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We are United States Dog Agility Association, Inc. (USDAA), the world's largest
independent authority for the sport of dog agility, with more than 25,000 registered
competitors and more than 200 different breeds of dogs, including mix breeds. USDAA represents more than 100 affiliated groups conducting more than 400 days of events
each year throughout the continental United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda
and Japan.
Organized in 1986 to introduce and "Promote International Standards
for Dog AgilitySM" patterned after the British standards for the sport,
USDAA has evolved into an international organization with the most comprehensive
and diverse certification program for dog agility anywhere in the world. USDAA
is a producer of three international tournament series - USDAA's Grand Prix
of Dog Agility® World Championships, now in its 17th year, the $10,000
Dog Agility Steeplechase®, and the Dog Agility Masters®
Three-Dog Team Championship. Each has enjoyed national television coverage in
recent years, with the "Grand Prix" being the longest running tournament
series in the western hemisphere and one of the most prestigious tournaments
in the sport. The Grand Prix has drawn competitors from more than a dozen countries
on four continents.
As evidence of the pioneering spirit and leadership role of USDAA and its supporters,
we count among our accomplishments -
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Introduction of the sport to North America in its international form (1986)
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First organization in the world to separate competition into four jumping
height divisions, fostering participation among competitors with virtually
all sizes of dogs
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First officially sanctioned event in the United States and North America
(1986)
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Introduction of the first competitive tournament series in North America
- the "Grand Prix of Dog Agility®" (1988)
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Introduction of the first certification tests in the world in five distinctive
classes of competition (1990)
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First U.S. canine sports authority to field teams in "world" competition
(FCI World Dog Show, Germany, 1991)
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First championship tournament series on a major national television network
when the USDAA Grand Prix of Dog Agility® Championships was telecast on
Animal Planet (1999)
USDAA has continued its innovative ways into the 21st century and maintains
an active leadership role by "Promoting Competitive Excellence in Dog
AgilitySM".
In 2001 USDAA set out to further its programs through international
alliances by becoming a charter member in the International
Federation of Cynological Sports (IFCS), a nonprofit organization headquartered
in Russia whose principal purpose is to organize cynological sports world wide
after the "Olympic Ideal", promoting sport as a means of educational
exchange and interaction of competitors among nations in amateur sport on a
nondiscriminatory basis. Through IFCS and efforts of its own, USDAA has established
affiliations in more than a fifteen countries on six continents. With its new
alliances, USDAA continues to grow its list of noteworthy accomplishments -
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Conduct the first World Championship to held in the western hemisphere,
when eleven countries on five continents participated in the Grand Prix of
Dog Agility® Championships (2001)
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USDAA team brought home the Team Gold Medal from the First IFCS World Agility
Championships (Moscow, 2002)
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Introduction of the first Cynosport� World Games, bringing together a
variety of disciplines governed by independent canine sports organizations
for Flyball,
Flying Disc and Canine Freestyle, as well as the introduction to North America
of "Summer Combined Competition", a paramilitary sport from Eastern
Europe (Dallas, Texas, 2003)
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First dog agility event to be filmed and telecast in "High Definition"
format, with the 2003 Grand Prix of Dog Agility World Championships
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USDAA team brought home the Team Gold Medal and numerous individual medals from the second IFCS World Agility
Championships (Spain, 2004)
With its high competitive spirit and unsurpassed caliber of competition, USDAA
continues to offer the best events in dog agility for competitors, spectators
and sponsors alike. We continue to strive for the betterment of the sport by
maintaining the highest performance standards as measured by the international
community of which USDAA is part. In that vein, USDAA's goal is to develop the
sport first and foremost as an athletic, spectator event, and to promote the
sport in the community as a recreational, family sport, fostering responsible
pet ownership.
For more information about United States Dog Agility Association, Inc., contact:
Kenneth Tatsch - President and USDAA Founder – 972.487.2200
or
Heather Smith - Public Relations & Communications – 972.487.2200
United States Dog Agility Association, Inc.
PO Box 850955
Richardson, TX 75085-0955
Telephone: 972.487.2200
Fax: 972.272.4404
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