2009: Four Different Top 50 Rankings of AKC Agility Labradors

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Explanation of table

Using this table, you can directly compare the 2009 Top 50 ExcB Labs using any one of four different ranking methods. To be considered for the YPS Ranking or for the Percentage of Dogs Defeated Ranking, a Lab must first have had at least 7 qualifying ExcB JWW runs and 7 qualifying ExcB Standard runs in Calendar 2009. A total of 130 ExcB Labs met these requirements.

For each of the four ranking systems the Top 50 were chosen for overall comparison; because of overlap in the four rankings, this resulted in a grand total of 78 Top Labs being chosen for direct comparison in our resulting table. Thus the rankings displayed for these 78 Labs are really Rankings of the larger population of 130 Labs from which these 78 Top 10 Labs were extracted.

The four different rating systems are:
1. AKC's traditional ranking using total MACH Points (including bonus points for 1st and 2nd placements) plus 10 points for each DQ.
2. The "NoBo" ranking: AKC's system but with no bonus points.
3. The "%Def" Ranking: Percentage of Dogs Defeated on all qualifying ExcB runs in 2009.
4. The "YPS" Ranking: Average YPS with the average taken across all qualifying ExcB runs in 2009.

Entries in both %DogsDefeated and in AveYPS that appear to be ties probably are technically not ties. The underlying calculations are carried to 20 decimal places but we show only two decimal places; in this case the Rankings reflect what is actually the correct order. Of course such small differences are not of practically significance.

You can experiment by clicking once or twice on different column headings to sort the columns in various ways. For example, first click on the Average YPS heading to sort this list to increasing order and then click on the Jump Height heading to separate the YPS rankings of 20in and 24in Labs.

The heading "Comp Size" gives the number of competing dogs that the Lab has had in 2009. The higher this number, the more accurate the calculation of %DogsDefeated is likely to be.

Look below the table for more details about these rankings.

IF YOU FIND ERRORS OR OMISSIONS (including for any Call Names), we would appreciate hearing from you: please e-mail paul@limeceek.com.

