Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Correcting Errors
Do you check your show report and legs as soon as you get them in the mail? You should. Errors do happen and the sooner they are caught, the easier they are to correct.
I just got a show report today. Everything was in order except that one leg was missing. I've made the mistake in the past of not jumping right on the problem and never got that leg. So I emailed the show secretary today, explained what had happened and requested that the leg be sent. I'm sure there will be no problem. The show secretary still has show information. The club is required to keep it for six months.
Another time, two of my does placed in the top of the class. One was BOS. When the judge got to the end, he decided to call out the first place rabbit's ear number first. The table writer missed that and got them reversed. I heard him do that and remembered the order distinctly because the #2 rabbit had been BOB the week before so I told her that she'd had her turn (you do talk to your rabbits, right?). Anyway, because they were both my rabbits and because I had nothing but my own recollection to go on, I decided not to say anything about it. I figured both does would grand.
Wrongo. The doe that got the leg in error died. If I had only spoken up right away, the living doe would have gotten the leg and been able to use it.
Since that time, I've seen things written down incorrectly several times at the show table. Things are noisy. Ear numbers are similar. Not every judge makes it crystal clear when they decide to change the order of things.
[I wrote for a judge the other day that was so good at that, by the way. He stopped and made a big deal out of the fact that he would be calling out the first place rabbit's number before the second place. It would be nice if they all did not.]
Because things can happen, I do try to keep an eye on what is being written down. It's so much easier to correct when the judge still has the first place rabbit on the table! Next week, and a few hundred rabbits later, that judge may have no clue whatsoever.
If you care about sweepstakes points, you should also keep a record of those. Then, check them against the show reports. Sometimes, there will be a small difference such as the number in the class. I might argue that not every show secretary knows which DQs reduce the class size and which don't, but usually there are not enough points different to be worth the discussion. So, just like adjusting your checking account by 6 cents instead of spending hours looking for the error, I just adjust my spreadsheet. If my points come out to be vastly different than the club's at the end of the year, I will have all of my documentation available to help correct the problem.
I've had a few problems with my Grand Champion Certificates and registration certificates. By and large, they are very accurate. A couple of them have had misspellings on them. All that I've needed to do is email ARBAREGISTRATION@aol.com and explain the situation. When the problem is on their end, they send a new one with no cost.
One of the rabbits that I registered for someone else ended up with wrong parents on the registration form. Looking back, I know what happened. The forms and pedigrees got jumbled up, and when they were rematched, one was matched incorrectly. Susan at ARBA has informed me that that sort of correction needs to be made immediately and involves fees and a copy of the pedigree. I need to start remind folks I register rabbits for to be sure to check their certificates as soon as they get them. Me, too. I usually look them over, but I need to be more consistent about that.
I did see once that a rabbit named D'Artagnan was misspelled on a pedigree. I didn't think much of it, until it showed up again. Duh. That problem was in the database now and it would continued to be misspelled for three generations. I learned to check the registration form and get the problem corrected right then. It's worth it.
None of these problems is difficult to correct It all boils down to paying attention, checking over paperwork, and correcting the problem immediately.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry “Home Of Grand Champions”
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design
¶ 4:20 PM
I just got a show report today. Everything was in order except that one leg was missing. I've made the mistake in the past of not jumping right on the problem and never got that leg. So I emailed the show secretary today, explained what had happened and requested that the leg be sent. I'm sure there will be no problem. The show secretary still has show information. The club is required to keep it for six months.
Another time, two of my does placed in the top of the class. One was BOS. When the judge got to the end, he decided to call out the first place rabbit's ear number first. The table writer missed that and got them reversed. I heard him do that and remembered the order distinctly because the #2 rabbit had been BOB the week before so I told her that she'd had her turn (you do talk to your rabbits, right?). Anyway, because they were both my rabbits and because I had nothing but my own recollection to go on, I decided not to say anything about it. I figured both does would grand.
Wrongo. The doe that got the leg in error died. If I had only spoken up right away, the living doe would have gotten the leg and been able to use it.
Since that time, I've seen things written down incorrectly several times at the show table. Things are noisy. Ear numbers are similar. Not every judge makes it crystal clear when they decide to change the order of things.
[I wrote for a judge the other day that was so good at that, by the way. He stopped and made a big deal out of the fact that he would be calling out the first place rabbit's number before the second place. It would be nice if they all did not.]
Because things can happen, I do try to keep an eye on what is being written down. It's so much easier to correct when the judge still has the first place rabbit on the table! Next week, and a few hundred rabbits later, that judge may have no clue whatsoever.
If you care about sweepstakes points, you should also keep a record of those. Then, check them against the show reports. Sometimes, there will be a small difference such as the number in the class. I might argue that not every show secretary knows which DQs reduce the class size and which don't, but usually there are not enough points different to be worth the discussion. So, just like adjusting your checking account by 6 cents instead of spending hours looking for the error, I just adjust my spreadsheet. If my points come out to be vastly different than the club's at the end of the year, I will have all of my documentation available to help correct the problem.
I've had a few problems with my Grand Champion Certificates and registration certificates. By and large, they are very accurate. A couple of them have had misspellings on them. All that I've needed to do is email ARBAREGISTRATION@aol.com and explain the situation. When the problem is on their end, they send a new one with no cost.
One of the rabbits that I registered for someone else ended up with wrong parents on the registration form. Looking back, I know what happened. The forms and pedigrees got jumbled up, and when they were rematched, one was matched incorrectly. Susan at ARBA has informed me that that sort of correction needs to be made immediately and involves fees and a copy of the pedigree. I need to start remind folks I register rabbits for to be sure to check their certificates as soon as they get them. Me, too. I usually look them over, but I need to be more consistent about that.
I did see once that a rabbit named D'Artagnan was misspelled on a pedigree. I didn't think much of it, until it showed up again. Duh. That problem was in the database now and it would continued to be misspelled for three generations. I learned to check the registration form and get the problem corrected right then. It's worth it.
None of these problems is difficult to correct It all boils down to paying attention, checking over paperwork, and correcting the problem immediately.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry “Home Of Grand Champions”
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design
¶ 4:20 PM
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