Maggie is now formally know as MACH5 CT Maplemor Be Vewy Quiet V Evrmor VST NF from our very agile B Litter. Looking at the top rotties for this year, Maggie is only the 6th Rottie with a MACH 5 or greater !!! Cindy has two of those dogs – Maggie and her aunt “Hasty” who is MACH 8.
Maggie earned her MACH 5 at the Vizsla Dog Club Agility Trial in Colorado. The two judges were Mike McCoy and Terry Elger.
Maggie’s owner Cindy estimates that just counting qualifying runs Maggies has jumped about 4000 jumps, uccessfully completed the dog walk and a-frame 312 times and completed the weaves 300 times (12 weave poles makes one set x 300 = 3,600 weave poles !!!
Fun Fact – Maggie’s fastest yards per second was 5.78 (JWW run).
Watch Maggies MACH 5 Qualifying Run
The Rocky Mountain Vizsla Club in Colorado hosted the event over Oct of this year. Cindy Soloway was the handler and owner and this was the Master Class/Standard Level of AKC Agility. Maggie and Cindy receive the “special jump pole” after the run is scored perfect. This team now has 5 of them !!!! so I am sure she can now make her own 1 or 2 MACH jumps with all the bars they have accumulated. This makes “this team” one of the handful of Rottweilers with MACH 5 and higher. This is Maplemor’s only multiple MACH titled dog currently.
Maggie runs her Jumpers with Weaves
In order to earn MACH 5, Maggie had a lot of work to do – here is the official information on what exactly is involved in earning a MACH title in agility
AKC MACH Requirements
This is the AKC Master Agility CHampionship title called “MACH”. This is the highest title one can receive in Agility. When you see a number after the MACH word ( ie MACH2,MACH3 etc ), the team have achieved the requirements for a MACH again. A dog must receive 20 double q’s and 750 points to receive their MACH title.
A dog and handler must run a perfect course and complete at the set course time or under the set course time. Before a team can accumulate the requirements for a MACH, the team must move through the required levels and title in Novice,Open and Excellent A. These mentioned levels require the team to qualify three times. Each day there are two courses set up – Jumpers With Weaves and Standard. As the name implies, Jumpers with weaves is a faster paced course with only tunnels, jumps and weave poles. The Standard course has “obstacles” called “contacts” which include a dogwalk, an A-frame, a teeter. There are contact zones at the bottom of which the dog MUST put a paw in before leaving that contact. In the Standard course, there is also a table and the dog must remain on this table for a count of 5 seconds before continuing on the course.
There are many many ways to fail any of the courses besides dropping a bar on a jump. A dog can miss a contact, go off course, enter the weave poles incorrectly etc…..A dog must earn a qualifying score in Jumpers with Weaves and Standard on the same day to receive a “Double Q”. Each course has a standard course time that is based on the judge’s yardage that they measure after setting the course layout. So besides the dog and handler being accurate, they must also be efficient in executing the course. The points are calculated by how many seconds under the course time the dog runs the course. 1 pt is given for every second “under course time”.
The minimum age to start competing in AKC agility is 18 months. Training can start as puppies and is a great way to help a young dog build confidence, an awareness of their rear, self-control and learning about the contact zones. It is also a great way to build a relationship and trust with your young dog. It is as much a mental sport for the dog as it is a physical sport for the dog.
