2017 Nov Dec

◊ how do judges balance the attention to the big picture, the
way a team works together smoothly to complete the main
point of the exercise, and attention to the details? Neither
can be ignored. Scoring of all the specific details cannot
and should not be defined in the rulebook because of this
need to balance attention to the overall picture with a focus
on details. It may be that the best forum for examining
and developing a rough consensus is to be found in
the discussions occurring in the two online groups: the
Obedience Judges Yahoo list and the Obedience Rules
Yahoo list.
The inclusion of bitches in season (OBIS) is an area we are
working on. One change that has been implemented is that clubs
are now required to state the following in their premiums when
they are allowing the OBIS in an Obedience only trial:
Section 1.1.3 Premium:
q. If allowing bitches in season, the prominent statement:
Bitches in season permitted. They must be crated at least
50’ from obedience ring, wear pants and run last after all
obedience judging is finished.
r. If allowing bitches in season, details on which trial/s allow
them when there are two trials in one day.
Rally, which currently does not allow OBIS at regular rally
trials, requires a statement in its premiums that bitches in season are
not allowed to compete. In response to the rally rule, the Business
Office has been requiring the same statement on Obedience
premiums, although the obedience rules only call for a statement
when OBIS are allowed. This has resulted in a conversation with
the Business Office about whether the statement can be left off the
obedience portion of the premium.
Currently, inclusion of OBIS is optional in all obedience trials
except the Nationals Obedience Trial and the Obedience Finals.
ASCA encourages all Nationals Pre-Shows to include them in
obedience pre-trials.
Discussion continues on how can OBIS be included in a
way that is mutually respectful to clubs and handlers and doesn’t
add a huge amount of work. Many non-ASCA European clubs
routinely include OBIS. But spaying and neutering are less
common in Europe, and dog owners expect their dogs to deal with
it. Clubs often combine obedience and rally trials in a single day.
How will that work for OBIS? Will clubs schedule rally before
obedience? Of course, there are always bitches in season present
at conformation shows combined with obedience trials, and people
have accepted that for years. We developed a questionnaire to
evaluate the experience of clubs who allow OBIS.
Otherwise, our attention has been directed toward internal
organizational issues. Maintaining an organizational focus with
clear priorities and communicating with ASCA in a timely way
requires a lot of time and keeping people on track. We have moved
to having Co-Chairs to divide the work.
We always welcome your input on any aspect of the ASCA
obedience program – this is your program. You may write to the
Obedience rules yahoo group, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/
groups/Obediencerules/info or contact Laurie Rubin, Obedience
Committee Chair, at earthlaurie@sonic.net. or Marilyn Cherry,
Obedience Co-Chair at kamikaussie@yahoo.com.
44 AUSSIE TIMES November-December 2017
Committee Reports
Rally Committee
Corinne Shank, Committee Chair. gckennel@aol.com
The ASCA Rally Committee continues to strive to keep the
ASCA Rally program the best of any registry.
Much of our summer has been spent reviewing courses for
current judges as well as new judges coming into the program.
Effective June 1, 2017, if a regular judge has two sets of courses
within a 12-month period that fail to meet ASCA rules and
regulations (i.e., too few level specific exercises, not enough,
or too many points on a course), they will be moved to pre-trial
review status. Because some judges stay very busy, the timeliness
of the reviews essential. If anyone has an interest in being a course
reviewer, but not necessarily on the rally committee, we would love
to hear from you.
The subcommittee assigned to identify new exercises has been
sorting through suggestions. Our goal is to add moving stations
for all levels. There may also be a few stationary exercises added.
The original objective of rally was to prepare dogs & handlers for
competition in the obedience ring. As new titles are available in
obedience, the rally program has the opportunity to add new stations
that will help with preparation for earning those titles while also
earning rally titles. New signs will be available in June 2018.
Work has been under way for several months to provide
additional education for competitors as well as judges. Videotaping
of proper completion of exercises has been completed, with the goal
to be available to all via the web. The project is nearing completion,
and we are all anxious to see the finished product. Many people do
not have access to training clubs to learn even the basics of rally
competition. The videos and education currently being created were
designed to not only help foster consistency between judges, but to
help the competitors learn how to properly execute each station.
There are also many ASCA Clubs that have not yet sponsored
a rally trial. A basic outline is being developed that can be used
to get ready for the trial, as well as conduct the event without the
concern of missing any critical steps. Any club that is interested
in sponsoring a rally trial, but does not know how to get started,
please contact a member of the rally committee. We are happy to
help in any way we can.
The committee has also been working on a flier that can
be handed out to participants in rally trials sponsored by other
registries. The rally program continues to grow, but there are still
many active rally participants that do not know about ASCA rally.
The flyer will be professionally printed, and will be available after
the 2017 Nationals.
Minor rule changes have been considered and voted upon.
Perhaps the biggest impact on everyone is the clarification of the
stay exercise on the course if there is a run-off for High in Trial.
Previously the judge made the decision, the rule change requires
the stay exercise to be included in the runoff.
As always, the Rally Committee welcomes your comments
and questions regarding ASCA Rally. We are here for you. Please
do not hesitate to contact me at gckennel@aol.com.