TKC Open Show Courses
For full report on judging:
This was my first judging appointment for the year, as I did not want to accept any appointments before the 2010 Nationals which was held at the end of May. Due to it being a Saturday Show the entry was quite small. Three dogs in Grade 1 Large, and two entries in the Small category. I had the Grade 2 dogs run this course as well as there were only two entries in the Large category. My grade 1 course ran very smoothly with only one disqualification and this was because the handler was using the round as training. There were a few knocks and some time faults, but two beautiful qualifying clear rounds.
Jumping Grade 2 - Junior Kennel Club, Saturday 26 June 2010
I did not set this course up, as there were not enough entries, but I am posting it just for interests sake.
Jumping Grade 3 - Junior Kennel Club, Saturday 26 June 2010
I had a total of 26 entries for my Grade 3 class and all in all I am very happy with the course and the results. There were some beautiful rounds with some very unfortunate knocked bars. The problem sequence seemed to be 11-13, most dq's and knocked bars took place here with one or two on the 16;17;18 sequence. I awarded 2 qualifying certificates: 1 in large and 1 in small.
Corgi Club Champ Show
Okay I found my courses! Here they are:
This was one of those rare courses where one of two things happened. The teams either went clear or eliminated. I had 14 entries, 5 clear rounds, 1 dog with time faults and the rest eliminated. I very much liked the way this course ran. And the winner (Sharleen and Boet) ran a spectacular round at 5.20m/s (And I measure tightly). There were one or two pole entry issues, but most of the problems reared their heads between obstacles 16 and 20.
I had very few entries in Grade 2, so I had these dogs run my Grade 1 course, with a tighter time,
I had some lovely clear rounds and I feel that this course was definitely appropriate for the beginner dogs, with the winning dog running at a brilliant 6m/s, well done Lynda!
I only had 10 entries in total between all Grade 2's and 1's, so I only put up my Gr. 1 Course to
run all the dogs. I had some eliminations, with handlers doing some proofing and training on the course.
Although I am happy with the other elements in the course, the sequence from 4 to 8 was terrible. Sorry people you have a horrible judge. Definitely a sequence I will never put in a course again... It did not however cause any eliminations, but handlers lost their flow here and most eliminated after that. This is the first time ever I regretted an element that I put in a course, but that is how we learn I guess.
Goldfields Kennel Club Champ Show
Very very dissapointed in the entries for this show. It might have to do with the fact that it is one of the most expensive shows of the year and has in the past had dissapointing prizes (they weren't too bad this year). It might be because it was a Saturday shows which draw less entries, at least I know it was not because I was judging as it was a last minute appointment (favour for a friend).
I judged both contact and non-contact so it was still a tiring day despite the small entry as I still had to build 4 courses.
I will start off with the Contact Agility:
I had a TOTAL of 16 dogs entered in Grade 3 and a whopping 4 dogs in Grade 1 and Grade 2 combined.
Grade 2 Agility Contact Course
I had only two dogs run this course, but they both found it very easy and flowing, producing on clear round with a qualification and one 5 faulter. I suppose it was a bit simple for Grade 2, but due to having to set up four courses by myself I tried to change as little as possible.
Grade 3 Agility Contact Course
I heard A LOT of bitching and moaning while the handlers were walking this course. Particularly about the pole entry (which I will admit was tricky). Apparently the general feeling was that I was being completely over the top. However once we started running the course it was apparent that it actually ran very nicely. A lot of dogs brought the spread down, but mainly because of panicky handlers (stressing over the tunnel entry). Only two dogs had faults at the pole entry and one was for handling. The sequence that most handlers struggled with was 13-16. I had one clear round, a few that was course clear but had time faults... all in all there was exactly 50% dq's, but the statistics are a bit useless in such a small class.
Grade 3 Jumping Course
The handlers were a lote more enthusiastic about this course of mine. Which was quite ironic as I had a higher dq rate on this one. But if I have to say so myself it ran VERY nicely. Although it was a bit on the simple side for my liking. Sequence 4-7 produced the most mistakes and eliminations. I had 3 clear rounds (out of 18 entries), some time faults and a couple of bars dropped and a dissapointing 56% eliminations.
Grade 1 Jumping
I once again had only two dogs competing on this course, young, very fast dogs that ran the course beautifully but both dropped two bars.
I love judging, but judging such a small entry is actually very dissapointing and frustrating as I really do put hours of planning into my courses, then not to see them run properly because the handful of dogs makes mistakes or trains on the course is very discouraging... but no fear, I will be back!
