HEELWORK TO MUSIC

DEMONSTRATION

DESCRIPTION OF THE RULES AND THE EVENT

The aims of Heelwork to Music are:

1. To have spectator appeal

2. To give handlers an opportunity to demonstrate their skills gained from obedience tests

and include additional skills.

3. To perform heel work in a manner that interprets the chosen music and reflects the

Combined work of the dog and handler.

4. To be able to enjoy doing something totally different with your dog.

THE COMPETITION WILL BE HELD IN TWO SECTIONS

SECTION ONE: will be open to all competitors and must be performed off the lead.

SECTION TWO: will be for dogs who are working Novice competition or below, this section

Will be judged with the dogs on lead.

TIME LIMIT: Routines to be between 2.15 minutes to 3.30 minutes

(note no further judging will continue over 3.30 minutes)

Four judges will be used during the event some of these will be obedience judges others deliberately are not. Their marks will be averaged and the collective mark for each section will be recorded.

In the event of a tie the highest interpretation of the music award will decide the winner.

JUDGING

The judges decisions will be final.

Persistent and/or uncontrolled barking or noise will be penalised.

While the judges are looking for accuracy of movements this will not be the sole factor in deciding which dog and handler shall win for each section has equal value.

Handlers should be smartly dressed appropriate to the occasion or complementary to the presentation without distracting from it.

Dogs should not be dressed.

Extra commands and signal are not being penalised as it is felt that freedom from such restrictions gives handlers greater possibilities.

Food must not be taken into the ring.

THE TOTAL MARK WILL BE OUT OF 30 POINTS ALLOCATED AS FOLLOWS:

PART ONE: PROGRAMME CONTENT - 10 MARKS

Normal heel work movements as used in obedience competitions plus any additional movements that are made by the dog in reasonable close proximity to the handler. These extra movements may be part of training routines or specifically designed for this type of work.

Judges will be looking for a team that makes full use of the ring. There are no compulsory movements or heelwork paces.

The mark resulting from the 10 available for this section will be awarded as the content mark. To reflect differing amounts and degrees of content it will also be divided by 10 to become the tariff by which the provisional mark for section 2 is multiplied.

PART TWO: ACCURACY AND EXECUTION OF MOVEMENTS - 10 MARKS

The judges will be stationary at the ringside and they will be looking for accuracy and execution of all movements without having any concern for extra commands or signals.

PART THREE: INTERPRETATION OF MUSIC - 10 MARKS

While it is accepted that it is very difficult to make movements exactly fit the music, this aspect of each routine will contain much spectator appeal. In this section the judges will therefore look favourably upon good musical interpretation which may include the style of the dog.