Rules

All BARK competitions are sanctioned by the Australian Canine Disc Association (ACDA) and use the ACDA approved Disc Dog Judging Criteria. This web page includes all BARK competition rules, except changes noted on event web pages announcing an event. The BARK rules consist of three parts: General Rules, Toss & Fetch, and Freestyle.

General Rules

Disqualification: Teams will be disqualified and required to leave the competition site if there is either a female dog in any stage of heat, abuse by the handler of an animal, aggressive canine behavior, or the handler fails to clean up after their dog anywhere at the event site.
Waste Disposal: It is essential that at all events the venue is left in pristine condition at the conclusion of the event. Consequently, all handlers must ensure that any dog droppings and other rubbish items are immediately collected and put into garbage bins or removed from the event site.
Health Care: It is strongly recommended that all dogs who attend events as either competitors or spectators should be up to date on their vaccinations including Parvovirus and Kennel Cough (Bordetella) and heartworm preventative. Competition officials reserve the right to ask a competing handler to provide proof that their dogs have been receiving these medications. However, BARK and competition organisers cannot be held responsible for any illnesses that a dog might contract from being in close proximity to other competitors' and spectators' dogs.
Safety: Handlers are responsible for the safety and welfare of their dogs at competitions. Handlers and/or owners or their agents are expected to properly supervise and maintain control over their canines at all times and ensure that their dogs are not put in potentially dangerous situations.
Event Registration: Prior to competition, handlers must read and sign, without altering, the competition Entry Form, which contains a liability waiver and publicity release.
Team Composition: Teams shall consist of only one dog and one handler. Only the competing dog, handler, and contest officials are allowed on the field during competition.
Disc Selection: The competition disc must be an approved disc ratified by the Australian Canine Disc Association (ACDA) prior to the competition start. As at 1st of July 2006 the approved discs list contains: WHAM-O® discs (including only the premium weight standard Fastback and Flex Fastback models); Hyperflite K10 discs (including only the Competition Standard, Jawz, Jawz Pup, Soflite and Soflite Pup discs) and Hero Discs (including only the 120, 160 and 235 disc models). Only those dogs with a shoulder height of 15 inches or less may use the smaller Pup sized discs.
Commemorative Discs: At some events, commemorative discs may be provided to competitors at no extra charge. At such events, competitors may be required to use only these discs during their competition rounds and during any media interviews.
Commemorative T-Shirts: At some events, commemorative competition t-shirts may be provided to competitors at no extra charge. At such events, competitors are required to wear their t-shirts during the competitors' meeting, competitor introductions, all of their competition rounds, at the presentation ceremony, at all times that the competitor is participating in media interviews, and at any other times that the competitor is on the field.
Costumes: Only freestyle teams who are pre-approved by the Head Judge are permitted to wear a bona-fide costume during their FREESTYLE ROUNDS ONLY. In order to secure this permission a team that wants to wear a costume must show it to the Head Judge before the start of the competition and the Head Judge will have total discretion about whether or not they decide to approve the costume for any reason without providing an explanation. Where such permission is granted the team may wear the costume even if it means that any provided competition t-shirt is not visible.
No Props: Handlers must not use props of any kind during competition (e.g. hoops, sticks, ribbons).
Practice: Handlers are welcome to practice their throwing on the competition field prior to the commencement of an event. However, no dogs are allowed to practice or walk onto on the competition field at any time, except when they are competing. Teams can only practice with their dogs in designated practice areas announced by the competition organisers. It is essential that practicing teams don't compromise spectator safety and must be out of range of the competition area so that competing teams are not distracted.
Leashes: Dogs must be kept on leash at all times, except when competing or in a designated practice area. Handlers must walk dogs on leash to the on-deck area of the field before the previous competitor starts their round. Dogs must be put back on leash immediately after competing.
No Treats: Teams are prohibited from taking dog food or any type of treats onto the competition field.
No Electronic Training Aids: Teams are prohibited from taking any type of electronic training aid, either active or inactive, onto the competition field.
Personal Conduct: Boisterous challenges, abusive language, or other inappropriate or unsportsmanlike behavior, whether directed at contest officials or not, may result in the contestant being disqualified from further competition.
Judging: During competition, one or more Scoring Judges will assess the points scored by each team. The "calls" and decisions of the Judges are final and will not be subject to review or appeal.
Format Changes: Competition officials reserve the right to change format, competition rules, time allotments, etc., at their discretion.

The winners collect their prizes for the Junior Division (12 years and under) at the 2002 US
Disc Dog Southern Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia: Nick Justicz & Shana, Joseph Ellis
and Christina Ellis with their dog Mistle, and Christian Stephens
and his dogs Breezy and Smokey.
Photo: © Karen Noud (Used with permission).

Toss & Fetch

All BARK competitions will include Toss & Fetch competition divisions. Toss & Fetch is a fun and very easy to understand competition format. If you have a dog that will catch a Frisbee disc and return it to you then you are ready to play Toss & Fetch.

Beginner teams compete in a Novice Division while teams that have previously won a competition and other teams that want to compete against the best teams compete in a Pro Division. In both divisions teams compete in two 90 second rounds of Toss & Fetch, with the top five scoring teams after those two rounds continuing onto a final 90 second round. At BARK competitions prizes will normally be awarded to the winners in both divisions and the highest scoring Junior (12 years and under as at January 1 of that year).

BARK competitions use the ACDA approved Disc Dog Judging Criteria for Toss & Fetch. These Judging Criteria were originally developed by the USDDN, the confederation of disc dog clubs in the United States that coordinates the annual US Disc Dog Nationals.

Freestyle

Some BARK competitions will also include Freestyle competition. Freestyle is a challenging format for dogs and their handlers where the teams attempt different tricks during routines of up to 2 minutes choreographed to music. If you and your dog want to learn how to do cool tricks and use more advanced throws then you are ready to start competing in Freestyle.

Teams competing in a freestyle division perform two rounds of Freestyle and one round of Toss & Fetch. Each of the freestyle rounds is scored out of 40 by a panel of three certified Judges and then multiplied by 1.5. These final freestyle scores are added to the Toss & Fetch score to determine the winners. At BARK competitions prizes will normally be awarded to the winners of freestyle divisions.

BARK competitions use the ACDA approved Disc Dog Judging Criteria for Freestyle. These Judging Criteria were originally developed by the USDDN, the confederation of disc dog clubs in the United States that coordinates the annual US Disc Dog Nationals. The Disc Dog Judging Criteria for Freestyle are as follows.