AKC International Sweepstakes Class (ISC) and Kraken Cup FAQ

What is ISC?

ISC (International Sweepstakes Class) offers courses that reflect the current trends in European course design and are enjoyed by both teams with international aspirations as well as those that want to challenge their skills on courses with exceptional speed, spacing and flow.

Do I need to be registered with AKC to compete?

Yes. The eligibility requirements are the same for any AKC trial. However, ISC classes are open, which means your dog can be at any level to enter.

Can I jump my dog at his usual jump height?

Yes. You can jump your dog’s standard AKC jump height (regular or preferred), or you can choose to jump the ISC Jump Heights. There is no Preferred option for ISC; dogs may enter at their preferred jump height, however they will be scored against the regular division dogs jumping the same jump height–i.e. 16” Preferred dogs will be scored with 16” Regular dogs.

However, if you want to gain ISC legs for qualifying for World Team tryouts (EOTT or WTT) you must jump your dog’s designated ISC height.

ISC-specific heights are:

Category	Dog Height	Jump Height
Small dogs	13 ¾” or less	12 inches
Medium dogs	16 ⅞” or less	16 inches
Intermediate	18 ⅞” or less	20 inches
Large dogs	More than 18 ⅞”	24 inches

How are the ISC runs scored?

Dogs start with a score of zero to which faults are added for infractions. All ISC class placements are based on faults, then time, whereas the dog with the fewest faults wins. In cases where dogs have the same number of faults, the dog with the lowest (fastest) course time prevails.

However, for legs to count for tryouts, the scores must be clean–i.e. no faults incurred.

Do the ISC “Q”s count towards any AKC titles?

Can I train in the ring?

FEO is allowed for ISC standalone events, in all classes. The same FEO rules will apply as at a regular AKC trial.

Who designs the ISC courses?

Courses may be designed by the presiding AKC judge or in advance by an FCI judge. For the December 2023 North San Diego County Agility Club event, the courses are designed by judge Thora Van Der Stock, Belgium, and Jordi Boix Baró, Spain, and the judge of record (on site) will be the esteemed Ken Boyd.

What is Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3?

FCI courses are designed at 3 levels: Agility 1, Jumping 1, Agility 2 and so on.

Level 1 is the lowest level and level 3 is the highest level.

Level 1 courses may be equivalent to UKI Beginner/Novice.
Level 2 courses may be equivalent to UKI Masters Series.
Level 3 courses are equivalent to A3 FCI (international) courses.

Do ISC Qs count towards World Team tryout qualification?

It depends.

All clean Level 2 and Level 3 ISC runs count towards qualifications for both AWC (WTT) and EO (EOTT) Tryouts.

Clean Level 1 rounds count for EOTT only.

Please consult the tryouts regulations to learn about the specific qualification process for each team.

AWC tryouts; https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn-origin-etr.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/07103550/WTT-2023-Tryouts-Rules.pdf

EOTT tryouts; https://akccompanionevents.com/DocAgilityStore/AKC_2023_EOTT_Premium_List.pdf

In addition, a limited number of Regional qualifier ISC events also award a bye to AWC Tryouts based on winning a combination of two classes.

The December 2023 Kraken Cup is a World Team Bye Event.

Combined scores from ISC Jumping 2 and ISC Agility 2 classes on Sunday (noted with an asterisk **) will be used to award a Combined ISC Class Award. To be eligible for the Combined ISC Class Award the team must have a minimum of one clean ISC run and a run that has a maximum of 5 course faults (no time faults allowed) for those scores to be used to compute the Combined Score. The Combined Class winner from the 12, 16, 20 and 24 inch heights are invited to attend AWC Team Tryouts. Winners of the Combined Event do not need to fulfill the requirement of the 4/4 scores nor do they need to have the AX and AXJ titles by the closing date. The team must send in all the required information with the fees and the entry form and meet all the other basic eligibility criteria to attend tryouts. The handler at tryouts must be the same handler that won the combined award.
A ceremony and special awards will be given to the Combined Winners.