Today I’m going to talk about what happens in the last couple of minutes before you step into the ring to start your run, and how a bit of consideration can make everyone’s day less stressful.
Holding Areas
All rings should have a roped-off area next to the entry and exit to the ring. Often there is a rectangular area that runs the full width of the ring, with the scribe’s tent placed in the middle of it. In indoor venues a club might take advantage of existing fencing for their holding area.
This space is there for three reasons:
- To give the handler and dog who are about to go space and privacy, so that they can concentrate on their run
- To provide some space around the exit so that the dog and handler don’t come running out and crash into someone who is walking past
- To keep the running dog’s treats and toys safe from opportunistic theft by passing dogs
There are a few rules and some basic etiquette about how to use this space. Most of it is common sense to experienced competitors but we forget to explain it to newcomers, so here’s all the dos and dont’s.
