by Kerry Webster » Thu 06 Mar 2003 10:50 pm
I think this a very reasonable suggestion.
As a W.A. competitor, and having travelled to Victoria, NSW and ACT for Nationals, I did have the occasion where locals said, "So and So doesn't like you putting your hand anywhere near the dogs head to send for a mark, as they consider it a line." Then, in watching some of the locals, the reverse was evident.
Personally, I believe that a line is where the hand is placed, and held, in the dogs line of sight towards the retrieve, then the dog is sent. I have often seen this on marks, and I consider it a blind.
I do not think, that the dog being positioned so its body is in the direction of the mark, then the hand used as a send control, to be lining.
Apart from the lining debate there are probably several judging issues that need to be pursued in this "guide", to achieve an equality throughout Australia.
Kerry