AKC Registered Name JH AKC
Rank 		NoBo
Rank 		%Def
Rank 		YPS
Rank 		AKC
Pts 		NoBo
Pts 		%
Def 		Ave
YPS 		Std
Qs 		JWW
Qs 		Comp
Size 		Call
Name
Sadie's Black Satin 20 1 1 27 23 2665 2502 87.17% 4.61 67 79 5192 Sadie
The Captain's Frequent Flyer 20 2 2 5 4 2355 1930 94.81% 5.14 43 47 4375 Ranger
Abby Jo Kickass 26 3 4 10 22 2238 1525 92.76% 4.65 43 44 1546 Abby
Hirsch's Gone With The Wind 20 4 8 4 2 1993 1425 95.63% 5.19 34 35 2447 Scarlett
Lime Creek's Black Taffy 20 5 7 11 7 1866 1428 92.70% 5.05 36 36 2796 Taffy
Princess Lily Belle III 24 6 15 7 20 1689 1102 93.44% 4.73 28 34 1174 Belle
Lime Creek's Mie Black Beamer 20 7 3 49 35 1683 1578 79.44% 4.50 45 48 3415 Cooper
Stnehvn Outlaw Josie Wells 24 8 21 2 10 1608 937 97.59% 4.91 22 27 789 Josie
Lakewood's Chaos 20 9 5 40 33 1592 1475 82.02% 4.50 41 51 3342 Chaos
Lime Creek's Little Bit 20 10 13 6 8 1520 1160 93.91% 5.01 28 33 2101 Bit
Black Berry Brandy (Raven) 20 11 6 42 30 1511 1444 81.53% 4.51 42 44 2415 Raven
Kj's Blackwater Keep On Rolln 24 12 10 31 47 1507 1347 85.20% 4.33 45 43 2074 Coalby
AM Star's Tell It LIke It Is 20 13 18 3 1 1489 1041 95.90% 5.27 24 24 1780 True
Canebrake Miss Bunny May 20 14 9 57 54 1437 1379 77.87% 4.22 45 49 3018 Bunny
J Mark's Aiming High 20 15 11 17 11 1363 1255 89.66% 4.91 32 29 2843 Amy
Paka-Lolo 20 16 17 18 6 1286 1050 89.61% 5.07 12 52 2349 Paka
Gryphon Puck Of Emerald Bay 24 17 20 20 27 1247 1001 88.08% 4.53 30 30 1141 Gryphon
Bk's Riparian River Of Dreams 20 18 12 44 29 1245 1187 81.33% 4.51 37 35 2689 Kylie
Folklaur Command Performance 20 19 14 118 103 1143 1141 64.13% 3.85 51 62 5032 Pilot
Lakebound's Dancing Poet 20 20 16 53 45 1102 1077 78.29% 4.36 33 36 2929  
Sonshine Miss Ellie May 20 21 19 104 100 1032 1028 68.38% 3.87 41 56 3406 Ellie
Rhumbline's High Grade 24 22 28 9 5 1006 742 92.84% 5.11 23 14 992 Grady
Hail To Mr Wiskers Yoshi 24 23 31 16 24 999 710 89.71% 4.54 17 27 661 Yoshi
Morning Star's Hell On Wheels 20 24 27 8 3 945 750 93.24% 5.15 17 21 1730 Minx
Joemac's Cause For Concern 26 25 43 59 41 921 556 77.19% 4.45 18 18 57 Joey
McNeil's Back Bay Cheddar 20 26 22 107 89 903 901 67.12% 3.94 42 45 2406 Colby
Sheenaron Merry Sequoia 20 27 23 64 53 862 855 75.68% 4.24 31 32 2208 Sierra
Lakebounds New Year Addition 20 28 25 45 34 859 831 81.24% 4.50 25 24 2542 Addy
Ransom's Rocky Mtn Annika 24 29 26 69 97 845 768 74.98% 3.71 35 42 1103 Nika
Prancing Sweet Sunshine Molly 20 30 24 91 92 834 834 70.14% 3.91 39 40 2940  
Deep Run Whiskey River 24 31 30 41 46 824 738 81.89% 4.36 25 22 867 Willie
River Run Jasper Jax 24 32 35 13 36 807 626 91.08% 4.49 20 20 1110  
Charlene's Encore 24 33 36 26 26 803 619 87.31% 4.53 16 25 646 Cory
Thunder Myst New Moon Rising 24 34 39 19 42 755 577 89.57% 4.41 25 18 786  
Skyfire's Ellietta Ica 20 35 29 92 64 744 739 70.14% 4.13 25 36 1564 Ellie
Augustus Class V At Sealion 20 36 32 28 21 719 681 87.03% 4.72 21 18 1673  
Dewey Theodore Keys 24 37 33 105 116 682 652 67.77% 3.73 41 41 1362  
Morning Star's American Girl 24 38 56 12 16 663 431 91.33% 4.81 11 15 300 Emmy
Windycanyon's Dark Ranger 20 39 34 95 81 650 631 69.10% 3.99 27 29 1398 Strider
Chaotic Thunder Boomer 20 40 46 24 19 648 552 87.38% 4.74 17 18 1402 Hotty
W.B. And 24k's Muddy Waters 26 41 60 63 114 640 408 75.86% 3.77 24 20 116  
Joemac's Pale Rider 24 42 65 1 9 635 395 97.75% 4.91 12 7 489 Preacher
Hawkesfell Brigand 24 43 44 72 115 616 556 73.59% 3.76 26 36 1344  
Wanderer's True Fish Tale 20 44 37 56 32 611 611 77.89% 4.50 19 20 1936 True
Bigwater Aint Miss Beahavin 20 45 40 15 12 610 577 90.06% 4.90 16 16 1268 Bea
Crystalclear's Independence 20 46 38 52 31 587 580 79.05% 4.51 18 19 1260 Indy
Bud's Spiced Morgan 20 47 41 111 77 572 572 66.37% 4.01 23 27 1909 Morgan
Augustus Midnight Sky Dancer 20 48 42 65 69 572 565 75.65% 3.88 20 26 1195  
Blue Ridge's River Crossing 20 49 48 94 90 560 530 69.11% 3.94 25 24 1816 River
Shammie 20 50 45 66 57 555 555 75.55% 3.96 17 19 1742 Shammie
Epples Macy Day Show Girl 20 51 51 14 17 551 493 90.19% 4.75 11 20 1132 Macy
Lotte 20 52 47 98 60 535 535 68.90% 4.14 17 25 1492  
Henbo5's Sage 24 53 54 34 55 529 440 84.95% 4.22 14 21 651  
Lagniappe's Primeaux Donna 20 54 49 51 25 527 527 79.20% 4.54 20 13 851 Prix
Lady Mollie Ashmore 20 55 50 79 75 524 518 72.17% 4.03 20 22 2152  
Amiable Applause Inherited 24 56 57 50 71 515 422 79.27% 4.05 16 19 627 Gina
Ms Polo's Ten Goal Spring 24 57 75 35 92 513 319 84.85% 3.92 15 12 132 Spring
Southland Mz Godiva 20 59 55 48 28 476 432 80.24% 4.52 17 12 759  
Double Dutch Cadbury 20 61 76 25 37 471 318 87.31% 4.48 8 11 134  
Wetland's Bluegrass Chick 20 62 58 29 14 456 420 86.73% 4.85 12 12 1311  
Courtneys Madison Girl 20 63 62 32 15 448 401 85.06% 4.84 13 10 616  
Troublesome We Be Jammin' 20 69 71 30 13 385 355 85.33% 4.87 7 13 852  
Am Star Baileys Irish Cream 24 72 74 38 40 374 322 83.33% 4.46 9 16 480 Baily
Labncroft's Fine Wine 24 76 93 43 59 349 284 81.41% 4.14 14 10 511  
Dakota's Destiny AX MXJ 24 78 82 36 65 341 309 84.47% 4.12 8 23 644  
Candlewood Huntleigh 24 79 80 39 43 340 312 82.83% 4.37 10 11 361  
Lorken's Twist Of Fate 24 82 84 23 38 335 303 87.55% 4.48 7 16 723 Twister
Emmitt Texas Parkside 24 89 89 37 62 311 295 84.03% 4.14 12 14 720  
Augustus Putting on the Ritz 20 92 91 21 39 306 292 87.87% 4.46 7 15 602  
Lazy M Ante Up 20 93 87 70 49 300 300 74.36% 4.28 14 10 1217  
Beaubie's Shadow Dancer 20 96 88 61 50 296 296 76.15% 4.28 13 7 801  
Merganser's Makin the Race 20 98 97 33 18 286 272 85.03% 4.75 10 7 588  
Sadie Rose 24 110 112 22 56 225 197 87.72% 4.21 8 8 342  
Sir Lance Of Farmingdale 24 112 108 46 48 214 203 80.93% 4.32 9 7 430  
Amiable Belladonna 20 120 117 58 44 189 184 77.70% 4.37 7 7 592  
Lorken's Chocolate Brisco 24 123 133 47 84 183 154 80.25% 3.97 8 8 238 Brisco

