There are a number of agility flavors available for you to compete in. Most of the organizations will allow mixed breeds to participate. Each has its own unique flavor. You can see the relative popularity of the venues in this area in the graphs in the sidebar. The popularity of a particular venue will vary by region. For example, of the NADAC trials in the graph only one was in VA and the rest were from the other three states.
AKC is the most popular venue with over 2100 trials per year. Starting April 1, 2010, mixed breeds will be allowed to compete at some trials. The CKC is similar to AKC and is an option if you are north of the border and want to do some agility.
USDAA is probably the oldest agility venue which traces its history to 1986. It promotes international standards in the US. They claim about 600 trial days in a year. The AAC is the equivalent in Canada.
TDAA is for small dogs (measuring 17" or less) with smaller equipment. It also has shorter distances between obstacles to give the small dog some of the challenges that the larger dogs have on the standard size courses.
NADAC was formed in 1993 and used the same rules as ASCA and until May 31, 2006 held dual sanctioned trials. Over the years, NADAC has evolved rules and equipment away from international standards towards faster and safer equipment.
CPE was formed in 1998. Offers more game classes, more fun, etc.
DOCNA Clubs can use just about any equipment that they have. They claim to have performance divisions for anyone, no table and "rational teeter calls".
UKC stresses that any person or dog may compete without any "exceptionally fast speed requirements" to earn titles. UKC is quite different than all the other venues since it stresses control over some complicated obstacles rather than speed over basic obstacles. In some respects, UKC is very obedience oriented.
ASCA used the same rule set as NADAC from 1995 until 5/31/2006 and held dual sanctioned trials with NADAC until that time. Since then ASCA has reverted to a rule set more inline with the other major organizations. ASCA is open to all breeds except for the ASCA Agility National Specialty.
UKI is the newest kid on the block. The first demo matches are being held in 2010 with some trials scheduled for the Summer of 2010. The idea is to bring international style courses to the US. The regulations are still in draft mode. UKI is an offshoot of United Kingdom Agility (UKA).
The links below generally point to the agility regulations for the organization (At this point, the CKC does not publish its rules online). If the links break use the Contact Webmaster link below to submit a website comment and let the webmaster know. Once you are at the site, you can navigate around to find more information about the organization.