Rainy Days

In St. Louis all we have are outdoor trials.  We are having our first indoor trial this November.  But to your concerns for an outdoor trial.

We usually have space under cover for awards (since the awards should be covered). Went to a trial recently where you just picked up awards - I didn't like that because you never saw who got what awards and to me Novice people need that extra boost in being recognized not that I don't mind being recognized for a nice run.

The scribes and timers can sit under tents or umbrellas.  I would also have one for exhibitors at the start line if possible.

I would not give runners or ring stewards an umbrella since they move back and forth a lot and could be distracting to dogs in the ring or getting ready to go in.  I would have a place for them to sit out of the rain. Just remind all members to have rain gear.

Paperwork.  We use zip lock bags so the score sheet slips inside along with the scribes hands. Karen Winter

This won't help keep your paperwork dry... but it will help keep the ink from bleeding and
becoming a big unreadable mess.

The ink in ink jet printers is water soluble.... that means it bleeds as soon as it gets wet.  Yuck.  The solution is to print your stuff, then go get it photocopied.  This even works with labels -- print the labels out on 'plain' paper, then photocopy onto the labels.    Yep, it's an extra step... but you are probably going to the copy shop anyway!

The other suggestion, which helps the scoring table stay organized in any weather condition is to put all the scribe sheets for each class into a separate zip lock baggie.  It helps keep them organized, and if it starts to rain or the wind starts to blow... the sheets are protected. Amy Rosenberg

My husband made me a "scribe box" after I was involved in scribing at a very rainy trial.  I basically consists of a wooden box (like a large shoe box) open on one end with a plexi-glass top.  It is large enough to place a clipboard inside and tall enough to handle a full sized pencil.  The box sits on the scribe's lap and protects the sheet from the rain.  We got to use it this past weekend at Ruff Riders trial and it worked wonderfully.  I'm going to have him make a second for the other ring at our club's trial in August.

The one my husband made is also very nice looking, since he made it out of red oak plywood and carefully fitted all the corner joints.  The entire thing (except the plexi-glass) is sealed with waterproof acrylic sealer.  When I asked him to make it I was thinking of something a bit more crude.  This one is really nice and very functional. Pam Sturtz

Here are some thoughts I have for dealing with rain (not limited to show secretary issues):

1. Have as many "canopies" as you can -- EZ-Ups and clones thereof, also large canopy-type structures that are sold as here as Carports, i.e. covers for cars against the sun, I think they are sold at Costco for $150 -- beg, borrow, steal, buy, whatever it takes to get them. This is just about the most important thing that will increase your happiness level at a trial in the rain.  The more cover you can have, the better. The following areas should be under cover:
        the scoretable(s)
        the awards table
        the hospitality table (where you give out morning coffee and bagels, and lunches)
        the in-gates of the ring(s)--competitors will not want to stand on  deck in the pouring rain and will therefore go stand somewhere else (if you don't have cover at the in-gate) and this of course will slow things down. Think also of the poor gate steward.

If your club doesn't own enough canopies, maybe other clubs would lend (try obedience clubs).  Or consider purchasing. Ordered on-line, 8 x 8 canopies can be had for under $100 (10 x 10 is better). Unless you expect your agility trial to lose money, you owe it to your competitors and your workers to invest in some cover.

When possible, link the canopies together (set them very close side by side), this gives better protection from blowing rain. Two or even three sides can also be covered, making almost a tent. You can do this with the official EZ-up sides, which attach with velcro and/or zippers and will keep you pretty dry inside but are terribly expensive, or as a cheaper alternative with plastic tarps (~$4 each) that you fasten to the canopy with
large clips or bungies.

2. Shade or beach umbrellas that stick in the ground can work well to cover timer and scribe. Sometimes they can be sitting at the ring edge and therefore under an EZ-UP.

3. Give the scribe (and assistant scribe if using one) large size heavy duty ziplock bags and a clipboard -- scribe puts the scribe sheet inside the ziplock, supported by the clipboard, and can insert his/her right (or left) hand also inside the bag and write, albeit perhaps not too legibly, but it works. Scribe should put only one sheet at a time in the bag, the one of the dog running (because since the sheet can't be held down by the clipboard's clip, as that is outside the ziplock, if you have a whole mess of sheets inside the bag they will slip around); keep the rest of the sheets in order inside another small ziplock (this is easier to demonstrate than to explain in writing!)

