Last weekend I spent the weekend in the gallery of the CKC Board meeting. I wanted to know how the board was going to vote on the Open stays issue. After being reminded that I wasn’t allowed to speak or comment on anything that had to do with Obedience (which is pretty funny if you know me, I usually have an opinion), this was true for everyone sitting in the gallery, I settled in to wait for obedience to come up on the agenda. I arrived at 11:30 am, thinking that it might be done after lunch. Five o’clock rolled around and I was getting worried that it wouldn’t happen until the following day. They started voting on some of the minor issues. When they hit main motion, there was some discussion that it should just be dealt with on Sunday. The Chairperson very thoughtfully said, “The members of the gallery have been waiting for this all day, let’s start and see how far we get.” I breathed a sigh of relief and stress because I was picturing my dogs at home wondering where I was and why wasn’t I there to take them for their walk and feed them. But in for a penny, in for a pound as they say, I was staying.
I think it is safe to say that every board member had been contacted by numerous obedience enthusiasts. The Chairperson went around the table and let everyone have their say on the subject and ask any questions of Dr. Paul Eckford, who is the head of the Obedience Council, replacing Paul Oslach when he moved to New Brunswick. The “new” Paul also happens to be my area rep. As the head of the Obedience Council once a motion comes from the Obedience Council it is essentially his motion. So all questions were directed to him.
I was impressed by how time much each board member spent having their say for their area and what the feelings were on the subject of whether the Out of Sight Stays should stay or be removed from the Open class. The time was now 6:15pm and the board had a dinner reservation at 6:30, not to mention that they had started the meeting at 8:30 am. It was decided that the vote would happen tomorrow. It was also obvious that the motion as it was presented wasn’t going to pass. Dr. Eckford had a decision to make:
- Stick with the current motion and see what happens OR
- Table the motion and present a new motion under new business
The decision was up to Paul. I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen based on his presentation (which was very well done). I believed he would present a new motion that included the best of both worlds. Two streams of Open competition; one stream that left Open as it is now, including the out of sight stays and a new stream that included a modified version of the original motion. This idea would come very much in line with what the board members were saying the members in their respective areas wanted.
The meeting was adjourned and the vote held over until Sunday. I had much to do on Sunday, but I wasn’t going to miss this, so the next morning I came back and I brought reinforcements – namely my friend Mary Monteith. Keeping us quiet at any time is difficult to do, be we were going to do our best. We had to wait until after lunch, but finally the vote was on the table. I was just about coming out of my seat. The gallery was given a copy of the motion, so I knew ahead of the vote that what I thought was going to happen was correct. If the vote passed we were heading for two streams of Open competition. The discussion around the table had more to do with and/or or shall vs may in the wording, so I was feeling pretty good about how this was going to go. The Chairperson called the question and all but one board member voted in favour of the motion and one person abstained. It was done. Finally. I was happy. I think it is a good compromise. I have listed a overview of what will happen in 2018. Some of the details will need to be worked out, but this is main guts of the motion.
Changes for Open 2018
In 2018 there will be two equal streams of Open classes, both apply to A and B. When you enter you will choose either Open 18 or Open H. Both streams lead to the same CDX, the same chance at HIT, and the same advanced titles (OTCH etc).
- Open B H will get rotating routines just as they currently do.
- Open B 18 will get rotating orders just as they currently do for both the entire routine and the Change of Position exercise.
- Open A 18 will get a rotating order for the Change of Position exercise.
- The order for Change of Position will be posted 30 minutes before the start of the class.
- Change of position orders are:
A – Down – Sit, Stand, Sit
B – Stand – Down, Sit, Down
C – Down – Stand – Sit – Stand
D – Stand – Sit – Down – Sit
E – Down – Sit – Down – Stand
F – Stand – Down – Stand – Sit
Here is a description of how the Change of Position Exercise will be performed
The dog and handler will set up with the dog sitting in heel position at a spot designated by the judge, 6 feet from a visible line. The judge will give the first change of position and then ask the handler to leave their dog. The handler then goes 10 feet beyond the 6 foot line and turns to face the dog. The judge then give hand signals to the handler for the remaining three position changes. The handler may give signal and/or verbal to achieve the position changes. There must be a brief pause between the changes of position. Once the last position has been done, the handler will be asked to return to their dog into heel position and then “Exercise Finished”.
Minor to substantial points for minor movements forward, slow response, holding signals.
NQ if your dog crossed the 6 foot line and if they miss the position change on the first command and/or signal.
Here is a description of the Sit Stay Walk Around Dog
Dogs are lined up in catalog order. On order from the judge the handlers walk tell the dogs to stay and walk to the other side of the ring. After 1 minute the handlers will be asked to walk around their dogs, by returning to their dog and walk around behind them and returning back to the other side of the ring. No extra commands or signals can be given. After a total of 3 minutes the judge will say “Return to your dogs” and “Exercise Finished” once all the handlers are in heel position.
If you are one of those people that sent emails to your board member or maybe multiple emails. Maybe you could send one more and tell them thanks for all their hard work.
Happy Training!