'evening all,
A thought has been going through my mind and I offer it only as a thought that may generate some discussion.
Prior to the last rule change dogs with two Novice wins were awarded an NRD title, moved onto Restricted and we all had very healthy numbers in Restricted. Last rule change 3 wins came into Novice, Restricted numbers have fallen in all states. We have dogs staying in Novice for years (yes it does happen). How many times can a Novice dog do a single mark retrieve? Yes, you can enter your dog into Restricted if you feel up to it but many trialers (less experienced) don't believe they should be in Restricted unless they've got their NRD.
It would be interesting to know how many dogs there are around the country sitting on those two novice wins waiting on the third. I've heard many experienced trialers say how much they enjoy running in Restricted, let's see how we can get the inexperienced trialers at the same level. We have Picnic tests, Beginners tests, Restricted Derby's (in some states) why not develop the Restricted Derby's into something that Novice handlers can be encouraged to enter, rather than enter a Restricted and if you bomb the first run to wait on the Judge to see if there's time to run non competing at the end of the field. Everyone get's to do every run and the judges can offer advice through the day!
Just a few thoughts - had a good night training we have finally found some cover
Cheers
Kate