Apprenticing for HT judging kills brain cells!!!

[DEDEYE]

Holy cow!!! I did my duty yesterday and apprenticed for the Master. I don't think I am going to like judging that much!

1st, you have to dream up a test that s fun, challenging, and a-ok with the co-judge. You have to contend with all your personal equipment disappearing forever into someones truck while being delivered to the test. You have to do the "gardening" to create better lines,blinds, and whatever landscaping needed... You have to listen to comments by the handlers who are complaining about the time management. (sometimes time management sucks when you have a limited amount of land and there is another test going right over the hill). You have to listen to everyone who had problems with the test make all the excuses.... You have to see the dissappointment on faces that believed they should have passed....

Then there is the judging itself. Let me tell you, now that is tough! What would be frowned upon in a field trial is perfectly acceptable (depending on the judges) in a hunt test. You know, things like cheating the bank, getting out of the corridor of a blind..

Assigning numbered scores is hard. I had some zero's down, where they had a couple of 1's just to carry the dog. And that was because the dog did great marks. I have been given the gift as a handler of being carried, so I won't argue with that! LOL. (well I am not arguig with anything - just thinking about my day)

I dunno, I am not so sure I want to deal with all that. And I am not so sure that I am worthy to take all that on. I have titled a dog. So freaking what?!?! That doesn't mean I can dream up a wondrous test and then assign numbers to a scorecard, and then make or break someones day.....

I wonder how many brain cells I have left after yesterday. I might as well as just smoked some crack or something, cuz my head still hurts..

Think I will just stay on as the trial slave... Easier.. And now I am hanging up...

[K G]

Holy cow!!! I did my duty yesterday and apprenticed for the Master. I don't think I am going to like judging that much!

1st, you have to dream up a test that s fun, challenging, and a-ok with the co-judge. You have to contend with all your personal equipment disappearing forever into someones truck while being delivered to the test. You have to do the "gardening" to create better lines,blinds, and whatever landscaping needed... You have to listen to comments by the handlers who are complaining about the time management. (sometimes time management sucks when you have a limited amount of land and there is another test going right over the hill). You have to listen to everyone who had problems with the test make all the excuses.... You have to see the dissappointment on faces that believed they should have passed....

Then there is the judging itself. Let me tell you, now that is tough! What would be frowned upon in a field trial is perfectly acceptable (depending on the judges) in a hunt test. You know, things like cheating the bank, getting out of the corridor of a blind..

Assigning numbered scores is hard. I had some zero's down, where they had a couple of 1's just to carry the dog. And that was because the dog did great marks. I have been given the gift as a handler of being carried, so I won't argue with that! LOL. (well I am not arguig with anything - just thinking about my day)

I dunno, I am not so sure I want to deal with all that. And I am not so sure that I am worthy to take all that on. I have titled a dog. So freaking what?!?! That doesn't mean I can dream up a wondrous test and then assign numbers to a scorecard, and then make or break someones day.....

I wonder how many brain cells I have left after yesterday. I might as well as just smoked some crack or something, cuz my head still hurts..

Think I will just stay on as the trial slave... Easier.. And now I am hanging up...

This should be a STICKY for all of those who are quick to criticize judge's but not willing to give back.

Good thing there are people who will subject themselves to the slings and arrows, otherwise we'd have no testing of any type, now would we....

And you forgot to mention the great pay and benefits you get for doing the job......... 8)

kg

[Uncle Bill]

Holy cow!!! I did my duty yesterday and apprenticed for the Master. I don't think I am going to like judging that much!


Think I will just stay on as the trial slave... Easier.. And now I am hanging up...

That is such dissappointing news, Mary. But not just for me...think of how crushed F W must be to hear you won't be judging his Fast Woodie.

I doubt Howard is gonna sit idly by and allow you to quit this easily. Just think of all the fun you'll be missing...hearing the tar-pot boiling...seeing the dilapitaded buss nearby. How can you possibly think of passing up all those opportunities for being the focus of attention and discussion on RTF?

No, it's my guess once you weigh all the pluses and minuses, you'll regain your senses and happily accept your next assignment. Besides it's way better being the real thang, rather than only an apprentice.

Hang in there, girl. As we like to say, "If the chair fits, sit in it."

UB

[Kristie Wilder]

I "practiced" judging at the retreat last weekend. Thanks to Ken Gilbert for hanging in there with me!

WOW, at first I had a really hard time keeping notes of everything and an incredibly difficult time keeping my drawings in perspective so that they made sense.

It also made it very clear to me just how much "give" there is in the rules. So when is saw something that was clearly a "major" issue (like a dog running around a bank TO a mark), it had to be put in perspective with the rest of the performance (dog did a super job on another mark that cut the corner of the pond).

Trying to remember what was CR and WR and OOC and OOS and other notes that would make it meaningful... Then going back to try to explain scores and hope I had enough useful information to show how I determined my score....

I'm glad I practiced because it was very enlightening. While I NEVER thought it would be easy, it was a bit more difficult than I expected. In our last series, I got better at drawing the main layout of the test more quickly so that it was clearer what the dog was doing...

Thanks for this post, Mary. I'm still waiting to apprentice (was supposed to this past fall, but test got cancelled), but I'm looking forward to it.

-K

[Jerry]

And you have to be willing to "Drop Your Mother" if her dog doesn't do the work.

Jerry

[DEDEYE]

Uncle BillI doubt Howard is gonna sit idly by and allow you to quit this easily. Just think of all the fun you'll be missing...hearing the tar-pot boiling...seeing the dilapitaded buss nearby. How can you possibly think of passing up all those opportunities for being the focus of attention and discussion on RTF?

HAHAHA! That is pretty darn funny. Because Howard did seem a tad amused when I expressed my dismay and confusion. He was at his own test and his eyes were kinda bloody! LOL! No, he would probably whale upon me if I quit...

No, it's my guess once you weigh all the pluses and minuses

Hmmm... Pluses? Sitting in a chair in the rain with no waterproof sheets? Oops! Guess that would be a minus. Plus.... The only one I can think of is the opportunity to learn something.. .. Maybe I will think of some more... Too much!

[DEDEYE]

And you have to be willing to "Drop Your Mother" if her dog doesn't do the work.

Jerry

Yeah, AND your training partners!

[DKR]

And you have to be willing to "Drop Your Mother" if her dog doesn't do the work.

Jerry

Yeah, AND your training partners!

Mary,

Sounds like you have the making of a great judge.

[Gun_Dog2002]

Ah come on. I've been told its easy. Never experienced that, but thats's what I've been told. It takes a different mind set to judge. Often times on some of these threads I get conflicted because the handler in me argues with the trainer in me who is obviously a moron because the judge in me is always right....

/Paul

[wsumner]

If you dislike judging this much, it is best that you don't judge.