AKC's normal rankings have two major flaws:

1. The use of bonus points strongly favors dogs that mostly trial in parts of the country where trials are small. Bonus points also distort the rankings by encouraging some 24in Labs to jump 26in, where bonus points are often easier to acquire. The data also shows that bonus points are a little easier to get for 24in Labs than for 20in Labs. Eliminating bonus points, which is what our second ranking does, eliminates both of these problems.

2. But both AKC's normal ranking system and the "no bonus points" ranking still have another major flaw: Both hugely reward dogs that trial a lot vs those that trial maybe once a month or less. Showing up for lots of trials does nothing to prove that a dog is better at agility than a dog that trials less often. Both our "Percentage of Dogs Defeated" ranking and our "Average YPS" ranking eliminate the problem with bonus points and the problem of rewarding entering lots of trials. The first of these two alternative rankings is obtained by dividing the total number of dogs defeated in all of the dog's qualifying runs in 2009 by the total number of (other) dogs entered in these same runs. Similarly, the "Average YPS" ranking is obtained by first averaging the YPSs for all standard qualifying runs in 2008, averaging the YPSs for all of the dog's JWW qualifying runs in 2009, and then taking the average of these two numbers.

By taking these percentages and averages for the entire year, we have eliminated both using bonus points and rewarding the pressure to trial "every other" weekend.

3. A given yps tends to produce a higher percentage of dogs defeated for 24in Labs than for 20in Labs; this suggests that the ranking by average yps is the "purer", and hence the better ranking.

4. Finally, none of these rankings (except very slightly AKC's bonus points) directly reward Labs that have a high qualifying rate.