2017 DockDogs Road to World Championships Qualifying Criteria

Jan 19, 2017 | Events, General, Media, National Events, Special Events

The following is a detailed breakdown of how teams can qualify for an invitation to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships.   All final invitations are dependent upon the team’s participation during the 2017 season at either (2) National DockDogs® events, OR (1) National and (1) Club Event (within the discipline you are invited for) on or before October 2nd; and the team must hold an Active 2017 DockDogs® Worldwide membership in order to be considered for an invitation.

Invitations for teams are determined based on the following headings in the order that they appear below:

1. Sanctioned Facility House League Pilot Program

New this year will be a pilot program with the participating Sanctioned Facilities. More on the House League to come soon.

2. Scheels Series

In order to be considered for the Scheels Series you must have attended a minimum of (2) of the 2017 Scheels Series events (separate event locations).

Upon completion of the above noted requirements the top three (3) ranked teams within each Division of each Discipline (Big Air; Speed Retrieve; Extreme Vertical & Iron Dog) will receive an invitation to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships.  This includes the Specialty Divisions (Youth Handler; Lap Dog; Veteran Dog; Legend Dog).

Rankings are based on a team’s best two qualifying scores within each discipline of all 2017 Scheels Series events they have attended (i.e. there will be individual rankings for one top score per event for Big Air, Speed Retrieve, Extreme Vertical & Iron Dog). Please note that only the 2 best qualifying scores of all 2017 Scheels Series events will be considered for this ranking, and not all jumps from each event.

3. Wild Card Double Header Event(s)

New this year in addition to regular Wild Card events we will also have a number of Wild Card Double Header events. These events will include not only DockDogs® but also Dueling Dogs™. The top six (6) ranked teams within each division of each discipline (Big Air; Speed Retrieve; Extreme Vertical & Iron Dog) based on event rankings, will receive an invitation to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships.  Event Rankings for Wild Card Double Header Events will be based on an average of all qualifying Waves & Finals scores.  This includes the Specialty Divisions (Youth Handler, Lap Dog, Veteran Dog, Legend Dog). For Dueling Dogs™ at these events the top six (6) overall from the Class Finals will receive an invite to the Dueling Dogs™ World Championships to be held in the spring of 2018.

     4. Wild Card Event(s)

The regular Wild Card event(s) will consist of one or more events selected by DockDogs® Worldwide and the top three (3) Ranked teams within each division of each discipline (Big Air; Speed Retrieve; Extreme Vertical & Iron Dog) based on event rankings, will receive an invitation to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships.  Event Rankings for Wild Card Events will be based on an average of all qualifying Waves & Finals scores.  This includes the Specialty Divisions (Youth Handler, Lap Dog, Veteran Dog, Legend Dog).

Note: Australia and Canada will each have one designated Wildcard event in the 2017 season.

5. Year End Rankings

Overall by Country

Overall Rankings by Country take into consideration a team’s (5) best jumps (including Finals) within Big Air, and the (3) best scores within Speed Retrieve, Extreme Vertical and Iron Dog to date for National caliber events within a Country. The top three (3) ranked teams within each Division in each Discipline (including Specialty Divisions) will receive an invitation to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships. Country specific invites will be based on specific Countries including USA/Canada/Australia/ Netherlands/Italy.

Note: If a team were ranked within the parameters of a division higher than which they are titled, they would not be considered for a Rankings invitation based on their titled division; however they could potentially qualify for an invite for the higher division within which they are ranked.

Overall Worldwide

Overall Rankings take into consideration a team’s (5) best scores (including Finals) within Big Air, and the team’s (3) best scores within Speed Retrieve, Extreme Vertical and Iron Dog to date. The top three (3) ranked teams within each Division in each Discipline (including Specialty Divisions) will receive an invitation to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships.  (If a team were ranked within the parameters of a division higher than which they are titled, they would not be considered for a Rankings invitation based on their titled division; however they could potentially qualify for an invite for the higher division within which they are ranked.)

IMPORTANT – Additional World Championships qualifying & competition information

1. An invitation will be passed down to the “Next Qualified Team” in the instance that the original Qualifying Team does not accept their invitation for that specific qualifying avenue.
2. If a team turns down an invite, they will not have the opportunity to qualify for an invite within that division through another qualifying avenue. However, a team could qualify for an invite within a higher division than the original “declined” invitation.

• If a Youth Handler competes and earns an invitation to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships within the Youth Handler division, and they turn 16 years of age prior to the start of the World Championships, they will still compete as a Youth Handler at the World Championship event.

1. In the case of Specialty Class Invitations (Youth Handler, Lap Dog, Veteran Dog, Legend Dog):
   1. If a Youth Handler qualifies with multiple dogs for multiple invitations to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships for the Big Air Youth Handler Division, they may only accept one invitation (their qualifying team of choice).  Youth handlers may still accept additional invitations for regular Big Air Divisions. (ie.: Novice, Junior, Senior, Master, Elite & Super Elite)
   2. If a Dog qualifies with multiple handlers for multiple invitations to the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships for the following Big Air specialty division, (Lap Dog, Veteran Dog, Legend Dog), they may only accept one invitation per Specialty Class with their qualifying team of choice. Any entry fees previously paid will follow the dog.   The teams may still accept additional invitations for regular Big Air Divisions. (ie.: Novice, Junior, Senior, Master, Elite & Super Elite)

1. If a team feels that it is unfair for them to compete in their invited division for Worlds because of improvement during the season, they may contact the office within two weeks of Worlds to request re-assignment to a higher division.
2. Prior to the start of the 2017 DockDogs® World Championships, all teams competing will be cross referenced and potentially re-assigned to a higher Competition Division based on their current ability. This will be based on the highest of the following (regardless of the Division in which they earned & accepted their invitation):
   1. Title: Current National title
   2. The Worldwide ranking (which is an average of the highest 5 scores for a team) plus the Performance rankings (average of all scores from that avenue of qualification ie: the average of all scores from that discipline including any Finals scores will be averaged and if higher than the current title or the original invitation, the team will be reassigned to that division.

• In addition, for Iron Dog invites the current Worldwide rankings for Big Air, Speed Retrieve and Extreme Vertical for each team will be checked and an Iron Dog score calculated from those rankings and this score will also be used as a possible basis for re-assignment of Iron Dog division at Worlds.

• Once all invitations have gone out for Year End Rankings, (2) additional Overall Worldwide based rankings invites will be issued to any divisions not having the full complement of invitations.
• Teams will not “Jump Out” of their competition division for the purposes of Finals selection. (ie.: if a Team competing in the Senior Division jumps a Master jump in Qualifying, the Team will remain in the Senior Division & potentially compete in the Senior finals).