by Kerry Webster » Thu 07 Nov 2013 11:40 am
Prue, I think you would find most judges will request a field steward to notify them if a bird falls out of the area, but, as a judge I also know that every throw on a run may not be exactly the same and the bird will possibly not fall in the exact same place each time due to weather conditions, weight of bird, or even the warming up of the rubbers. It is generally allowed that a mark should fall in a general area and this may have variations of several metres but this is acceptable otherwise the delays would be horrendous. Unless a judge requests a steward to inform him/her of the circumstances of a throw or retrieve, then that steward must not offer an opinion or information.
On the running order debate, I just had two trials where in the first I was number one. I remained at number one for the whole day. Yes it was advantageous to the other competitors to see where my dog went, where she scented the bird, and, what traps were out on the run. Being first doesn't worry me that much, but I do think that number one needs to be informed of hazards on the run that their dog may encounter, and actually number two competitor needs this as well, so it is fair for all that are competing. The second trial I was in I drew number two. First run and number one had a miss throw and decided to miss two dogs, so I was number one again for the first run. The other runs each had a redraw from the numbers and the first runner was shared around the competitors.
My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dog thinks I am.