The NOHS – Thoughts from a Club Perspective
Click here to read the complete article
By Peri Norman
Over the past several years, the AKC has added a number of programs to encourage participation in dog shows. Many of these involve providing more incentives and awards for exhibitors. Since more than 80% of show dogs are owner-handled, it is not surprising that some of these changes are designed to encourage and support owner-handlers. The addition of the Amateur-Owner-Handler class was a great idea! The rules for exhibiting in this class are pretty restrictive; no professional handlers (or their household members or assistants), no judges and the handler must be a registered owner of the dog. This gives true amateurs an opportunity to enter the ring and compete against each other without the pressure of going head-to-head with professionals from the very beginning. One could also hope that it reminds judges that exhibitors in this class may be very novice, so a little patience and attention to giving clear, precise instructions are appreciated.
Another concept designed to increase participation was the Grand Championship competition, later enhanced to include levels of accomplishment. The Grand Championship competition has been very well-received! In some breeds with larger entries, it is not uncommon for the Best of Breed, Best Opposite, Select Dog and Select Bitch all to be professionally handled, but in many breeds, the addition of the Select awards and the accompanying titling process has given owner-handlers a place to continue to set and achieve goals showing their own dogs. Regardless of the status of the handler, additional awards and meaningful titles give interested parties an opportunity and a reason to continue to compete! That is a good thing!
The National Owner-Handler Series is entering its fourth year of competition. Change of any sort always involves some level of conflicting opinions. Constructive suggestions can and have been used to improve many programs and the NOHS is no exception. One of the biggest bones of contention has been the addition of the requirement that clubs who have two shows a year and offer any special attraction with group competition must also offer an NOHS at 50% of their shows. I understand that the All-Breed committee of the Delegate body is recommending a change to an “Opt-in” policy, rather than a mandatory requirement. From a club perspective, this begs the question of whether or not adding the NOHS competition to one or more shows will increase the number of entries. Clubs have been and should continue to give serious consideration to any activity that will increase entries and participation.
Whether a club is head over heels in love with the program or not so much, offering the NOHS competition at your shows involves several positive outcomes. The AKC brochure introducing the NOHS starts with “More Competition. More Competitors. They Win. You Win.” The consensus of AKC officials, superintendents and field staff seems to be that with all other factors being equal, clubs offering the NOHS receive more entries than if they had not offered it. The truth is many owner-handlers do love it! They love the additional opportunities to exhibit their dogs and have success. They love being invited to Eukanuba for the Finals. It is a win for them, so you can make it a win for your club.
Another benefit from offering an NOHS is to the exhibitors themselves. While some are long-time, committed and well-practiced members of the fancy, some of the most enthusiastic participants are people who are a little bit newer to dog shows. I have particularly noticed that our Junior Handlers enjoy additional success in the NOHS competition. For these newer and sometimes younger participants, the NOHS gives them a stepping stone. It not only increases their opportunities to win, but also to hone their skills and practice in multi-breed groups more frequently. From an educational and social perspective, it is simply awesome to give exhibitors a good reason to spend the afternoon at the show visiting, watching and learning while waiting for their next ring time, rather than finishing the breed, packing and heading home. Of course, every time we support and educate our exhibitors, the whole dog show community gets a win!
Exhibitors get to learn new skills, practice their craft and have a greater sense of accomplishment. Guess what? So do the judges! As is so often the case, the judges approval system is under review. But it really does not matter whether judges check boxes or write essays. By utilizing newer judges to judge the owner-handled groups, clubs can give the next generation of multi-breed judges an opportunity to improve their ring procedure and enhance their hands-on familiarity with additional breeds. By providing NOHS assignments to up-and-coming licensed judges, clubs can mitigate one of the most frequent difficulties with offering the NOHS; scheduling challenges. Club members who are licensed judges, permit judges with less than a group, or other local judges looking to improve their skills can all be assigned to NOHS groups to help minimize conflicts late in the day.
There are two other areas of concern that need the attention of a thoughtful show committee to maximize the success of the NOHS at your show. The first one is the exhibitors. An informational page in the premium list can be used to encourage exhibitors to participate and REMIND THEM TO CHECK THE BOX. After many years showing dogs, some of us can sketch an entry form in our sleep, but to newer exhibitors, the entry form can be daunting until you get the hang of it. The owner-handler box on the entry form does not have any additional information on the form and it is quite small. Depending on the superintendent, the owner-handled box on the online entry may need to be checked separately for each individual show. Help your exhibitors connect the box to the NOHS competition by providing important information in the premium list.
The most challenging part of the NOHS for clubs can be the stewards. Stewards carry the weight of the NOHS competition on the asterisks in their steward’s books. Currently, judges have no way to separate out the owner-handler exhibitors who are eligible for the class from the others and so the burden of doing that quickly and correctly falls on the steward. Be perfectly clear. The steward does NOT identify the NOHS winner. The steward identifies the eligible owner/dog teams for the judge, who determines whether or not any additional judging is required and then selects the NOHS breed winner. Fortunately, there are excellent resources available on the AKC website to help train and support the ring stewards. Many populous areas of the country have experienced dog people who ring steward frequently and are quite skilled. An excellent steward can make all the difference for both the exhibitors and the judges. In more rural areas of the country, finding experienced people who are willing to steward can be significantly more challenging. Sometimes, students from the local community colleges or other youth service organizations are recruited to assist. Providing information in advance can help these less experienced volunteers be more productive and have a more pleasurable experience. One local club recruited a church youth group. After a two hour training session a week before the show, the youngsters managed the stewarding without incident. Remember that these types of volunteers are not “dog show folk” so their opinions about our sport will be based on their experience. Clear information, patience and appreciation will create the best possible reflection on our sport and also aid in a more trouble-free ring experience for everyone.
With careful consideration and a bit of extra planning, offering the National Owner-Handler Series competition is a meaningful and useful way to encourage more participation in our shows! It provides educational opportunities for everyone involved, and particularly a way to showcase the heart of dog shows; the owner-handler!
©Peri Norman 2015
Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=72593
Posted by ralbee
on Mar 18 2015. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Comments are closed
