2019 AKC National Agility Championship results

Who claimed titles at the 2019 AKC National Agility Championship?

The 2019 AKC National Agility Championship was held the weekend of March 15-17, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the dirt of Built Ford Tough Arena at Expo Square, in conjunction with the national championships in obedience and rally.

Over 1,300 entered the competition, but only the top seven percent of each class could advance into the finals on Sunday night. Some of those dogs advanced with a clean run through the wild-card Challenger round earlier in the day.

For a general overview of agility, see our explanatory guide here. Because of the sheer number of competitors in the finals, we are only listing the dog’s name in this recap, omitting the handler’s name, though their effort and importance cannot be understated.

Preferred 12-inch

We didn’t catch the time for Cameo the All American Dog (mutt), but she had a fault, so it would have been higher anyway. Skoal the Australian Cattle Dog set the pace with a clean run of 35.428 seconds, and next to run was Stella the Australian Shepherd at 36.54.

Trio the Border Collie took the lead with a 34.53, but Maizy the Border Collie won the class with a clean run in 34.42 seconds.

Preferred 16-inch

Motive the Border Collie set the time to beat with a clean 32.94. All the dogs in this class except for one are Border Collies, actually.

10-year-old Daisy had a clean run in a relatively fast 36.27 seconds. Brembo didn’t hit the brakes very often, clocking in at 35.98. Luna advanced through the Challenger wild card round, coming in at 34.60 seconds.

Frenzy scored 35.54, but with faults, so he didn’t take the lead. Dixie the Labrador posted a solid 35.58 seconds.

Keeper blazed in at 32.91, only to be jolted off the hot seat (leader’s spot) by the next dog, Notch, with a 32.78. Probability, another 10-year-old, ran a 32.42 with faults, while Jordan turned in a scorching 31.40 seconds, but with faults, so Notch won the class.

Preferred 20-inch

The Preferred 20-inch class had just four competitors, split evenly between Border Collies and Golden Retrievers.

Snitch the Golden Retriever ran first and finished with a rather slow 50.08 second time. Rev the Golden followed with a 35.30 second time for the lymphoma survivor. Effin the Border Collie advanced through the Challenger round, running a 34.65 second time. Finally Vette the Border Collie scored a 34.13 time.

Because all competitors failed to post a clean run, all scoring faults, no AKC National Agility Championship was awarded in this class, though Vette was counted as first place.

8-inch

Papillons dominated the 8-inch class, as all but two were of that breed. Wren opened with a 39.89 with faults, followed by Cruise with a clean 35.76.

Tru the 8-year-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi advanced through the Challenger round, taking the lead with a 35.33. Zorro vaulted into second with a 35.37 next, and Woody Wolf the Pomeranian moved into third with a 35.79.

Stunner took the hot seat with a 35.03, only to get pushed off by Finn with his 34.30. Lark took the second spot with her 34.33, EZ couldn’t quite top that with a 34.48 run, and Gabby closed with a 34.25 time, meaning that Finn won this class.

12-inch

There were a quite a few competitors in the 12-inch class. Faulting were Tempest the Sheltie and a pack of  Poodles in Rauri Belle (35.65), Koki (40.76), Hedy (32.66), Quirk (33.86) and Bliss (32.03).

With clean runs were Trek the Sheltie (37.94), Kermit the Miniature Schnauzer (35.25), 12-year-old Sierra (36.78) led a long string of clean Sheltie runs. She was followed by Venture (35.62), Stripper (35.40), Jeter (34.42), Steel (34.17) and Kaemon (34.14).

Bilbo the Papillon ran a 32.81 to become the national champion, having the fastest clean time. This was probably the class with the most drama, as so many clean runs followed one after the next.

16-inch

Faulting in the 16-inch class were Guess the Border Collie (40.97), Java the Australian Shepherd (34.75), Edge the Border Collie (33.41), Nikko the Nova Scotia Retriever (33.41), and reigning Masters Agility Championship winner Pink the Border Collie (29.92), who had to advance out of the Challenger round.

Also faulting were Border Collies Breck (30.85) and Deja Vu (34.23), Swift the Sheltie (29.79) and Border Collie Little Sparkle (30.17).

With clean runs were Lucky the Sheltie (33.46), 10-year-old Blizzard the Border Collie, World Agility Games competitor Stripe the Sheltie (33.19), followed by Border Collies Rev (33.72), Harlow (32.95), and Annie (30.01) and Repedi the Puli (31.87).

In her second Nationals, Annie claimed the title for this class in the 2019 AKC National Agility Championship.

20-inch

A stunning 27 dogs were in the final of the 20-inch class. Unless otherwise noted, assume all dogs here are Border Collies.

With no time at all due to running the course out of order was Joelle the All American Dog.

Faulting were Rich from the Challenger round (29.57), Golden Retrievers Amy (34.46) and Maewyn (35.92), Hotch (32.71), Talla (33.76), Bounce the Golden Retriever (37.92), Freedom (38.40), Jasper the Golden Retriever (33.39), Fargo (29.54) and Mowgli (33.71).

Posting clean runs were Dexter (35.80), Zoey (37.21), Tally (36.92), USA (35.31), Decoy the Labrador (3419), Gabby the Golden Retriever (34.10), Sculpin the Australian Shepherd (33.22), Graphite (32.91), Avid (34.85), Solei (32.42), Jazzie (32.44), Hops (30.48), Stat (31.46), Pepper (31.12) and Franky (30.96).

Hops the Border Collie won the 20-inch title with his clean 30.48 second run.

24-inch

Desi the Doberman led off the 24-inch class from the Challenger round with a clean 36.12 time. Rory the Briard came next with a 39.23, followed by Jackie the Golden Retriever, who posted a 34.54 with faults. Border Collies Kaboom  (34.29) and Robin (34.37) were followed by Tark the Doberman, who faulted, Jif the Weimaraner (33.89) and Furgus the Border Collie (33.58).

That meant that Furgus won the 24-inch 2019 AKC National Agility Championship.

24-inch choice

The 24-inch choice division is for high-soaring dogs who think their normal agility jump height isn’t challenging enough. Sort of like the people who play trampoline basketball with 15-foot baskets. All the dogs in this final were Border Collies.

Advancing from the Challenger division was Daredevil, who finished in 31.36 despite slipping and having to catch himself. Unfortunately, that threw off his timing and he faulted. Bird ran a 30.93, but not cleanly; Mooz sped through with a quick 31.28, but with faults, and then poor Amigo got no score after running the course out of order.

Puma finished cleanly with a methodical run of 33.78, and then Jimmy claimed the title with an equally methodical but clean 32.36.

Congratulations to all the dogs and the handlers competing in the 2019 AKC National Agility Championship.