contacts and judging
Since Eri and I couldn't run in League last night, I judged again. It's interesting judging a whole bunch of different dogs and handlers. It's hard! Last night, contacts were bothering me.
There were a lot of running DW contacts where the dogs' last stride started just before the beginning of the yellow and the next one hit in the dirt. I think the handlers consider these successful contacts, but since the rule is 'paw in the yellow', I was calling a fault. I haven't trained running contacts in part because I'm fairly sure that the beardies will take a given inch and turn it into several feet leaving me with major contact issues. So when I was watching these particular dogs skim over the yellow I was trying to figure out if it was just not clear to the dog that they needed to shorten their stride at the bottom or it the handlers had trained the DW in full extension and don't see the take off point as a problem. My understanding of a good running DW contact is that the last stride hits squarely in the yellow so the judge doesn't have to think. If you have running contacts on the DW, what are your criteria?
And then there were the lawn darting AF contacts. There were a couple dogs who have either 2o2o or 1RTO contacts whose last AF stride started above the yellow or barely in it, then the front hit in the dirt before the rear feet made contact with the AF again. As I recall, the AKC considers this incidental contact and an NQ. The performance bothers me for the force that is exerted on the dogs' fronts, but they are stopped and a paw is in the yellow before they go on. If you have 2o2o or 1RTO contacts, do you consider this a successful contact? If not, what are your criteria?
There were a lot of running DW contacts where the dogs' last stride started just before the beginning of the yellow and the next one hit in the dirt. I think the handlers consider these successful contacts, but since the rule is 'paw in the yellow', I was calling a fault. I haven't trained running contacts in part because I'm fairly sure that the beardies will take a given inch and turn it into several feet leaving me with major contact issues. So when I was watching these particular dogs skim over the yellow I was trying to figure out if it was just not clear to the dog that they needed to shorten their stride at the bottom or it the handlers had trained the DW in full extension and don't see the take off point as a problem. My understanding of a good running DW contact is that the last stride hits squarely in the yellow so the judge doesn't have to think. If you have running contacts on the DW, what are your criteria?
And then there were the lawn darting AF contacts. There were a couple dogs who have either 2o2o or 1RTO contacts whose last AF stride started above the yellow or barely in it, then the front hit in the dirt before the rear feet made contact with the AF again. As I recall, the AKC considers this incidental contact and an NQ. The performance bothers me for the force that is exerted on the dogs' fronts, but they are stopped and a paw is in the yellow before they go on. If you have 2o2o or 1RTO contacts, do you consider this a successful contact? If not, what are your criteria?