AKC Obedience: Present & Future
..... in a lead-up to the AKC Delegates meeting tomorrow in Raleigh,
NC, Curt Curtis and his Companion Events staff put on a seminar about
how to stem the tide of decline of Obedience.
You all may already be aware of much of what was discussed there, but
in the event you were not able to attend, I want to provide you with
my notes. Curt said today that he will be annotating his presentation
and sending it as a CD or by email to all clubs which offer companion
events.
- Obedience is in decline for AKC. Examples: in 2003, there were 2,390
trials and 139,650 entries. In 2008, there were 2,480 trials but only
122,076 entries. In the first four months of 2009, there were 1,177
fewer entries than in the first four months on 2008.
- Obedience is the foundation for all dog sports.
- Everyone should read Chapters 1 and 2 of the AKC Obedience Regulations,
and the "Purpose of Obedience" in those regulations.
- Obedience does not require a sterile environment. Dogs entered should
be able to perform with distractions, such as people standing closer
than ten feet from the ring, with people eating food, with people
having normal conversations. A morgue atmosphere is not necessary
for the sport. Clubs should not let a small minority of exhibitors,
who may require absolute silence and stillness, to control the environment
at obedience trials, since the Obedience Regulations do not require
it.
Scheduling Judges: As of January 2009, clubs may assign judges based
upon 8 hours of judging. If a club has limited entries based upon a
certain number of entries per class, and then has experienced the dilemma
of a judge finishing his assigned classes in far less than 8 hours because
of too few entries for his classes, now in future trials, that judge
could be assigned additional classes, and then when entries reach the
judge's 8 hour point, those entries would close.
Chapter 1, Section 27 of the AKC Obedience Regulations states:
"Section 27. Limitation of Entries. If a club anticipates an
entry to exceed the capacity of its facilities for a licensed or member
trial, it may limit entries, not to exceed up to eight hours of judging
time per day, per judge. Non-regular classes, however, may be included,
if so desired.
"Prominent announcement of such limits will appear on the title
or cover page of the premium list for an obedience trial or immediately
under the obedience heading in the premium list for a dog show. This
announcement must state that entries in one or more specified classes
will automatically close when certain limits have been reached, even
if this occurs before the official closing date.
"When entries are limited in the Open B and/or Utility B classes,
a club must designate a UDX class in the premium list. Dogs entered
in this UDX class would be entered in both Open B and Utility B, and
the combined entry fee for these two classes must be paid. Once the
limit has been reached in either the Open B or the Utility B class,
the UDX class will be considered closed, and any subsequent entries
for this class will be unacceptable in their entirety."
This means that if a judge can be assigned specific classes of Obedience,
then the entries for those classes could be closed when they reach the
eight hours point. Chapter 1, Section 26 of the Regulations estimates
that an hour should consist of "no more than (9) Novice entries,
(8) Open entries or (7) Utility entries".
By setting maximum entries based upon 8 hours per judge, fewer judges
may be used at trials. By using them more efficiently, clubs may avoid
having unreasonably low maximum levels of entries in some classes.
In order for this to work, the trial secretary would have to assign
entries as they are received, since the judge would be judging more
than one class, and the cut off would be determined by his entries,
regardless of the class, reaching a total of 8 hours.
- Optional Titling Classes: As of January 2009, clubs may offer three
previously non-regular classes as titling classes – Graduate Novice
(GDN), Graduate Open (GO), and Versatility (VER). These are intended
to make Obedience more interesting, and to enable handlers to enter
dogs in transition classes between Novice and Open, and between Open
and Utility. They can be alternatives to matches.
- Beginning Novice Class: Effective in July 2010, clubs may offer
the non-regular Beginning Novice Class as a titling class. This is
expected to be a transition class from Rally to Obedience. All exercises,
except Recall, may be performed on leash.
- New Non-Regular Classes: Wild Card Classes are available to offer
handlers additional opportunities for training. Dogs may be entered
in both the standard class and the wild card class in the same trial.
- Official AKC judges need not judge wild card classes, but the judges
must be approved in advance by AKC.
- Date & Place on Ribbons: It is okay to use labels on ribbons
to list dates and places, so that ribbons may be used for more than
one trial.
- Two Trials Per Day: Beginning in January 2010, a club may hold two
Obedience trials on the same day.
- Three Legs Under Two Judges: Beginning in January 2011, dogs may
earn titles with 3 legs under 2 judges.
Suggestions for Trials Being More Novice-Friendly:
- Assign a club member to greet new exhibitors and visitors.
- Schedule a special briefing at the start of each trial, for new
exhibitors.
- Offer copies of AKC Obedience rule books to new exhibitors.
- Schedule Novice classes earlier in the day, with Novice B going
before Novice A.
- Provide special awards for Novice A exhibitors, such as Highest
Score in Novice, or gift bags.
- Plan get-togethers for exhibitors after trials.
- Encourage new exhibitors; make them feel welcome. Encourage Novice
qualifiers to move on to Open.
Rod Russell
AKC Delegate, Orlando Dog Training Club, Orlando, Florida
Reprinted With Permission of Mr. Russell
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