AKC Agility Judges Guidelines

Signals for Multiple Faults That Happen Quickly:
Judges must be aware that scribes may miss a hand signal if many faults
happen quickly on the course. Different scribes have different abilities to
record a quick succession of signals from the judge; therefore, the judge
needs to slow the process down so that scribes can accurately record all faults
signaled. If the dog has incurred several faults in a very short time, it is likely
that the judge will need to slow the process down for the scribe. The judge may
be signaling faults that happened even after the dog has left the area where the
faults were incurred. To help the scribe out, deliberately and confidently raise
your hand with the proper fault signal then lower it. Each fault should have
a separate raise of the hand to identify a separate fault. Switching hands for
faults that happen quickly will greatly help the scribe understand that you have
signaled separate faults rather than hesitantly signaling the same fault when
using the same hand.
Follow these steps to ensure accuracy in recording your hand signals:
• Make sure that your scribes know the proper letter to record on the scribe
sheet for each hand signal.
• Do not signal a fault until after it has happened. Sometimes judges can
see something coming and will start to fault the dog, but the dog makes
a great recovery, resulting in no fault. In this case, you would need to fix
the incorrect signal at the end of the run.
• Do not raise your hand to signal a fault until you know which type of
fault it is that you are going to signal. Do not raise your hand in a fist and
open it up into an open hand once it is up. Scribes will wonder if this is
an “R” or a “W,” thinking that you changed your mind while raising your
hand, or both an “R” and a “W,” thinking that you just didn’t bring your
arm down.
• Hold your calls if the A-frame is between you and the scribe, until you
are clearly visible.
• Switch hands for multiple signals that happen quickly
• Generally, you should never take your eyes off the dog since you may
miss a fault. One exception to this is that when the dog has failed an
obstacle, you may want to look at the scribe briefly as you signal the “F”
to make sure that the scribe sees this fault, which will prevent the dog
from qualifying.
• The signal to your scribe for an Excusal (“E”) is your whistle, blown
loud enough to be heard by your scribe.
Remember, scribes are to be watching the judge, not the dog. Scribes can only
record what you signal, no more and no less, so you must be clear in your signals.
Hand Signals for the International Sweepstakes Class (ISC):
A judge must be clear with the scribe regarding hand signals in the ISC Class,
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