Conformation Class with Pepper

Min-E-Me wins Reserve Winner's Bitch,
6-9 month puppy class,
on June 16, 2012

Tuesday night I took Pepper to his, and my, first conformation class ever, encouraged by cousin Lois who just showed Pepper's half sister, Min-E-Me, and won "Reserve Winner's Bitch" in the 6-9 month puppy class.  The show was in Florida, June 16, the puppy is 7 months old.

We were the only team that showed up for Netta's class so we got a private lesson.  There's more to this conformation stuff than meets the eye. 

• Walking a puppy on leash with their head held high and a few feet out from the handler, not sniffing the ground, wabbling too and fro, or looking all around,
• keeping a steady trot that shows off the dog's structure, in a circle and also in a straight line,
• dog standing frontways to the judge,
• having an "interesting expression on command",
• stacking on the table,
• standing for exam,
• not minding having their teeth and body examined by a total stranger,
• having the dog interested in the bait, but not lunging for it.

That's a lot to train for.  So our first lesson I pretty much got exposed to the lay of the land, but no information on how to train these skills.  My homework is to work on a good stack, which is "front feet near the edge of the table, shoulders straight, and back feet placed so the rear pasterns are perpendicular to the table, pretty much as in the photo above.

I also got a few important pointers on how to behave at a show:

• Get to the ring early and watch how the previous dogs are asked to move around the ring by your judge.  Then when it's your turn you can concentrate more on your dog than ciphering the judge's instructions.
• Make sure the dog is freshly washed and well groomed.
• Handlers are often seen holding the dog's tail in the UP position BECAUSE even breeds who usually carry their tails UP will tend to drop their tails when approached by a stranger or even just ill at ease at a show.
• Get the recommended thinnest possible white show leash for Pepper, so it won't show up in his white neck hair.

There are tricks to every trade!   

Pepper was feisty, as usual, concerned almost entirely with smelling, exploring the parking lot, and getting his chicken gizzard treats.  In other words -- all over the place and pulling hard on his leash.  Netta remarked she wished she had a video camera to film her pupils so we could see our gait, I whipped my brand new 4GS iPhone out from my pocket, and she took my first video on that phone.  Learning to point and shoot with an iPhone takes some getting used to, and all but one position requires rotating in Windows Live Movie Maker, but here's the little snippet she got.



Being as Pepper is trained to sit when I quit walking, I was pleased how quickly he caught on to remain standing, though I couldn't get him to face the judge rather than me.

When I got home, all the dogs were psyched.  They don't like being left behind while I take Pepper places.  Pepper and Lucky began a friendly tug of war, with Maxie watching on.  This went on about 5 minutes before I decided to video that, too.  John held the camera.  We are always amazed at the way Lucky regulates her tugging to suit her playmate (she's very strong and can tug your arm off, shake you up and drag you across the room), and the way she handed the toy off to Pepper time after time.  It was in a darkened living room, so we got to test the flash feature on the new iPhone.  It lit the room moderately well but made the dogs' eyes look like Tasmanian Devils.  Even so, the video is an interesting study of cooperative dog behavior (sharing a toy), and self-regulating behavior, so I'm sharing it below.



Upwards and onward,

Online Courses/Tutorials/Communities

In her recent post, Susan Garrett claimed to be the first dog trainer to present a dog training course via online tutorials (Improving Your Mental Game, Recallers, Puppy Peaks).  I don't know if that's true, but there is no doubt that online tutorials of any kind are a new phenomenon (last 10 years), great for distance learning, and can reach a world-wide audience. 

Thru the Cajun Clickers Computer Club, another club I belong to that's doing great work in our community, I now work with some very dedicated volunteers bringing computer literacy to hundreds of local folks. One of CCCC's recent projects is to encourage members to take advantage of the thousands of Online Tutorials available, mostly free, and to guide them through the process.  For it turns out, many people won't complete tutorials on their own -- they are more successful with shared experiences.  At home they get stuck on one point they don't understand, don't have anyone to ask questions to, and eventually give up.  I think that's why Susan Garrett sets up online "communities" for each course, so her students can talk about their problems, brag about their successes, express gratitude, and share what they know.  Online communities, videos, audio, and contests make the online learning process feel more "human".  Smart move, Susan!

I recently completed my first free online tutorial, Powerpoint 2007, from GCFLearnFree.org, and after about 9 hours of watching videos and doing assignments within the program, I ended up with an ability to put together a pretty good Powerpoint presentation.  The course was interesting, well organized, graded by an instructor, plus I will receive a Certificate of Completion that counts for Continuing Education Credits.  I look forward to signing up for their Excel 2007, Word 2007, and Windows 7 classes.  I had the additional advantage that John is taking the Powerpoint course too, a few lessons behind me, and it is funner with us both working the program.  I will one day attempt to insert a Powerpoint presentation into this blog.

I also have the advantage that Phil C, the CCCC Education Director and a good friend, is setting up some Wiki pages, another relatively new internet phenomenon, also free, for his Online Tutorial students to enjoy their own online community around these courses.  I'm helping him fiddle with that, too.  Whew!  So much to learn.  So much to do.  So much new stuff coming at me, it's like standing in a peach orchard at harvest time.   So much fruit you don't know where to start picking. It boggles the mind.

Upwards and onward!

Trial Genie (continued)

The last few days I've had time to poke around the Trial Genie program some more, enter data on a few people from our club's records of our trial's entries last April, and see how the program generates the Gate Sheets, Scribe Sheets, reports, catalogs, unofficial results pages, etc.  It's neat, but all hinges on entering the correct data.  This requires a meticulous person willing to check, double check, and tripple check each entry.

