Preliminary Final Sheet

There seems to be a misconception among some of our ring clerks concerning the purpose of the preliminary final sheet and the process of when to take it to the master clerk. Here are the appropriate passages from the Clerking Manual:

"As the judge makes his oral announcements and hangs the rosettes, the clerk checks what the judge says against what is marked on the rosette/ribbon and then marks his catalog finals sheet accordingly. When the finals are completed, the judge will give the clerk all copies of their breed and final sheets to check for accuracy. The clerk must immediately check the breed and final sheets for errors, resolve any differences, initial the sheet, and forward them to the Master Clerk for verification/certification and Master Clerk signature."

Unfortunately, there is no mention of the preliminary final sheet. This area of the manual needs to be updated before the next release to include this very important piece of paper.

When a judge presents her final, the clerk records the final in two places: on the final sheet in the back of the catalog as stated in the manual and on the preliminary final sheet. At the end of the final, the clerk must take the preliminary final sheet to the master clerk. This should be immediate - when the judge hangs the last rosette and the clerk records the cat's number in both places, the clerk should get up right then and take the preliminary final sheet to the master clerk.

When the judge finishes filling out the judge's final sheet, the judge hands this to the ring clerk and the ring clerk compares the numbers on the judge's sheet to the numbers recorded in the clerk's catalog on the finals sheet. Herein lies the problem - some ring clerks hold onto the preliminary final sheet to use it to check the judge's final sheet. This is not the correct procedure. The ring clerk is supposed to use the results recorded on the finals sheet in the clerk's catalog, not the preliminary final sheet.

The purpose of the preliminary final sheet is to give the master clerk the judge's final to check for mechanics prior to getting the judge's final sheet. If all goes well, the master clerk gets the preliminary final sheet, checks it, posts it, and then some time later when the judge is finished with her final sheet, all the master clerk has to do is compare the judge's sheet to the posted finals. The mechanics will already be checked and the process goes much quicker.

At the end of a show, the judges want to get checked out as quickly as possible. They don't want to see master clerks still processing their class judging sheets or fussing around with paperwork that could have been done earlier. They want to hand their final sheet to the master clerk, have the master clerk compare it to the posted finals, and then get their pink copy and go. But if the master clerk has not posted the finals, the judge has to wait. The master clerk has to have the preliminary final sheet to post the final, so the master clerk is stuck waiting on the ring clerk. If the ring clerk is holding onto one or multiple preliminary final sheets, it takes much longer to check out a judge who is most likely standing there drumming her fingers on the table waiting.

Please remember - the preliminary final sheet is for the master clerk, it is not for the ring clerk to use to check the judge's final sheet. The master clerk needs the preliminary final sheet to check the final for mechanics and post the final. This makes checking the judge out at the end of the show go much faster, makes judges happier, and keeps the peace in Dodge.