I have a friend on Facebook, Alberto, that shows his Corgis, handles
other breeds, used to be an Obedience and Agility judge and also teaches
protection work.
How we first became FB friends I don't remember. I have been searching
for almost a year trying to get reconnected to dog shows. About a month or so
ago he sent me a message saying there was a big dog show in Mexico City, DF (
Mexico City, Distrito Federal,is the capital of Mexico, like Washington DC is
the capital in the USA.). This is the biggest dog show in Mexico, and why don't I
come down? I could accompany him while he showed his dogs. I was discussing this
with another friend that said he had cousins there that would take me around the
city. Well, here's my chance to go to a prestigious dog show AND see the city.
Didn't take me long to say " Here I come!"
About two weeks before I was to leave Alberto asked if would like to
judge some Obedience. "Sure." I said. "But I don't speak Spanish!" He said he
would send me the Regulations, which were in Spanish, about 35 pages worth of
translating.! So now my task is translating all that. I used Google Translate,
which I use occasionally. I got about twenty seven pages done then ran out of
ink. There was NO ink in town so I needed to drive into Ajijic, about two hours
away from me, to Walmart. Finally I get it all copied and start reading. The
translations left something to be desired. Fortunately it's very similar to the
Regs in the States. One of the funnier translations was for the Sits/ Downs. For
the sit, it said. "on the judges command the handler will sit the dog." Good,
I understand that. Then for the down it said, "on the judges command the handler
will kick the dog." And there were other things just as funny.
I decided to learn all the commands I needed in Spanish and I had one week to do it in.
No way. I was afraid I would forget something and screw the handler up. So I
requested a translator, which was not a problem. The translator would call the
exercises and I would just judge. I would have liked to run the ring as an AKC
judge but there wasn't enough time to work with the translator, who was also an
Obedience judge .Thank goodness because AKC heeling is just way too simple
compared to what they do. But it would have been fun. Maybe next time. So off I go as prepared as
I could be in such a short time.
Beautiful clouds out the airplane window.
These are the Regulations. I think this spiral would be a good idea in the
States.
Alberto picked me at the airport. There is a huge teachers strike going
on and they had the airport blocked but I came in mid-day and it had cleared.
Thank goodness. I don't speak fluent Spanish yet and would have not been happy
trying to navigate Mexico City alone.
From the airport we went to Alberto's kennels. His brother is the
resident vet and his father manages it. Many businesses here are family
operated. He has a family that lives there and they work for him maintaining the
dogs, grounds, anything that's needed. It's a husband, wife, child and
grandfather. Very nice situation. The older generations are respected, honored
and included. No nursing homes. I had heard someone built one outside of my town
and no one came. It shut down... but I digress...................
The kennel grounds, beautifully landscaped
So we grabbed a bite to eat and off to the hotel. Had to be ready to go the next
morning at 6:00.
The hotel was one of the cleanest that I've stayed in. Most hotels smell
musty, no matter how clean. This one didn't. And it had a cool name, omen maybe,
for a good dog show???
All my judging equipment is still in the States but I found out you
don't need all the things AKC judges use.The organization had a measurer for the
BJ, you don't need score sheets, however I had made some up before I knew that
and several judges were interested in them. And you don't need chalk. I had
about a week to study the Regs but they are very similar to AKC. Some
differences are...... If you NQ an exercise you are excused, when you use the
dogs name with a verbal command you have to hesitate several seconds after the
name before giving the command, dogs are NQ'd for falling asleep on the sit or
down, there is no 4' of room rule for sits/downs.
The order of the exercises are
a little different. Group exercises are done first, if the handler and dog are
not there they are marked absent. There is the Seek Back exercise instead of the
Directed Retrieve in Utility and the order of exercises is different. Moving
Stand first, then Seek back, Signal Exercise, Scent Discrimination and Directed
Jumping. In Open there are no chalk marks or marking of any kind on the floor
and traffic cones are used for Figure 8's and left in the ring. For the Figure 8
they go half around then halt, one and a half around and halt or the opposite.
The halts are on the turns. It doesn't have to be done this way, that's just the
way they do it. The judges use a clicker and record directly into the Judges
Book on their clip board. Also judges hesitate several seconds before giving an
order, I saw no anticipation.The handlers don't ask about their performance,
they can but no one seems to do it. Heeling patterns are very long with many
halts.The heeling pattern is not given to the first handler unless they ask. I
never saw one ask. Ring size is similar to AKC. The rings at this show were nice
and roomy. Also some Judges gave multiple changes of pace for slow and/or fast.
Ring barriers are very different as you can see in the pictures. And the dogs
didn't go through them.
This is the Novice with the Open going on in the rear ring. The three signs that
you see in the middle separate the two rings.
Moving Stand in Utility
Utility. The judge calling commands is in the foreground
You can see the ring dividers behind the handler. They did their go-out towards
that. No problem.
I have several videos, the best one of heeling (and of the dog that won)
is sideways and I can't get it upright. I also had to shorten my videos so I
could send them to my computer.
Drop on recall
Grad Novice
run off
The competition ended Sunday with some run-offs determined by a very long
heeling pattern and a long novice recall. I really don't know how a winner was
determined. I guess a culmination of all the days of showing. It did end up being
a run-off between two dogs, The young man with the doberman won the show. He was
so happy he cried. There were a lot of placings of some kind but I didn't
understand what was going on. The people that placed under me on Saturday had me
sign their rosettes. I don't know if that's tradition or just because I was a
foreign judge. I also had to sign their point cards. So it seems it was a
special competition but also counted towards titles. Here are pictures of the
placers in my classes on Saturday.............
And the performance judges..................
These dogs could have easily competed in AKC shows but I don't think
the dogs from the States could compete down here.The whole show was extremely
noisy and the dogs paid no mind to the loudness. Also spectators can bring their
dogs, so there were pet dogs all over the show, most on loose leashes and I saw
no aggression of any kind. There was a ring on the other side of the aisle from
Obedience where they were doing relay races with much audience participation and
a loud speaker encouraging them even more. In the next hall, at one time, there
was a live Mariachi band playing and people cheering, it was someone's birthday
from the show. Thousands of spectators, children hanging over what barriers
there were, even walking into the ring. No one got upset, the dogs continued to
work, not responding to all the confusion, Occasionally someone knocked over a
ring barrier....... no problem, team continued to work, barrier set back up. The
handlers were very good. I never saw one adapt their speed to the dog, use
exaggerated signals or scream commands. They were excellent. The dogs
performances were varied like in AKC trials. There were some that could score
very high in the States. The breeds were varied. The English Bulldog is the most
popular dog in Mexico so there were some in Obedience, Labs, Dobes.
Shepherds,bull breeds, a nice variety of dogs. I'm not quite sure what is
required to get a title. I read in the Regs five shows, three different judges
but qualifiers are given cards with points on them, it seems you have to earn a
certain amount of points. Same thing in breed.
My judges badge and gift......a
commemorative watch
TO BE CONTINUED......................................
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