As Ivan earned his Rally Advanced Title yesterday, and was already entered in today’s trial, I moved him up into Rally Excellent B. Ivan got his 1st leg with a 4th place and a score of 84. Several people, me included, were very surprised when his score was posted and it was so low. I asked the judge and she told me that I lost 10 points for an incorrect station. When I asked which one she said it was the “About turn right” and that I had not done a tight enough turn???? But a Q is a Q and Ivan was a really good boy.
Very good job! Can’t wait to see you guys again!
It’s coming up faster than I would like to think! YIKES
First off—Congratulations on your new leg. Exactly how tight did the judge think you could make that turn? Looked pretty darned good to me. I had to laugh at the lady and black lab doing the honor sit while you were working. Every time she was in view she was signaling AND saying to her dog, “STAY!” Pretty funny. The dog was sitting there like a little statue. She should have had points deducted for nagging. 🙂
OK I watched your about-right turn several times, you could not have made the turn tighter. This is what you call BAD judging! Did you get a copy of the judging sheet? Does it say this is where she took off the 10 points? If it does I would email a scanned copy and the video to the AKC Obedience Rally field representatives:
Dr. William (Bill) Thayne – wvt@akc.org
Diane Schultz – dxs3@akc.org
Larry Warsoff – lxw@akc.org
There is always different degrees of interpretations but this is just a major error. I would send the video to the judge too.
So you really should have had a 94, where were the other 6 points deducted for?
Oh the positive side…. I loved your walking stand stay and the backward heeling, very nicely done! I thought your whole run was very nice! I also was laughing at the Lab and the owner wagging her finger at her dog.
I would send a copy of this video to all that Julie suggested AND to the judge and AKC rep who was there. Say that you are fairly new to this sport and would they please explain how or why the right-about turn was a 10-point deduction. You are not questioning the judge’s expertise, you are just trying to learn. 😉
In other words, you were ripped off because the AKC rep was present and the judge was afraid to give high scores. I still say the lady with the Lab should have failed for nagging.
Well, I thought you looked great! I always love watching you and your boys work together – perfect harmony! Looking forward to seeing you all at NASS.
Congratulations. Sometimes you wonder what judges see. Keep up the good work. Ivan is looking great.
Congrats, you guys amaze me all the time.
Was the station an about-turn right or a 360 degree right turn?
Good boy Ivan! I love your boy. As far as the incorrect station I have watched the video twice and can’t find where the right about turn was?? But even if you didn’t have what she termed a tight enough turn it would be a few points maybe but not 10 for incorrect station! I think the judge screwed up and didn’t want to admit it. It’s a shame because like you said you Q’d but scores do matter when you have worked to train a dog to the level you are doing with Ivan who is brilliant :))
Ivan has a huge fan club. The judge is lucky that none of us were there. It would have gotten ugly!
Hi all,
Thanks for your complements and support of Ivan.
The “About turn right” (not a 360 degree turn) was after the second jump. Ivan jumps the jump, and comes back to heel, but as he is so large he is nearly at the ring fence. We make the about turn to the right and head to the next station which is near the jump. With a small dog it would be easier to make the turn look tighter.
There was an AKC rep sitting watching the whole trial. When I asked the judge about the major 10 point deduction she stated she had to do it because the rep was watching. I think she thought everything had to be as precise as regular obedience and was scared to make a mistake with the rep there. I did see the score sheet briefly and the 10 points were deducted from the “About turn right”. I did not notice where we lost the other 6 points. There were a lot of low scores.
I was pleased with the run, and like Julie has done at times, I only quickly trained Ivan the moving stand and back up. He had never done them before. The back up being next to the ring fence helped for sure! Ivan did great on the moving stand. I think I lost points there for not pausing long enough before moving on to the next station. I also noticed on the video that I clapped my hands. You can do that in Advanced but not Excellent. I knew that and was REALLY trying not to do it…but I did.. and I’m sure I would have lost a point or two there also….!!!
I was so focused on Ivan in the video that I did not notice the Labrador owner nagging her dog!! When Jack watched the video he noticed right away! Jack was working on Sunday to make money to support my “habit” and could not be at the trial.
OK I know see the right-about turn…we are all missing it because we are too busy watching the obnoxious lab owner. NO WAY should you loose the full 10 points for that, your footwork was as tight as good be. I do not know how they judge these upper Rally classes but I know Rally obed is not intended to be as precise as regular obed. I thought the moving stand stay was perfection, and you did pause when you returned to heel position, cannot believe you just taught that!
Congratulations Lynda and Ivan!!! You did a great job…I always look forward to watching you work. You provide so much encouragement to those of us who are just getting started, or restarted:), and very happy to hear that Dylan is feeling better…looking forward to seeing more of the dynamic duo!!!
Yikes I already had commented on this but now that you have pointed out exactly where the right about turn was not only should you have not lost 10 pts you shouldn’t have lost any!!! That was a very nice about turn! Like I said I think the judge just screwed up and didn’t want to admit it and now that you said the AKC rep was there she was probably very nervous and made a mistake happens to all of us. :))
Congrats to Ivan! Lynda, that was a very nice run. I liked his attentiveness and how quickly you moved around the ring. That course didn’t look too horrible for an AKC course – a few tight signs, but a decently roomy ring. I know that Ivan, like Pieka, can get caught up on those tight courses.
I agree with the others on the 10 point deduction. If she was handing out low scores, okay, but to mark it off that sign was a pretty obvious save. What score won the class? Where were you at – the trial looked very spacious, which is nice.