caribbean and Japan. Competitors must meet qualification standards as set forth in the tournament rules each year in order to earn the right to compete at the world championship event. The tournament has grown to include well over 100 local qualifying events leading to eight or more regional and foreign national championship events, and then followed by the world championship event. Countries around the world are invited to participate. To date, more than 20 countries from six continents have participated.
$10,000 Dog Agility Steeplechase® Championships
Beginning in 1997, this tournament event was developed to demonstrate the competitor's ability to work with speed as they feature their skills in training and performance of a special jumpers course. In addition to numerous jumps and hurdles on course, the A-frame and weave poles are included as a special demonstration of the two most dynamic obstacles in the dog agility, for which difficulty of performance increases with speed. The tournament's "time plus faults" scoring method accentuates the importance of speed combined with accuracy in performance.
Events are open to all competitors regardless of past performance experience and are held in designated cities across North America, the Caribbean and Japan. Competitors must meet qualification standards as set forth in the tournament rules each year in order to earn the right to compete at the world championship event. The tournament is conducted as a two round event at both the local and championship levels, with top seeds from the first round advancing to the final round where they run for top money; however, local qualifying events may hold only one round for qualification purposes, foregoing round 2. Cash prizes range from a few dollars to several hundred dollars at the local or regional level, with prize money of $10,000 paid out in the championship finals.
Dog Agility Masters® Pairs, 3-Dog Team, and Strategic Games Championships
Beginning in 1991 and held annually since 1993, competitors combine to form three-dog teams that compete in five classes of competition - Standard Agility, Snooker, Jumpers, Gamblers and Team Relay.
The competition demonstrates team work and competitors' endurance and skill in a variety of disciplines as they apply a variety of strategies in the different classes. Teams accumulate points through five classes of competition, with the team scoring the highest number of points being named Dog Agility Masters® 2-Dog Team and 3-Dog Team Champions. Individual competitors with the highest combined points in Gamblers and Snooker are named Strategic Games Champions.
Qualifying events are held across the United States each year and are open to all competitors, regardless of past performance experience.
Masters Challenge BiathlonSM Championships
This new tournament series began in 2013 and showcases competitors on European-style courses with a number of technical maneuvers on each of two courses—standard agility and jumping. Unique features include the dog working at full stride throughout much of the course. Scoring is on a "time plus faults" basis, and the lowest overall score wins. Competitors must qualify for entry at local and/or regional events throughout the tournament season leading up to the event.