The Board voted to modify the Obedience & Rally Regulations to provide instructions to judges and stewards on how to manage a dog that leaves its handler and attempts to leave the ring while competing. (Effective March 1, 2023)
The judge will instruct the stewards not to reach for or grab a dog to stop it, but if the dog is not responding to its handler’s commands, the judge may advise the stewards to attempt to block the dog from leaving if it is safe to do so. The dog will then be released from the ring.
OBEDIENCE REGULATIONS
CHAPTER 1 Section 31. Stewards. Judges are in sole charge of their rings until their assignments are completed. Stewards are provided to assist but may act only on the judge’s instructions. They must not give information or instructions to owners and handlers except when the judge asks them to do so. Any request from an exhibitor for special consideration must be directed to the judge.
It is the judge’s responsibility to review with the stewards their duties and the way those duties are to be performed. When a dog leaves its handler to leave the ring, the stewards’ safety is a priority, and they must be advised not to reach for or grab a dog to stop it. At a show with ring gating, if the stewards are near the open gate area when a dog leaves its handler, and the dog is not responding to its handler’s commands, the judge may advise the stewards to block the gate to prevent the dog from leaving the ring if it is safe to do so. The dog will then be released from the ring.
CHAPTER 2 Section 25. Misbehavior (New wording added)
A dog who has left its handler to leave the ring, who is not responding to its handler, and/or the stewards have blocked the dog to keep it in the ring, must receive a nonqualifying (NQ) score and must be released from the ring.
The same wording will be added to the RALLY REGULATIONS Chapter 1, Section 33 and Chapter 2, Section 19.
We will post inserts for printing when they become available.
The Companion Events Team
