Rule Clarification - Physical Praise in Working Level

The following is for immediate implementation:

Addition:  Upon completion of an exercise, whether successful or not, the owner may choose to briefly pet or touch the dog as a reward.  If the owner touches the dog mid exercise (for example, after the dog completes one cone in Round the Clock), the judge shall  tell the competitor to “move on” to the next attempt at the exercise or to the next exercise after the second attempt, or in Expert.

Physical praise is allowed as the teams move between exercises, for example, in the form of hand targeting.

Touching the dog to put it into a position (Sit, Down, Stand), or guiding the dog between exercises by the collar is considered to be a physical correction and will result in an NQ. This will result in the loss of all Passes already accumulated in the round.