Obedience Regulations - American Kennel Club

CHAPTER 4
RALLY JUDGES’ GUIDELINES
JUDGING THE DOGS
Section 1. Judging the Dogs. the judge has absolute control and
unquestioned authority over all persons and dogs in the ring. With this
authority comes the responsibility to be courteous and considerate. be
as systematic in your ring procedure from dog to dog as conditions permit.
Judges position should be kept in mind when designing the course.
Position is important for three reasons: first to properly evaluate the
dog and handler, second to establish consistency from team to team and
third efficient time management. While there is no one perfect position,
some positions are better than others. All dogs should be viewed from
the same relative position on the course. Fronts and finishes are best
judged from the front or from the side. When evaluating a “down,” the
judge should be in position to see whether or not the dog has dropped
completely. Handlers should expect and train for a reasonable amount
of movement by the judge.
Section 2. Philosophy of Scoring. it is the judge’s responsibility to
qualify all the dogs that should qualify and to non-qualify all the dogs
whose performances did not meet the minimum requirements. From the
qualifying group of dogs, it is the judge’s responsibility to place the top
four dogs in order of their performance. the remainder of the qualifying
dogs are ranked in order by their scores. unofficial scores, but not times,
shall be posted ringside after each dog has completed the final exercise.
A judge should honor an exhibitor’s request to be excused.
the sliding point scale is to assist judges in the scoring of each dog
and handler team. unless otherwise specified in the Rally Regulations
scoring will be based on the minor to substantial deductions listed in
chapter 2, section 9 of the Rally Regulations and any other applicable
section found in the Rally or Obedience Regulations regulating performance
and scoring. each team should be scored on the following sliding
scale while being judged:
Note: As mentioned in the AKC Rally Introduction – Any faults in
traditional AKC Obedience that would be evaluated and scored as a
(1) one-point deduction or more should be scored the same in Rally…
(There are no (1/2) half point deductions in Rally)
Minor deduction – 1 to 2 points
Minor to Substantial deduction – 1 to 10 points
Substantial deduction – 6 to 10 points
• Re-tries of a station are an automatic 3 point deduction
• incorrectly Performed (iP) stations are an automatic 10 point
deduction
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Rally Judges’
Guidelines