Judges Report

Hayley Whitaker report:
Thanks to Val for inviting me to judge alongside Sophie at this brilliant new venue – I was really impressed! Thanks also to Mandy for being a great scribe. The day started overcast but warm and I judged both outside areas – exterior items and car.
Exterior items: the odour was on the toy and the wooden Christmas tree. A lot of people found them all and there was some lovely handling on show. Those that missed one it tended to be the Christmas tree, either because they didn’t search it or the dog wasn’t settling on the odour. Working back to source will come with time and more practice, it was a warm day so the odour was very volatile. Its also worth remembering that dogs work differently in trials compared to training (just like humans). Mini Mouse took Wendy straight to both items with odour on and didn’t sniff anything else! Quite amazing. Sadie was a typical air scenter and had to check over the fence as well as the items – she knew exactly what she was doing!
Car search: The odour was on the rear passenger side wheel and almost everyone found it – some dogs in super fast times! Jane and Mabel were victims of a strong gust of wind that carried the odour through to the other rear wheel – very unlucky.
Congratulations to everyone for some great searching, and especially those that placed. I look forward to seeing you again as you continue your scentwork journey.