The good thing is, once a dog is entered into the Trial Secretary's system, the next year the data doesn't have to be re-entered unless there is a change of address, phone number, etc.

Bad things include:

• some entrants have illegible handwriting.  Their 3's look like 8's, 4's look like 9's, and email addresses can be hard to read. 
• Some entry forms don't have a SEX box. 
• Some folks include their dog's titles from other venues, so you have to sort thru to find only the AKC titles.
• Online entries from the AKC website deliver the information in different order from the printed forms, so your eyeballs have to skip around looking for the data, and the print delivers so small in some boxes, you need a magnifying glass to read it.
• Some people forget to add their dog's birthdate, height, height card info, etc.
• Some people put their dog's AKC number, but forget to check the PAL or ILP box if it's an All American Dog.
• Some people pay the wrong amount.

So-o-o-o-o, you end up having to call or email the entrant to clarify these details, collect more money, issue refunds, etc.

Furthermore, the Trial Secretary can always make a mistake entering the data, so it is VERY IMPORTANT for entrants to always check their confirmation letter details, not skim over any piece of data, especially the AKC number.  You want to be sure your dog gets credited for every Qualifying Score.

Then there are the Move-Ups that can occur between the time the entry form was submitted and the date of your trial, even at the trial.  It's a dynamic process.  The trial secretary has to stay on top of this all along the way up to the trial date, then all through the trial.  That's why you always see the Trial Secretary sitting at their computer, all day, every day.

As the scribe sheets are turned in, about 3 at a time, the TS enters the scores and when that jump height is complete, print out the results.  This is what makes it possible to read your Unofficial Resuts within minutes after your jump height has run.  Pretty neat.

After the trial there is still a lot to do, including generating the Catalogs (one for each day, because each day is considered a separate trial by AKC) and sending all those records into AKC, along with their fees; sending out Score Results to every entrant, printing financial reports, etc.

I still have some questions, of course, and some things can't be learned ahead of time.  I look forward to our next trial where I hope to assist Nedra in real time.  This is definitely "The Road Less Travelled", trodden by very few compared to the number of competitors, still, it is trodden by a few and I feel really good being one of them.  I enjoy knowing how things work, what's going on behind the scenes, all the efforts at organization that have been put into developing this system so we can go out and play with our dogs.  It's amazing, really, the people who have put so much thought and effort into organizing this sport for us.

From reading the Trial Secretary's manual, I learned you can scribe up to 8 trials a year without an AKC license.  But if you do 9 or more a year, you have to pay a license fee, take a course, and get certified.  Then you get listed in AKC's Licensed TS List where clubs needing Trial Secretaries can find and hire you.  I have no idea what TS's make, but it is a considerable amount of work and a big responsibility and they have to travel far distances, so it should pay nicely.  Some trial secretaries even provide their own equipment and ring crew!  Our club is very fortunate to have our own equipment, and a local club member that does our TS job for free and in a professional manner.

Upwards and onward!

Trial Genie

The job of Trial Secretary is essential for managing the details of any agility trial, and the mechanics of all this fascinates me.  I am ever grateful that when I enter my dogs into a trial, I get confirmation letters, armbands are waiting for me at the trial, my scores are printed out within minutes of my run, ribbons are waiting, and final scores are sent to me within a few days after the trial, etc.  It is very well organized for so young a sport.

How does all this happen? Trial Genie, put out by Clean Run, is the premiere AKC Agility Trial Management program, and it turns out, our dog club purchased it years ago and Nedra, our trial secretary, uses it.  I asked her for a copy so I could train myself in using it, uploaded it yesterday (another gift from the U), printed out the Read Me files, and read them all last night.  Trial Genie authorizes that it be stored on multiple computers within the club in case multiple rings are running at the same time, or if the trial secretary has an emergency someone else can step in, so we're not infringing on any copyrights.

RANT:  So there, I'm not crazy!  I've been screaming "redundancy" from the hilltops for years in all the clubs I belong to, urging that emergencies can be/should be planned for.   If one person falls, someone should be able to cover for them. Everyone in a key position should have an understudy, share what they know how to do. That's why folks join clubs, to learn stuff. The AKC Trial Secretary's handbook, which I'm reading today, emphasizes and encourages all of this.  What a confirmation for me that my requests have NOT been out of line, though I've been accused by one club member of "trying to take over."  Nothing could be further from the truth  . . . . . but I do want to learn as much as I can about this sport, not leave the club in a lurch if someone quits, or moves on.

And some things could be done better.

For example, in the AKC Agility Trial Manual, the Gate Steward is absolutely precluded from training volunteers in their jobs during trial runs, which is the ONLY way our volunteers get trained.  AKC recommends Gate Keeping, Timing, Scribing especially be trained in special sessions long before the trials -- exactly what I've been suggesting for the last 2 years, then accused of needing to be "babysat", told to "grow up", that everybody just "learned by doing".  I shudder to think how many volunteers we don't get because we refuse to take them aside for a few minutes and train them.  It costs little to do this, and no telling how much it costs not to.  The constant shortage of volunteers and cries for help, meanwhile refusing to methodically develop volunteer skills, continues to baffle me.

At any rate, I am going to teach myself Trial Genie.  The program is complex.  There is a lot going on.  Lots of data to manage correctly.  Between the Read Me Files, the AKC Trial Secretary Manual and the AKC Regulations, there are over 300 pages to read.  Here's a screen shot of the Main Console:

And behind each button there are several more buttons, letter and catalog generators, move ups, running orders, calculators, money tracking, etc.  Neat program.  I'm looking forward to learning it, and already I can tell that this road has been trodden by many others before me.  I am not alone, and am in very good company.

Upwards and onward!