4. I once saw at a trial a really neat device that someone had picked up in England (I guess they are well acustomed to conducting trials in the rain!), it was like a clipboard with a clear plastic tent that you could pop up, and put the paper on which you were writing as well as your hand under this tent and write. Kinda like what I described with the ziplock bag, but better, as the plastic tent stayed up on its own allowing you to insert your hand and write easily. So, send some club members to England to look for these
things.....

5. Have pencils on hand to write with as pens will stop writing if the paper gets wet.

6. Have a supply of sawdust for filling mud holes on course, and plywood and planks (if expecting really bad weather) for laying over well-tramped areas around the perimeter that may become swamps.

7. Be prepared to wipe off contacts and table (so have lots of towels) if they are becoming too slippery -- perhaps confer with the judge about doing this and when to do it, i.e. before every dog would be most fair but might not be practical.

8. Think about the implications of a soaking wet collapsed tunnel especially for very small dogs -- the fabric becomes heavy and hard to push through. Sometimes judges will want an extra, dry chute fabric that can be put on, say between classes, or will want a worker to hold the tunnel slightly open, or will want to exchange the collapsed tunnel for a pipe tunnel.

9. At all costs keep your score table dry. Be sure to have large items (rocks, ziplocks full of dried beans, heavy metal things) to hold down piles of paper as they accumulate (since with rain tends to come wind), and LOTS of plastic bags -- you'll find all sorts of uses for them.

10. As already said warn workers to bring raingear but you might stock some extras or at the least large garbage bags -- they make a "raincoat" in a pinch -- for people such as runners who must be out in the weather constantly.

11. If it's likely to be chilly as well as rainy, try to have hot drinks for workers.

12. Think about how you are going to post score/accumulator sheets, and run orders. If you're using tape to stick them up on something, will it stick? (duct tape often will)Will the ink run so that the things can't be read? Will the paper disolve? To some extent the answers will depend on the severity of the weather and what approach you are using, so I don't know all the answers, but it's something to think about. For example, clear  plastic bags that you get covering your clothes when they come back from the dry cleaners could be tacked over score sheets once they have been posted.

13. Try to have the scribe sheets placed in order by someone standing well under cover, and dry. This includes any re-ordering that has to be done when dogs are moved or scratched. Those scribe sheets are pretty flimsy; if you have someone standing out in the wet, even if under a canopy if rain is blowing under, holding a stack and sorting through and shifting the order around, as is often being done by the gate steward as s/he tries to keep the sheets in order as dogs are scratched, the sheets are going to get damp and then they will be hard to write on and also may shred. After the sheets are
all in order, put a clip on the stack and store them inside a ziplock.

I know I thought of more things last time I worked a trial in the pouring  rain, but I think I've blocked out as much memory of that as possible. Pamela Mueller

I've noticed that many clubs learn to deal with bad weather by experience and making mistakes.  Maybe we can pool our knowledge to help each other cope with it.

A) Rain
1) Grounds
a) if you have access to a large area pick the highest ground for the rings. 
b) if you're stuck with level and/or low ground set aside area for moving the ring(s).  Since many judges nest courses, in all day rain showers there probably will be areas churned into thick slippery mud that the handler will have to run through.  Areas such as along the dog walk can become very dangerous.  Just by moving the whole ring 10 feet or so in one direction sometimes these areas can be moved out of the handler's way.  At one site where we couldn't risk damaging the field more than absolutely necessary a entire extra ring was roped off.  When the first ring started to look worn, all the equipment was moved to the extra ring.  This worked, and the field owner was very pleased. 
c) get straw ahead of time and be generous when placing it.  Any area where
the ground is getting churned up can be made safer by covering the area with
straw.  This also will reduce the damage to the grounds.  Remove the straw
at the end of the trial as part of your cleanup.

2) Equipment
a) bring plenty of old towels to wipe equipment with.  Don't leave the towels where the wind can flap them and attract the dogs.
b) bring tarps to provide walls for your tents and/or to lay over the prize and raffle tables.
c) bring soft lead pencils for writing on wet paper
d) make or buy "tents" for your scribes' clipboards.  These should be waterproof and large enough to fit a hand with writing implement.

B) Wind
a) have stuff to secure your paper with.  Lots of variety is good.  Bring rocks, extra clipboards, binder clips, and large envelopes.

C) Sun
a) Bright sun can cause stopwatches to become difficult to read.  Bring extra stopwatches and when one gets so faded that it's useless, get another and put the first in the shade.  That first one can probably be used again later in the trial. Donna Sapp