When to unleash

Sorry everyone, I know today is Friday, and we are supposed to do a contest.  I need to put it off a week.  Not only am I home sick, but we are having problems with our network at work, and I can’t send you all an email reminder as usual.  When it rains it pours, ya know?  Anyway, as the old saying goes, “Lord willing and if the creek don’t rise”, I’ll be back at it mext Friday with our fun contests!  

Meanwhile, I just wanted to share a little bit of news I read in the recent AKC  Judges Newsletter.  One section referred to Leash Rules, something we’ve blogged about before.  Basically it wants to make clear that you can choose to unleash your dog at any time once you have entered the ring.  You may wait until the timer tells you to go, but that is your call.  Also, a question was posed to AKC whether a person in the outside of the ring can shout to the handler a reminder to get the leash.  Typically outside assistance is reason for excusal, however exiting the ring with your dog leashed and under control is more important, so AKC will allow this sort of outside assistance (though I wouldn’t push the envelope on this one…my two cents).  For more rules about leashing before exiting the ring, click here.