The schedule itself will generally list all the breeds by category in one section and tell the ring time and ring number. In another section, you can look for the ring number and the time to see if there are any other breeds before yours. They are usually listed about every hour or so depending on the breeds and the numbers entered. You can usually figure 3 minutes per dog entered, but always be on time, in case of absentees!
For example: Your schedule says your breed is in Ring 1 at 9 AM. You look at the Ring 1 schedule and it has 11 Collies(Rough) listed before your breed. You can figure that judging will take about 30 minutes before your breed. ***Breeds cannot be judged before their stated time, ie 9 AM on this day for you. Perhaps on the second day your ring is #3 and your starting time is 1:15 PM. You look at ring 3 and see that your breed is first one up at 1:15PM, so you know you must be there a few minutes early.
You must allow time to go to the ring, check in with the ring stewart, get your armband number ( your number comes with your judging schedule.) and put it on before going into the ring.
The judging schedule will also have information as to the number of dogs of your breed and the breakdown.....ie let's say you see the following:
12 Rhodesian Ridgebacks 4-3-4-1 The numbers after the breed name are the number of dogs, bitches, dog specials and bitch specials. Specials is a term used to denote those dogs already Champions of Record who are there to vie for Best of Breed and the right to represent the breed in it's Group.
Now all you have to do is
swallow those butterflies and go in the ring! Hmmm, this is the hardest
part on beginners!