The following blog is based on 2023 data pulled from https://baddogagility.com/
For quick reference, the BDA stats are based on AKC competition at the Master’s level. A full explanation of the rankings is available on their website. The scores are based strictly on yards per second and do not factor qualifying rates.
Based on a study of 2023 Power 60 rankings and Breed Top 10 rankings, an obvious trend becomes obvious.
Top ranked AKC agility Papillons are about 6x more likely than other prominent agility breeds to have an AKC Conformation title. Why is this and what can we learn from it?
First let’s look at the stats.
The first thing I looked at was Bad Dog Agility rankings for “The Power 60”. The Power 60 is a group of the top 10 dogs in each of the 6 AKC Agility height classes (8″, 12″, 16″, 20″, 24″, and 24C″) ranked by PowerScore. This is regardless of breed. The 60 included 28 border collies, 8 papillons, 5 shelties, 3 “all american” dogs (mixed breeds) and 1 to 2 each of 13 other breeds.
Of the 60 dogs listed, 5 of them had AKC conformation champion titles. The 5 champions were comprised of 3 papillons, 1 rat terrier and 1 border collie.
This means that only 8.3% of the top fastest agility dogs had AKC conformation titles. Of that number, papillons accounted for over half.
Now let’s look at a breakdown by breed of common agility breeds. For this purpose, I’ve pulled data on Papillons, Border Collies, Shelties, Golden Retrievers, Australian shepherds and Mini American Shepherds. Those first 4 breeds are widely recognized as the “top agility breeds” in their respective height categories. The other 2 are included based on my personal interest in the breed.
These rankings are from the Bad Dog Agility 2023 rankings by breed. These rankings are based on speed alone in masters courses. The top 10 dogs of that breed in each height category (including preferred height) are listed by BDA.
Let’s start with the biggest dogs.
Golden retrievers are generally recognized as the most common breed other than BCs in the 24in height range. The BDA rankings for goldens for 2023 included 46 dogs. 0% of the dogs had conformation titles.
Border collies dominate several height ranges as the most popular breed in dog agility. The BDA ranking for this breed included 70 dogs. Only 1 dog had a conformation title, which equals 1.4% of the total number. However, it is worth nothing that the 1 champion conformation dog is also a National Agility Champion.
Shelties, which often dominate the 12 and 16in heights, had 59 dogs ranked. 3.3% had conformation titles.
Australian Shepherds had 49 dogs ranked and 0% of them were conformation champions.
Miniature American Shepherds had 61 dogs ranked. 3.2% had conformation titles.
Now let’s look at Papillons, who dominate the smallest heights. There were 37 papillons ranked. A surprising 18.9% have conformation titles. That includes 3 National Agility Champions.
This should make us take a long look at Paps.
Why are paps so much more successful in “crossing over” to agility?
In my opinion, it’s simply that of all the breeds listed, Papillons are the ONLY breed where conformation judges don’t demand a heavier built dog. It’s the top agility breed where the judges aren’t discriminating against moderate dogs. This means that papillon handlers are more likely to enter both events as they have a chance of winning both events with the same dog.
In the other breeds, we routinely see conformation judges awarding a heavy, excessive type of dog which lacks agility. Those of us with moderate dogs don’t enter conformation shows because we know the judges won’t use our dogs (also many of us in aussies and MAS don’t enter AKC conformation due to bias against natural tails.)
Is the issue realistically fixable? No, I don’t think it is. The show breeders are NEVER going to stop breeding over-done dogs because that’s what the judges like. The sport breeders are NEVER going to waste their time and money on conformation competitions that they are unlikely to be successful at. It’s mostly a thought experiment at this point, but it goes to prove that show line/sport line splits can be avoided if show breeders refuse to breed over-done animals that are incapable of being athletic. The papillon is an inherently athletic dog and their show community respects this and treats it as a priority.
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