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Statistics and headlines

The advantage of doing agility in a small country like the UK is that you can go to a show on almost any weekend of the year, provided you don't mind getting up early and driving a long way. But other than the basics - who, what, when and where - what do we really know about the show scene? It took a while to do, but we've analysed all the shows, using information from the 2011 Agilitynet Show Diary and found out the following.

Although not every agility show is listed in the Agilitynet Show Diary, it is probably the most comprehensive list of shows in the UK, including Kennel Club, UKA and BAA as it includes unaffiliated / independent shows as well as some informal, training, charity and fun shows.

The information below has been provided by the Show Secretaries and show processors such as iSS, Simply Canine, L&N, Show Time, UKA Show Processing, EMDAC and others. We think it provides the most accurate picture currently available of what is happening on the UK agility show scene.

How Many Shows Between 2009 - 2012

The number of Agility shows keeps growing
There was a large increase in shows from 2009 to 2010, but growth continues year on year.

Shows by Affiliation 2009-2012

 The balance between affiliations (KC, UKA & BAA) and independent shows is changing.
From 2010 onwards, most of the growth has been in Independent/unaffiliated and BAA shows.
By 2012 Independent/unaffiliated shows were almost as numerous as KC open/championship shows.

   2011 in More Detail

In 2011 the majority of Independent shows were capped or limited - and the majority of limited shows were Independent.
However, a closer look reveals that in 2011 KC shows continued to dominate the open (uncapped) and championship shows.

NOTE: The data used to analyse 2011 in these tables and those below is slightly different from the data used to analyse 2009-2012 (above),
so there are minor differences in the totals

Show Locations in 2011

Region No of Shows South East/East Anglia 142 Midlands 141 South/South West 96 North East 44 North West 40 Scotland 38 Northern Ireland 17 Republic of Ireland 15 Wales 14 Channel Islands 4

There are more shows were listed in the South and Midlands than the North.

Show Venues in 2011 County No of Shows Norfolk 27 Gloucestershire 25 Cornwall 21 Surrey 21 Nottinghamshire 19 Derbyshire 18 Cambridgeshire 18 Staffordshire 17 Warwickshire 17 County Durham 16 Kent 14 County Antrim 14 Devon 14 Hampshire 14 Berkshire 13 West Sussex 13 East Sussex 12 Leicestershire 12 Bedfordshire 11 Somerset 11 Shropshire 11 Wiltshire 10 Herefordshire 10

There were some surprises in the 'league table' of Counties where the most shows were held

The 20 Most Popular Show Venues in 2011

In 2011 the shows listed on Agilitynet used 260 different venues.
162 were used only once in the year, 33 only twice.

The 20* Most Popular Locations for Show Series in 2011

*Actually there are 22 venues
Most 'series' and leagues are held over the winter period, so indoor venues are preferred!

The Cost of Competing in 2011
What did we pay for our Agility runs?

In 2011 the most expensive average cost per run at open shows was about 25% more (at UKA shows) than the least expensive average (at Independent shows)
The most expensive average cost per run at limited/capped shows was about 35% more (at BAA shows) than the least expensive average (at Kennel Club shows)

There was not much less variation in average costs by region.
The most expensive region is Wales which was only 11% more for an average run in 2011 than the least expensive which was South and South West
Many Irish shows operate a different charging system, with the first run for the first dog entered costing more (typically around €10-12) but subsequent runs and subsequent dogs costing less. For comparison purposes, average prices for these Irish shows are based on entering two dogs in three classes each.

Shows by Month During 2011

Agility has become an 'all year round' activity.
The traditional agility months over the summer still see most shows but shows now carry on right through the year.
Limited/capped shows are most frequent during the winter and least common in 'high summer'

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