08/07/2023
My post regarding the current agility judging chat...
It’s my view that the current conflict is healthy. I feel that the debate has become more heated lately simply because change is happening. I believe the change is positive, and I feel that when changes happen they often cause some waves. That’s not always a bad thing.
For me, the dogs always come first. Dog safety, wellbeing and happiness is the priority. Having said that, people’s feelings are important as well and I feel it’s important to be mindful of them along the way. Most people are doing their best.
In common with many other competitors I have been to many shows lately and lost my money rather than run my dog. Poor ground, poor tunnel approaches, wet tunnels, poor contact approaches... My dog comes first, but at times it is frustrating to have paid, to have driven and not to be able to run. It has also meant we have missed out on a number of prestigious qualifier runs. The more years I do agility, the more aware I am of the risk. Clearly, it’s a calculated risk, since risk is inherent in sport. However, it’s my job to mitigate the risk, and it’s the job of us all to continue to improve safety in agility.
Judging and especially good course setting is really difficult. It's difficult because not many people have run a wide variety of types of dog, across all levels. I believe that judges should be conferring with experienced competitors/trainers who have run/train all types of dogs regarding what they set. (Obviously, taking into account conflicts of interest.)
It is my view that there should be a specific, set opportunity for competitors to politely raise concerns at course-walking, and that there should always be a mandatory period of time (+/-10 minutes) for judges/show managers to consider/ reflect/ get further advice on concerns before a response or adjustment is made.
I am going to do some posts with course maps over the next little while. These are courses which I personally felt were well designed, and I will point out what I LIKED about the courses.
This course was set as a small Grade 1-2 Jumping course.
Here are the things I LIKE about this course...
- The tunnels are on smooth, soft curves. The curves follow the kind of line the dog will naturally be taking on the tunnel approach.
- The jump spacings are generous.
- The judge has cleverly set a simple push round wrap before the weave entry. This allows the dog to collect, and makes it much more likely a young dog will succeed at entering the weaves correctly, than a faster approach.
- The course uses all of the ring and the lines the dog is running on are generally smooth, sweeping arcs.
- The course generally promotes acceleration and confidence and allows a young dog to have some fun.
- There are some skills in the course, without there being too much handling for a novice dog/handler.
