Supervising a Supervised Apprentice

Once an apprentice has been approved for Supervised Judging, your role changes substantially.

The apprentice should now be doing the judging.

The Supervised Apprentice should be responsible for:

Course setting.
Managing the search.
Timing.
Scoring.
Recognizing deductions.
Applying deductions.
Making calls.
Making judging decisions.
Communicating appropriately with exhibitors and trial personnel.

Your job is no longer to demonstrate how you judge every run.

Your job is to observe how the apprentice judges.

Let the Apprentice Make Decisions

This can be difficult for experienced judges.

You may see something and immediately know what you would do.

Give the apprentice an opportunity to get there.

When practical, ask:

“What did you see?”

or:

“What do you think applies?”

or:

“How are you scoring that?”

A particularly valuable response from a Supervised Apprentice is:

“This is what I observed. I believe this rule applies, and this is how I’m scoring it.”

That demonstrates much more readiness than:

“What should I do?”

Supervision Does Not Mean Taking Over

A Supervised Apprentice cannot demonstrate readiness for independent judging if the Judge of Record performs the difficult parts of the job for them.

Avoid routinely:

Making their calls.
Running their stopwatch.
Determining their deductions.
Telling them the score.
Directing every course-setting decision.
Immediately answering every difficult situation before they have considered it.
Effectively judging the class while the apprentice records your decisions.

If this is happening, the apprentice is functionally still shadowing.

Supervised judging should allow the apprentice to demonstrate judgment—not simply follow instructions.

Direct and Indirect Supervision

Supervision does not necessarily need to look identical for every apprentice or every assignment.

A newly approved Supervised Apprentice may benefit from very close observation.

As competency develops, greater independence may be appropriate.

Direct Supervision

You may remain physically present and closely observe the apprentice throughout the assignment.

Indirect Supervision

An experienced Supervised Apprentice may be able to perform portions of the assignment with greater independence while you remain available and provide appropriate oversight.

The goal is to provide enough supervision to protect the event while allowing enough independence to evaluate the apprentice.

When Should the Judge of Record Intervene?

Giving an apprentice independence does not mean allowing a preventable problem to continue.

The Judge of Record should intervene when necessary for matters such as:

Dog safety.
Quarry safety or welfare.
Exhibitor safety.
Significant rule violations.
Course compliance.
Significant scoring or procedural errors.
Fairness to competitors.
Integrity of the trial.

Intervention should also become education.

Once the immediate issue has been addressed, discuss it with the apprentice.

Ask:

What happened?

What did you observe?

At what point did you recognize the problem?

What rule applied?

What could you do differently next time?

The goal isn’t merely to fix that run.

It’s to prepare the apprentice to recognize and manage the situation independently in the future.

Your Feedback Matters

A Judge of Record supervising an apprentice is in a unique position to observe skills that cannot always be measured by the number of runs completed.

You may observe an apprentice’s:

Rule knowledge.
Course-setting ability.
Timing and scoring.
Ability to watch the entire team.
Application of deductions.
Decision-making.
Confidence.
Willingness to ask appropriate questions.
Safety awareness.
Communication.
Professionalism.
Response to feedback.

Your feedback helps NASDA evaluate whether the apprentice is ready for greater independence.

Completing the Runs Is Not the Same as Being Ready

A supervising Judge of Record should not feel obligated to indicate that an apprentice is ready for advancement simply because the apprentice has completed the required assignment.

If you believe an apprentice needs additional experience, say so when NASDA requests your assessment.

This is not a punishment.

It does not mean the apprentice has failed.

It means the educational process has identified an area that would benefit from additional development before greater judging independence is granted.

Conversely, meaningful positive feedback is valuable too.

If an apprentice demonstrates excellent judgment, course-setting ability, professionalism, or independence, that information helps NASDA evaluate readiness as well.

The purpose of feedback is an accurate assessment—not automatic advancement.

Mentor Without Creating a Clone

Experienced judges develop their own rhythm, communication style, and methods for managing a search.

Your apprentice does not need to become an exact copy of you.

There may be more than one appropriate way to:

Position yourself.
Organize equipment.
Conduct a briefing.
Manage a search.
Communicate with exhibitors.
Design a compliant course.

Focus your mentoring on:

Rules. Safety. Fairness. Consistency. Appropriate course design. Sound judgment. Professionalism.

Allow the apprentice to develop an effective judging style within those boundaries.

Your Role Changes With the Apprentice

	Shadow Apprentice	Supervised Apprentice
Who judges?	Judge of Record	Apprentice
Who officially times?	Judge of Record	Apprentice
Who officially scores?	Judge of Record	Apprentice
Course setting	Teach and involve	Review and supervise
Decision-making	Explain your decisions	Allow apprentice to make decisions
Your primary role	Judge + Teacher	Observer + Mentor
Intervention	You are the official judge	When necessary for safety, rules, fairness or trial integrity

A Good Supervising Judge Asks Questions

Rather than always providing the answer, try questions such as:

“What did you see?”

“What deduction do you think applies?”

“Why did you choose that score?”

“Show me where the rule supports that decision.”

“What would you do if I weren’t standing here?”

That last question may be the most important.

Because ultimately, the purpose of supervised judging is to answer:

Is this person becoming prepared to judge without me?