rules Archives - Five Fault Club

The New Graduation Points Threshold in Practice

I’ve already explained what’s changing about graduation points, but for those who want the short version of how graduation points will work in 2023:

In a class with 16 dogs, 2nd place will get 1 graduation point. If there’s 31 dogs, 2nd place gets 2 points, and 3rd place gets 1. And so on and so on, every time the class size goes up by 15, there are more points on offer.
3 graduation points “counts” as one win to graduate to the next level – BUT you also need at least one 1st placing. You can move up to Senior with 2 wins and 3 points in Novice, or 1 win and 6 points. If you have 9 points but no wins, you’ll be staying put.
Graduation points can only be earned if you go clear.

Today I’ll look at a few examples of how things would work, considering Novice classes from 2022. I’ve chosen to focus on Novice because this is usually the largest class which dogs can graduate out of, so the effects might be more significant here.

Real World Example #1 – Very Large Show

Let’s consider the Novice 500 classes at this year’s NZDAC. These had between 111 and 115 entries.

Second place would have earned 7 points, and third place would have earned 6 points. Remember that 3 points is equivalent to a win, but you still need at least one actual win to graduate. Any dog getting 2nd or 3rd in Novice 500 at this year’s NZDAC would have 6+ graduation points (2 win equivalents), and only require one win to move up to Senior. It’s actually possible for these dogs to move up to Senior with just 2 clear rounds in Novice – their placing at the NZDAC and their win.

35 Years of NZ Agility Graduation System History

There have been some changes to the criteria for earning graduation points introduced in the new regulations on 1 January 2023. I found it hard to explain what graduation points are without putting them into historical context, so here’s a brief tour of how the graduation system in NZ has changed over the years.

In the Beginning…

Once upon a time there were two height groups (760mm and 380mm) and no splits. The first NZKC agility rules came into effect on 1 July 1987. I went to my first agility show in around 1994. There were definitely not a lot of dogs competing in agility yet, and most shows were only one day so people tended not to travel very far. There were people winning with dogs of all sizes, from German Shepherds to Shelties.

What’s Happening with AD and ADXA Classes?

Our new regs come into force next month, and I’ve had a few people ask me questions about what the changes to AD and ADXA mean for them. I’ve had my head under a rock, mostly because it doesn’t really affect me – I have an older dog who is more or less retired, and a young dog who is yet to achieve his first clear round.

As an instructor I feel like I should know the answer so that I can give newer competitors a better answer than “go and look at the regs”, so here we are – the most common AD and ADX questions answered.

What’s this all about?

The last standalone AD and ADXA classes have now been run. Starting from next year, you’ll have an opportunity to earn AD and ADXA clear rounds at every champ agility show – but these will be on regular courses that you can also win ribbons in.

At each show the club will nominate one Novice class to be the AD course, and one Intermediate class to be the ADXA class. You don’t need to do anything special for your clear rounds in these classes to count towards titles – just enter them like you would any other class.