2018 May June

Obedience Committee
Marilyn Cherry, Committee Co-Chair, kamikaussie@yahoo.com
The Board recently approved a motion to require all obedience
judges to comply with the ASCA Obedience Judges Education
certification program, beginning July 1, 2018. ASCA Obedience
judges are responsible for keeping up to date on the current rules and
regulations affecting the ASCA Obedience program; materials are
located on the ASCA website. Only rules contained in the current
rulebook are enforceable. Obedience judges will be required to
certify at least every three years that they have completed one of the
required options for continuing judge education. Newly approved
judges will be required to certify within 12 months of first being
approved. All current ASCA Obedience judges must certify between
July 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 that they have completed the
initial continuing judges education. Starting in 2021, a certification
schedule will be followed so that not all judges renew at the same
time. Judges will need to complete and submit the Obedience Judge
Education Certification Form to the ASCA Business Office, which
will track judging eligibility for all obedience judges. Judges that
do not comply will be removed from the ASCA Obedience Judge
list after two years.
The following is intended to assist clubs in determining how
to set entry limits for obedience trials. Premiums must state entry
limits; these may be given as either maximum hours / trial / day, or
as maximum entries / trial / day. Obedience judges may only judge
for 8 hours per day, based on run estimates per class per hour (see
below), unless they agree to judge longer. Estimates per class are
as follows: Utility: 6; Open: 7; Novice: 8; and Beginner Novice:
9 runs/hour. Note that the same dog entered in 2 classes (e.g. both
Open and Utility) counts as 2 entries. These estimates include the
extra time needed to judge the group exercises in a class. In large
trials (such as National pre-trials), where a judge is assigned a single
class for the day, they may judge the following maximum number
of runs: Utility: 48; Open: 56; or Novice or Beginner Novice: 64
entries.
The obedience committee has put together a very handy time
calculation worksheet, located on the ASCA website, found under:
Competitive Programs / Obedience / Rules & Forms / Obedience
Judge Time Calculation Worksheet. As entries arrive, the trial
secretary enters the number of entries per class; the calculator will
inform you the estimated time to judge all runs and when the limit
has been reached.
Looking beyond the numbers, there are other factors to
consider. How many hours does the club have the trial site booked
for? Keep in mind that set-up and tear-down will use up some of the
club’s allotted time onsite. The judge will also expect a lunch break.
For outdoor trials, how many hours of daylight are there at that time
of year? How many volunteer helpers are available? If the club is
hosting other events running simultaneously or consecutively on
the same day, rings may be held up due to conflicts.
Are you familiar with the judge? If so, you may know
whether they are generally efficient at moving their ring along
at a fair clip, or if they a little slower than normal. Provisional or
apprentice judges will usually take longer, as they have additional
documentation to fill out.
Are the ring stewards experienced and prompt, good at
anticipating when Figure 8 posts are needed, when jumps need to
be changed, when to bring the leash / dumbbell / gloves / scent
50 AUSSIE TIMES May-June 2018
Committee Reports
articles into the ring, and when to line up teams for the group stays?
Stewards that are new to obedience will probably require a little
guidance.
If you are familiar with the competitors in the area, you may be
able to anticipate whether a number of handlers will have conflicts,
and whether the majority of runs are expected to be in the upper
class levels or the lower class levels (Novice and Beginner Novice
move along more quickly than Open and Utility). Remember that
move-ups to a higher class will mean more time in the ring for
that dog, who is now in a higher-level class that takes longer to
complete.
We always welcome your input on any aspect of the ASCA
obedience program – this is your program. You may write to the
Obedience rules io group, ASCA-Obedience-Rules@groups.
io; or contact Laurie Rubin, Obedience Committee Chair, at
earthlaurie@sonic.net; or Marilyn Cherry, Obedience Co-Chair,
at kamikaussie@yahoo.com.
Rally Committee
Corinne Shank, Committee Chair. gckennel@aol.com
Hopefully everyone has now seen the new rally signs,
and started practicing them! Some are fun, some may be very
challenging to handlers as well as dogs. They are a great addition
to the ASCA Rally program, and we are looking forward to seeing
new fun courses come June.
If you are a member of a club that hosts rally trials,d please
remember to print the large signs prior to June 1 st . The file on the
website lists only the new signs in large size, so that you do not
need to sort for the new signs.
For those thinking ahead toward finals in Colorado, the decision
was made by the Committee to NOT use the 2018 signs on the
courses, since the dogs that qualified had not seen those signs yet.
The new signs can be used in the Pre-shows, and in the Nationals
trials.
While everyone is looking forward to those new signs, some
judges are a little nervous about spacing, and including them on
their courses. What looks to be a beautiful course on paper can be
found to simply not work when laid out on the course. That leaves
the judge trying to figure out what can be done to make it work,
without delaying the trial. The best way to avoid this situation is to
send courses for prior approval. The Review Committee is happy to
review courses in advance of your trial. This removes the concerns
when setting up the course.
Some of the new signs were designed to allow more directional
changes. They have been needed for many years, and will allow
judges more flexibility in course design. Judges are reminded,
however, that the path must allow the stated degree of direction
change to the path of the team. And as always, when exiting a
station, the number for the next sign must be directly in front of the
team. New moving signs were added for all levels that provide some
fresh alternatives. Many of the upper level signs are intended as
baby steps for obedience, and to add some of the newer elements of
obedience. The Rally Committee hopes that judges and contestants
enjoy these new signs.
Some of the new signs will require more space on the course.
Again, what looks good on paper may not work when laid out on
the course. Care must be taken to assure there is adequate space