The AKC Tracking Regulations allow test-giving clubs an option of allowing bitches in season to participate in tracking tests. If a club decides to allow them, the club must state in their premium list that “bitches in season may participate.”
It is up to the entrant to notify the test secretary that their bitch is in season. The test secretary will notify the judges before the draw for running order. If there are more than one bitch in season, a draw will be held to determine their running order. The last track(s) will be reserved for the bitch in season.
Ok, but what if the judges were not at their daily limit and they have plotted and laid an alternate track that might be available for titling? When does the bitch in season run then?
The answer is that she runs the last regular track… before the alternate track is run.
The alternate track is to be used, first and foremost, to replace a track that has become invalidated. The alternate track does not become available as an “extra” titling track until all of the dogs that were “in” the test have been judged. It is altogether possible that the alternate track may have to be utilized to replace an unusable track for the bitch in season. So, the bitch in season runs the last regular track and if that last track is not invalidated, the first alternate exhibitor may run the alternate track for titling afterward.
It is also important to give the exhibitor with the bitch in season specific instructions as to where to park, where to exercise the dog and to ensure that the bitch in season is not on the tracking field until the judges indicate that she should be brought to the start.
Happy Tracking!