Contest-Pause Tables for Four Paws
June’s contest is here! The AKC is changing their pause table requirements to four paws on, no position required, as of September 1st, 2010.
What’re your thoughts on this position change? It seems almost like a celebration in mediocrity to me. While downing on the table may be overkill, since it’s difficult to tell with some dogs if they’re down, or just crouched (Greyhounds, Dobies, and similar body types spring to mind.) it seems too easy to just have to jump up and stand on the table. A position on the table showcases your dogs’ impulse control and focus in a unique way, and doing away with that aspect of agility, no matter how difficult, feels like a cheapening of the entire sport. I know it can be difficult to find out just before a trial which position your dog has to assume. That makes things harder.
Am I alone in this? Maybe I’m just behind the times. Will this change make agility more fun for you and your dog? Even if you don’t compete in AKC, I’d like to get your feedback. Does the venue you compete in require a position?
Comment with your answer and you could be this months’ winner! The prize is a Doggie Drencher from Affordable Agility, sure to help cool off your speeding bullet. The winner will be selected by random drawing on June 30th.
The winner was Janet! Congratulations! Stay tuned for more contests.
How to enter this contest:
- If you have never done so before, you must first register your email address on this blog. We will then notify you if you are a winner of this contest. You only need to do this once, and you will be good for all future monthly contests (and get priority notification of when they occur)!
- Scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your comment/answer. Or, if there is no box, click on the “comments” in the upper right corner.
As an instructor and competitor, I can’t wait for the day when I no longer have to see handlers screaming at their dogs in a desperate effort to get them to sit or down on the table. It stresses out the dog and is fun for no one. Also, this removes the subjectivity of the judge’s count and puts AKC in line with International standards, which far from cheapens the sport.
As long as the dog has paused in the midst of all that action, who cares what position he’s in? If asking your dog to assume a position on the table is that important to you in the grand scheme of things, join us in USDAA. 🙂