I agree it does sound like a daunting task to undertake.
But just in reference to the actual scheduling of classes;
I would imagine that most people attending nationals day judging are full prepared for it to be an entire day affair and that most would welcome a little extra time spent in exchange for maximum organization and the least amount of stress for all involved.
280/2=140 dogs per ring....
That is 7 hours of judging per ring at 3 min a dog. All breed judges routinely judge 175 dogs a day, on a schedule with a lunch break, in 6 1/2 hours. Even at 3.5 min allowed per dog for the prestige of nationals I don't think that would take up an unreasonable amount of time. And it would be so much more organized for exhibitors and spectators. From personal experience the stress of trying to show multiple dogs in both rings has been very high the last several years. You can't prepare ahead of time with help simply because of the volume of dogs and the differences in the speed of the judges. At the very minimum you should have the classes divided into two sessions with a scheduled lunch break. So, at least if one ring gets way ahead or behind the other you have a chance to catch them back up again.
Betsy
Posted on May 15, 2008, 4:20 PM from IP address 205.188.116.70