CPE vs AKC Agility

Both welcome mixed breeds, and both let a dog start agility at 15 months. CPE takes purebreds and mixed breeds once they have a CPE ID. AKC takes registered purebreds, and mixed breeds through Canine Partners, which asks that the dog be spayed or neutered before it competes.

CPE runs more than agility, too. The same CPE ID covers Canine Scent Sport and SpeedWay, and Qs from those count toward CPE’s lifetime titles alongside agility.

AKC has three classes with their own title ladders: Standard, Jumpers With Weaves and FAST. Time 2 Beat and Premier sit alongside them with titles of their own. Each is a separate track, so a dog can be in Master Standard and Open FAST at the same time.

CPE has seven classes: Standard, Colors, Wildcard, Snooker, Jackpot, FullHouse and Jumpers. At Levels 1 to 3 they’re grouped into four title categories. Standard stands alone, Handler is Colors and Wildcard, Strategy is Snooker and Jackpot, and Fun is FullHouse and Jumpers.

AKC has four levels: Novice, Open, Excellent and Master. Standard and Jumpers With Weaves move up on their own, so a dog can be in Excellent Standard and Open Jumpers at once. Moving up is your choice after a title.

CPE has Levels 1, 2, 3, 5 and C, and there’s been no Level 4 since January 1, 2024. Each of the seven classes moves up on its own, so it’s normal to run Colors at Level 3 and Wildcard at Level 2 on the same weekend, and CPE lets a dog go back to an earlier level at any time. Our dog agility levels chart lines up both sets of levels.

AKC scores Standard and Jumpers runs out of 100. A Q at Novice, Open and Excellent is a score of 85 or more, and at Master it has to be a perfect 100. The lower levels forgive a refusal or two, but at Excellent any refusal, run-out or wrong course is an NQ.

CPE counts faults instead. A run can have up to 10 faults and still Q at Levels 1 to 3, up to 5 at Level 5, and none at Level C. Each Q also earns points, and fewer faults earn more of them.

AKC has points too, in a different place. At Master, your dog earns one MACH point for every full second it finishes under course time on a qualifying run, and those points count toward the MACH.

CPE level titles come from a set mix of Qs. At Levels 1 to 3, each title category needs Qs in both of its classes, and once a dog has all four titles at a level, it’s a CL-1, CL-2 or CL-3.

CPE’s points add up to their own titles: 1,000 points at Level 1, 2,000 at Level 2, 3,000 at Level 3, 5,000 at Level 5 and 10,000 at Level C. There are class titles at the top levels too, a class Champion for 15 Qs in one class at Level 5 and a class Extraordinaire for 30 at Level C, and lifetime titles from C-15 at 15,000 points up to C-50.

AKC titles take 3 Qs at Novice, Open and Excellent and 10 at Master, with Standard and Jumpers With Weaves climbing side by side.

After Master, AKC keeps counting with the Master metal titles, one for every 25 Qs in each class. Time 2 Beat and Premier add their own titles on separate tracks.

A MACH takes 750 MACH points and 20 double Qs, all from Master Standard and Master Jumpers With Weaves. A double Q is a Q in both classes on the same day, and the count keeps going, so MACH2 is 1,500 points and 40 double Qs. PACH is the Preferred version, and AKC’s AGCH counts Master-level Qs across six classes.

C-ATCH, the CPE Agility Trial Champion, counts Qs. It takes 10 Standard Qs plus 5 Qs in each of the other six classes, all at Level 5, which is 40 Qs in total, and each repeat from C-ATCH2 up needs a fresh set. After that comes the C-ATE, the CPE Agility Team Extraordinaire: 5,000 points at Level C with zero faults on every run, including 20 Qs in each of the seven classes. A dog has to earn its C-ATCH before CPE awards the C-ATE.

Our agility championship titles compared page has both side by side with the other organizations.

The cut-offs sit in different places, so the same dog can jump different heights. A 17-inch dog jumps 16 inches in both, but a 15-inch dog jumps 16 in AKC and 12 in CPE. For the lower options, a 17-inch dog jumps 12 in AKC Preferred, 12 in CPE Veterans and Enthusiast, and 8 in CPE Specialist.

CPE gives you the most choices. Veterans is for dogs 6 and older and earns the same titles as Regular, while Enthusiast and Specialist earn their own versions, can leave out one or two classes, and keep their legs separate. AKC Preferred jumps 4 inches lower with 5 extra seconds of course time, and it’s a separate program with its own titles. The dog jump height chart works out your dog’s height in both.

The class-by-class levels stand out first. A CPE dog can run different levels in different classes on the same weekend, and the title categories ask for Qs in games like Jackpot and FullHouse as well as Standard. Points from every Q build toward point and lifetime titles across a dog’s whole career.

AKC has its own extras: FAST, Time 2 Beat and Premier each have their own titles, Novice A is set aside for a new dog with a handler who has never titled a dog in AKC agility, and the Master metal titles add one for every 25 Master Qs in each class. Neither set is better. They’re different ways of building a career.

Yes, and plenty of handlers run in more than one organization. Each one keeps its own titles and record, so a run counts only in the organization that held the trial. A dog’s first CPE trial can’t be higher than Level 3, and CPE suggests Level 2 or 3 for dogs with titles elsewhere.

That means two sets of records: Qs and points toward each CPE class and category, and Qs, points and double Qs toward AKC titles and the MACH. Keeping them apart from the start makes it easier to see where your dog stands in each.