Wayne Nicholls discussing dog obedience judging
Wayne Nicholls, I believe, is the chief judge in Barbados for the open (CDX) and as Wayne told me this morning, he has been judging dog obedience for a long time. He started training in 1972 and in 1976 was judging on his own. He also used to judge obedience in the nearby island of Trinidad.
There are very few judges available, especially when the main judges and trainers of The Barbados Dog Training Club have puppies or young dogs which are themselves entering the trials.
Even if a dog is trained outside of The B’dos. Dog Training Club, it still has to successfully pass the obedience trials under The B’dos. Dog Training Club’s judging to achieve the CD and/or CDX titles.
Thinking ahead, this morning’s session was held to try and attract newer judges to the ring. Some of the people attending the session were already judging obedience trials for the club and some of these judges are also trainers.
The Club uses the American Kennel Club regulations.
And it is not as easy as it looks. The judge needs to watch the dog and yet record the scores deducted according to the sheet and the categories. And, of course, judging can be subjective. You might like to see a dog do a quick, fast recall, but how quick is quick? And for areas like sniffing, lagging, the points deducted can vary.
Wayne made the point to always watch the dog and don’t be fooled by the handler. Handlers might try tricks like running on the spot when the dog is supposed to be on “fast” and Wayne, I have noticed, walks behind the handlers so he can see the handler’s hands are not touching the dog.
And I know from the results of trials, there will always be surprises and disappointments, and judges are taken for granted.
New judges will need to be in the ring to watch and record trials with the more experienced judges before they are on their own. Of course, it is probably easier to judge the beginners as I believe the marking is relatively friendly and there is lots of encouragement for participants to go on further. The Novice and Open are a big jump ahead and the marking then become tight.
Obedience is good for all dogs whether they are entering competitions or not as it makes them more controllable and easier to have around.
Mid September will be the start for agility classes, beginners’ obedience training as well as the Novice and Open Obedience classes.
Tags: Dog training in Barbados
