After two years of trying my utmost and getting just inside the final cut a couple of times, today I presented Little Joe in the last Adult Handling Qualifier for 2011 and got third place with him, which means I have
qualified
Phew, this is one of the hardest things I have ever done and I am still trying to come down from cloud 9.
For those who aren't familiar with adult handling, it is the handler and not the dog who is judged and placed or otherwise. The judge asks the handler to do basic things such as showing the dog's mouth from all sides, goes over the dog on the table, then often asks questions such as how many teeth should a dog have? or to point to any named part of the dog.
Then the dog is moved according to the judge's direction. These may be the triangle and up and down maneouvres which are common to the breed rings or, more frequently, a letter T, reverse letter T, an L or reverse L, an S or even a figure eight. The handler must have the dog under control at all times and show a close rapport with him, presenting the dog to it's best advantage at all times and
never breaking the golden rule of not coming between the dog and the judge.
Then when standing for floor inspection, the judge will often go behind the line unexpectedly and penalise contestants who do not immediately turn to face the other direction. Today there was a lot of walking around the stacked dogs - if only Joe hadn't moved slightly at the last moment.
As with breed and general championship shows, adult handling classes are very few and far between, about 7 or 8 a year in the Midlands. Classes are usually large and competition friendly but fierce, so please indulge me in having this enormous brag.