A Day At The Fair

Spent a day at Pierce County fiar yesterday judging 4H dog obedience.
For the most part I felt discouraged and disappointed.  I can't help but wonder about the state of 4H as a whole.  Apparently in WA state at least, parents are of the opinion that giving children anything less than a blue ribbon tends to discourage them and then they want to quit.  Even yestersay, as we were handing out white ribbons right and left, one of the area's leaders was COMMENDING the kids for their efforts, and for "just being there" as if it was a RIGHT to expect a blue ribbon regardless of the quality of your dog's performance.
Yes, I was given the "first year" kids-but even a first year kid ought to have a general idea of what is expected of their dog (and the kid) but performance after performance was so poor as to be embarrassing.  I created a short heeling pattern because it felt like every second the kids were in the ring the points were just falling off into the abyss.  Hey...when *I* was in 4H I walked out my very first year with obedience champion in my age level, and I came in third overall in the grand champion run off.  I would have been MORTIFIED if I and my dog performed like the majority of these teams.  It was very evident to me that the majority had not even been taught how to "finish" after the recall.  The kids weren't taught how to hold the leash so the dog would not become entangled in it.  When I cautioned several kids about mistakes they were making, they ARGUED with me-questioning my authority and knowledge of the rules.  Most of the kids TOLD their dogs to "stand" and were forced to repeat the command four and five times because the dogs clearly had no idea what was expected.  I kept reminding the kids that at this level they most certainly could assist the dog to stand and again, they argued with me-clearly giving me the message *I* do not have a place as a judge in their obedience ring.  When dogs made mistakes, many of the kids said "WRONG!" to the dogs...seriously????
The very first dog in the ring had a note written across the top of the socre sheet:  "dog cannot run" so I asked the young handler why this was so.  She gave me a very long synopsis of how her puppy had severe hip displasia that also came with arthritis "down her back leg all the way to her ankles".  I was unfamiliar with exactly where the ankle is on the dog, so I asked her to point it out to me-she showed me the hock.  I informed her that it was called a hock, and she informed ME that her MOTHER called it the ankle, and that was the end of THAT.  She also informed me that her dog was so disabled that she couldn't possibly be expected to sit straight, or quickly.
So I started her heeling pattern.  When we got to the "fast", guess what?  The dog GALLOPED.  Imagine that.  I guess the dog wasn't told about its disability..... so, after we completed the figure 8, and I informed her we were now doing the stand for exam, she told me her dog was shy and it might try to bite.  Ah....thanks for the warning.  I told her she really should have revealed this information when I asked her if there were any questions at the get-go.....but no, her LEADER told her this was the correct way to deal with it.  And yes, the dog DID try to snap at me.  I could tell that this was a very indulged dog who obviously did not WANT a stranger to touch it, and it had been allowed to get away with this behavior.  I did not offer this information because I knew it would be met with an arguement.  After she left the ring, my stewards tried to tell me how WONDERFUL the family was, and what a GREAT dog trainer she was.  I asked them what her parents thought they would gain by forcing her to train and handle what amounted to a handicapped dog with very limited potential.....neither of them "got it".....I give up.....
Although I did see more untrained dogs, I did see a number of trained dogs who were distracted by the noises and commotion.  Sorry to say I couldn't just ignore the NQ and had to give them white ribbons.  Yes, I can tell the difference between an untrained dog and one who just had a bad day, or bad luck.
What I wonder is if we will ever see a day when 4H drops obedience entirely because it expects too much of the children?  Or will we merely hand out participation ribbons and just give them score cards with positive feedback like "nice smile!"  or "you really did try!" or "better luck next time!" and not even give them a score?  When did it become too difficult to expect a child to actually TRAIN the dog?  Shall we offer them a "best two out of three"? and allow "do overs" like we do in Rally-O?
When I started the day, I had a mental image of what I felt a team should look like that was worthy of competing at the state level.  If the team wasn't a team, there was no way I was rewarding them and sending them to state.  Better luck next year? 

On a lighter note, the other judge and I co-judged Team obedience.  She judged, I called the commands.  It was very amusing, but for the most part it was very clear that most of the kids had no idea what they were doing in Team (especially the figure 8!!!) and again, was very disappointing to me.

I am so disillusioned and disappointed that I will think twice about judging in future (not that this county will ever ask me back!) Judging by the speech delivered by that one leader, he was very disappointed in me by handing out so many whites.....