Clean Run - November 2011 - 63

Letters to the Editor
Dear Clean Run, I was sent the article “Protect the Future of our Sport, Keep it Positive.” My name is Lynda Tjarks and I have an agility production company here in Southern California. We do most of the AKC trials in Southern California. We do 60 shows a year. For 95% of them, we are hired to do everything required to put the trial on. We do all the paperwork, hire the judges, procure the site, order ribbons, take care of hospitality, bring our own equipment including tables, chairs, coffeepots anything you can think of that you need for a trial, and staff all the rings. My staff and I put together and ran that trial in your article as anyone in Southern CA can tell you from the description of the site. Though no one would have recognized us as the stewards, officials, and trial secretaries that Mrs. Somers describes in her article. The first time I read it, I was surprised. Our first priority at a show is customer service. It is one of the reasons our shows are so popular. They have a friendly atmosphere with an approachable score table where people can come ask questions, see their scribe sheet or stop and chat. So I read it again and realized that the adult novice exhibitor also has the responsibility of keeping it positive and not taking it personal. Then I read it a couple more times and wondered how it got into print, as any veteran agility person can see where the problems really lie. Mrs. Somers constantly iterates she is ridiculed and abused. Nowhere in this article is there one example of ridicule or abuse. Her only source of humiliation is that her sticker is in the Naughty Book with 40-50 other people. She feels that being in the Naughty Book is “name-calling.” She comDear Lynda, I’m sorry that you take such offense to the article. Clean Run has always allowed people to share their experiences and opinions. Neither you or your trial was identified in the article, and the article was not in any way presented as a “news story.” It was presented as the experiences of one novice competitor. It was intended to be the writer’s perception of events. I printed the article because I hear similar stories to this from novice competitors all over the country. All of us need to pay attention to how we communicate with other competitors. But people in positions of perceived power at trials need to be even more careful about attitudes because they can make the difference between someone who becomes an avid competitor and someone who never shows again.
November 11 | Clean Run

plains that there is “barking, growling and snarling” being directed at her all day. Of the three instances she mentions where this could have possibly happened, two are her fault, and one we are not sure was even someone working the trial. Will you get barked at, growled at or snarled at an agility trial? At some point, yes. If there are 200 people at a trial, at least 50% of them are having rapidly fluctuating hormones and severe temperature changes all day long. All of them are people who have all the personal problems that people have. They may not be in a place where they care what your problems are. That’s life. But at one of our shows you will never find a staff member ridiculing, humiliating, abusing or name-calling a competitor. They may be terse at times when they are busy and you may choose to take it as an insult, but that is your choice. They do their work with a good attitude and a sense of humor and are well liked and respected in the agility community. So how did this article with its half-truths, lies, and unfounded accusations of ridicule, humiliation, and abuse get published? When did a magazine know for good, solid agility journalism turn into a gossipy, unsubstantiated tabloid? Did anyone who does agility read this article before it was put in your magazine? Not only is this article offensive to myself, my staff and the Southern CA agility community in its attempt to ridicule and humiliate my staff, it does a disservice to novice competitors. It will do more to scare novices before they even get to the show than anything else besides getting on the start line. Shame on you, Clean Run. Lynda Tjarks

After I read the article, I assumed the “Naughty Book” was just a reference made up by the author to illustrate a point. I’m horrified such a thing really exists, and that a nervous novice competitor could arrive at a trial and find herself in a “Naughty Book.” We also can’t expect overwhelmed novice competitors, even if they read every detail included in the premium, to necessarily understand what is allowed and not allowed on the trial grounds. Often they will just follow what they see others do. Sometimes they need a friendly reminder. While you may have a different perception of the events, the focus of this article is for all of us to be more conscientious about how we communicate with novice competitors. Monica Percival, Editor
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Clean Run - November 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - November 2011