Leah82 Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 I offered my services to help Marshal at the Agility Trail my dog club is hosting this weekend (26th Oct) I will be helping out in the afternoon so will have the morning to watch proceedings and see how it all works but does anyone have any tips for being an effective marshal? :) The only thing I know so far is that I'll be calling the names of the competitors for their turn in the ring. How far in advance will I be doing this and will the competitors most likely be already waiting and ready to go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubyBlue Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 You will be told what to do by either the people running the trial or the judge. Just tell them that it is your first time :) I'll see you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 I offered my services to help Marshal at the Agility Trail my dog club is hosting this weekend (26th Oct) I will be helping out in the afternoon so will have the morning to watch proceedings and see how it all works but does anyone have any tips for being an effective marshal? :) The only thing I know so far is that I'll be calling the names of the competitors for their turn in the ring. How far in advance will I be doing this and will the competitors most likely be already waiting and ready to go? Good on you for helping out! I won't be there unfortunately :) Now, it depends which ring you are in - if it's Masters most of the competitors know the drill and should make your life easier although many will be in multiple rings with multiple dogs! If you are in a Novice ring you might need to inform the newbies of the procedure - they are likely to be a bit more flustered/nervous. If someone is in another ring they should come and tell you they may have a clash - mark the catalogue next to their name so you will know they might not be ready when you need them. It's fine to run dogs out of order provided you inform the person recording times etc what number dog is entering the ring. It's really helpful to tell competitors the next 3, 4 or 5 dogs to enter the ring once you have a few dogs in the marshalling area - then we know who we are running after (especially if it's running out of order) and when to start warming up etc. There tends to be many more 500 height dogs so you may have to juggle the running order more for them. If someone is rushing between rings/dogs and getting stressed, please cut them some slack as most of us try to be in the right place at the right time. I will add anything else as I think of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 Awesome, thanks for the tips :) The ring I'm in (Number 1) will have Novice Agility B, followed by Excellent Agility B and then Master Agility C. So I'll keep an eye on the newbies Now that everyone knows where I'll be for the afternoon session feel free to come up and say hi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I think you will enjoy it :) You may well have some experienced folk running youngsters in Nov/Ex which should make things easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitka Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I stewarded at our recent trial a couple of weeks ago. It was good and you get the hang of it pretty quick, the judge will tell you how they want things to go and if you have any questions do ask them. The judges are very good :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted October 25, 2013 Author Share Posted October 25, 2013 I've printed out the section I need of the catalogue so I'm really to go tomorrow. Will get there about 11-11.30 so I can watch a bit of the morning session before lunch. Now just weighing up the chair quandary. Bring my own, will there be one there for me or will I be standing up all afternoon? fingers crossed the rain stays away as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 If you're the assembly steward there won't really be any time for sitting... They do normally set out a chair though, so you should be fine. Just remember a hat, sunblock and a rain jacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitka Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Leah how did you go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 Things went well today, the day ended up being a bit longer as the morning session was held up due to a problem with one of the timing gates. All in all though I had fun, all the dogs got through eventually and I learnt a lot about agility in the process :) I'm pretty buggered now though and I'm up at 7 tomorrow morning to take the dogs to obedience. Afterwards we're going to head over to the agility ring and see how the dogs go with a few of the obstacles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 Good on you for helping out! I won't be there unfortunately :) Now, it depends which ring you are in - if it's Masters most of the competitors know the drill and should make your life easier although many will be in multiple rings with multiple dogs! If you are in a Novice ring you might need to inform the newbies of the procedure - they are likely to be a bit more flustered/nervous. If someone is in another ring they should come and tell you they may have a clash - mark the catalogue next to their name so you will know they might not be ready when you need them. It's fine to run dogs out of order provided you inform the person recording times etc what number dog is entering the ring. It's really helpful to tell competitors the next 3, 4 or 5 dogs to enter the ring once you have a few dogs in the marshalling area - then we know who we are running after (especially if it's running out of order) and when to start warming up etc. There tends to be many more 500 height dogs so you may have to juggle the running order more for them. If someone is rushing between rings/dogs and getting stressed, please cut them some slack as most of us try to be in the right place at the right time. I will add anything else as I think of it! and yes there was a lot of juggling of the 500 height dogs :p we had a good system where the lead steward would tell the scribe which number was running on the way to the exit gate :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Things went well today, the day ended up being a bit longer as the morning session was held up due to a problem with one of the timing gates. All in all though I had fun, all the dogs got through eventually and I learnt a lot about agility in the process :) I'm pretty buggered now though and I'm up at 7 tomorrow morning to take the dogs to obedience. Afterwards we're going to head over to the agility ring and see how the dogs go with a few of the obstacles. Well done Leah So glad you enjoyed it. I remember the first time I stewarded at a trial...up until then I thought it was a sport for just young athletic people (having never even been to a trial before). It was after that weekend, that I decided that if THESE people could do it, then I could give it a go too....& I havn't looked back. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 We took Sarah and Collie through a few agility obstacles yesterday. Sarah will take some work to get her comfortable and happy, we spent about 15 minutes on a couple of jumps at the 200 height, I then decided to end her session early before she started hating it and me :p, definitely going to need to use the softly softly approach with her. Collie was enjoying the jumps and managed a few goes through the tunnel. Such a shame he's going blind, he's got such confidence and willingness to please Also my highlights for the weekend were the tiny yorkie in the 200 height masters session and the great dane x maremma in the 600 excellent. The roof of the tunnel was bouncing up and down as he was going through :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Good on you for taking the plunge and helping out. It's a great way to learn - and seriously helps out the club. That system of the lead steward or the assembly steward telling the scribe which number is in the ring seems to work well. We do it even at our small trials if people are juggling dogs. Have you thought of doing some tracking with Collie? It's actually an advantage in some ways if they can't see, or can't see very well. - stops them juming to conclusions and makes them rely on their noses. There was a girl down here tracking a totally blind Cocker Spaniel - he loved it, and went really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah82 Posted October 28, 2013 Author Share Posted October 28, 2013 I've looked at some noseworks bit and pieces, been meaning to get a couple of cardboard boxes together and getting him finding some treats. Our dog club does tracking training so might inquire about that. Collie and my OH were at the park yesterday afternoon. Collie ends up spending a lot more time looking for his ball these days and my OH got a feeling that Collie was listening to his cues in order to find the ball. He wasn't totally convinced that's what was happening (could have been coincidence) but could be a good sign he's listening more to compensate for the lack of sight :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 That is a good sign :) .. listening is always good. Do ask about the tracking training - the dogs really enjoy it - but be warned ... it is highly addictive :laugh: . Nosework would be good too - and doesn't involve stupid o'clock early starts :D . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayreovi Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Also my highlights for the weekend were the tiny yorkie in the 200 height masters session and the great dane x maremma in the 600 excellent. The roof of the tunnel was bouncing up and down as he was going through :laugh: The yorkie is such a stunning little goer! :laugh: Love watching her runs. The bigger maremma x is part my little group of triallers, some of the tunnels you can really see her through, it's amazing she fits sometimes! I had the tiny little Toller in the 400 excellent class who looked like she wasn't trained at all lmao, to be far too her she had nearly a 3 hour break between runs and she was a little excited :laugh: You did a great job :) Roger is a lovely judge :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitka Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 I loved watching the little yorkie someone even said she was a boder collie in a yorkie body :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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