Wednesday Night Trial Applications Class
2008

Do you find that in a trial situation your performance criteria slips? Can you see things you practice in the courses you run? Or do you just try to get from the start to the finish without faults? Do you find that the trial atmosphere affects how you and your dog run?

K9 Express is again offering a year long class in Trial Applications. This is an opportunity to run an actual course in a trial atmosphere yet train at the same time. The K9 Express instructors will "judge" on a rotation basis and participants will be expected to act as course builders, pole setters, gate stewards, timers and scribes as necessary. Dogs will be benched as is normal for a trial situation.

When: 2nd Wednesday of each month and 4th Wednesday of some months. Dates are below.

We will be setting up a handling course—standard, jumpers, steeplechase—at the advanced/masters levels. As in a real trial situation, everyone will be expected to help course build, pole set, leash run, and gate keep. You will be given five minutes to walk the course and then you will have a set time to run it (instructor/judge will time). You will get a course map to plan your path, mark your trouble spots, your crosses (what types and why), and to jot down notes of how certain sequences run. Once everyone has run we will break it down and briefly work on the trouble spots.

Pre-requisites: dogs should be competing or ready for competition, at minimum have some advanced handling classes under their belt

Please bring: a pen/pencil, crate or x-pen, treats and toys (for after the run) . We are trying to mimic the trial environment as much as possible.

This class will use the whole arena and will probably run beyond the scheduled time—much like a real trial!

2008 Trial Applications Class Dates
Wet Creek Stables, Balzac AB
6:00 PM to 9:00PM
January

9
23
February 13
March 12
April 9
23
May 14
June 11
July 9
23
August 13
September 10
October 8
22
November 12
December 10
24

Notes

Participation

Because there has been so much interest in this type of class, we've allowed for 5 more dogs than in 2007.

Previous participants will have the first option to participate (one dog/person), then, if there are more dogs than available spaces, a random draw will be made from the list of interested people to fill those spots. Those names not drawn will be put on a substitute list and circulated to the participants - if someone cannot make one of the class nights, they can inform the list. The cost to the substitute is $10/class, which they will need to arrange to get to the absent participant OR it can go into a "slush & goodies fund" for the Christmas Party.

T o keep it fair for all, the available spots will be offered to the substitutes in list order and the substitute that actually attends will be put to the bottom of the list for the next time.

Handlers may run more than one dog IF there are missing participants OR they can run a different dog on different exercises/courses.

If couples would like to share one spot, that is permissible as long as only one dog/handler team participates each class - if neither can make a class, they can then inform the substitute list.

Courses

AAC courses, CKC courses, NADAC courses, USDAA courses, handling "drills/games" at an advanced or masters level. Emphasis is on handling and strategy to improve times and/or reduce faults. Suggestions from actual trial experiences/problems are welcome and encouraged.

Class Format