The Sport
PSA stands for Protection Sports Association. It is a demanding sport for dog and handler to work through obedience and protection routines.
“The Mission of the Protection Sports Association (PSA) is to provide an outlet for civilian competition in canine obedience and controlled protection, and to recognize achievement with titles and prizes, and promote competition with club trials and championship tournaments.” - The PSA K9 Official website.
PSA was created in the USA in 2001 by Jerry Bradshaw and Joe Morris. It finally made it’s way over to England in 2022, with the first British trial being held in July 2022.
There is a mandatory entry level called a PDC (Protection Dog Certificate) that must be completed by every dog before they are allowed to go on to the competitive levels and compete in PSA Levels 1 through to 3. Each level must be passed 2 times in order to achieve the title for that level. For this reason, each showing is sometimes referred to as a ‘leg’, ie 1st leg of Level 2.
PDC
->
Level 1
->
Level 1
->
Level 2
->
Level 2
->
Level 3
->
Level 3
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PDC -> Level 1 -> Level 1 -> Level 2 -> Level 2 -> Level 3 -> Level 3 ---
There are only 32 dogs worldwide who have achieved both legs of their Level 3.
In all levels of PSA from PDC through to Level 3, the obedience portion of the trial and the protection portion are separated into two. In order to be eligible to compete in protection, you must first pass the obedience portion. You must score 75% in obedience and 75% in each protection scenario in order to pass. Each level must be completed before moving on to the next level.
Although it’s a very challenging sport, the surprise nature of the sport (especially in the upper levels) make for a very exciting dog sport and a true test of relationship and quality training. The higher into the levels you get, the more the scenarios change from trial to trial, therefore relying on successful training of components as opposed to rigid routines.
The Trials
Showing at a club trial is open to PSA members in good standing on a first come, first served basis. Each competing dog must have their own PSA Scorebook, as can be purchased here.
Trial days start early, with registration being between 7:00AM - 7:45AM, and the first handler meeting begins at 8am. If you miss handler’s meeting, you will not be able to trial that day.
Trials are held on weekends. If the trial is a 3 day event, the Friday will be a PDC day, whereas Saturdays and Sundays are for any level competitor. Each individual day is considered to be a separate trial with regards to competing.
The limit for the number of non-Level 3 competitors to show on a trial day is 25. If a Level 3 competitor signs up, the limit for the number of non-Level 3 competitors drops to 20.
There will be one certified Judge presiding over each level of competition. One Judge may preside over all levels at a given trial, or different Judges may officiate at different levels. There will also be at least one Steward per trial to assist the Judge on the field. Each trial is required to have 4 PSA certified Decoys, of which 1 will be a Senior Decoy. Each trial will have a Trial Chairperson who oversees the running of the trial, and a Trial Secretary who assists the presiding Judge in organising score sheets, final scores, and the awarding of titles and trophies.
