Two Important Forms

Judge's Agility Test Report and Injury Reporting Form for Competitors

Judge’s Agility Test Report
USDAA judges file an Agility Test Report following each event.  With the increased attention on safety, the form has been updated to broaden the scope of the report as it relates to injuries to include general safety.  Any sport has inherent risk related to the nature of its physical activity, and not all indicators of potential issues are directly tied to an injury or compliance with the regulations.  The updated Judges Report now asks for observations related to increased risk.  This is not just directed at the dog walk, but any aspect of the obstacles, equipment, ring barriers, or organization of flow at entry and exit gates.

With respect to your observations of potential safety risks, it is important to describe the perceived risk and an explanation of your concern.  To the extent possible, your opinion on why the risk exists, whether be it related to some aspect of course design, dog training, handler or dog miscue, obstacle failure, noncompliance with regulations, or other circumstances.

Understanding the possible reasons why a specific situation may exist or occur, as well as the frequency of such situations, should help us in determining whether additional regulations and or equipment modifications are warranted.

With regard to the current public commentary on the dog walk, it would be advisable over the next few months to report all noteworthy slips or falls from any contact obstacle, whether there is injury or not, so that we may identify frequency and nature of such observations.  

Injury Reporting Form for Competitors
If an injury/incident occurs at an event, we ask the competitor involved to complete and submit an Injury Reporting Form.  This form can be found at usdaa.com, in the Forms & Documents section, Competitor Resources, Forms & Documents for Competitors.  

This form is for the express purpose of compiling data regarding injury or suspected injury relative to performance and training in the sport of dog agility. Each report will be reviewed and added to an injury database for compilation of statistics over time. To aid this purpose, it is imperative that information be made in a timely fashion and is as complete as possible with the facts surrounding and/or leading up to an incident, and where possible, have a formal written statement of veterinarian with detailed explanation of the nature of an injury.

If you have any questions on either of these topics, do not hesitate to contact us at: rules@usdaa.com.

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