Thankyou Nigel for allowing me to judge this level 1 and 4 with my lovely co judge on the day,Tina Schuster.
It was my first time back in Daglingworth for a few years,but just as I remembered,a lovely little quint Cotswold village.
The rear car park/ waiting area provided a beautiful sun trap for the contestants.
I elected to judge the interior searches in level 1,swapping over in the afternoon to the exterior searches in level 4.
A white dog was used prior to the commencement of all searches.
Tables/Chairs
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This was set up in the normal square surrounded by 8 chairs.The scent,as required was hidden under one of the chairs,which was subsequently placed at its furthermost point from the start.
12 of the 13 teams had no problem,finding this with ease.Some excellent searching by the majority.6 of the teams doing so in under 22 seconds..
Leading the way in 11 secs was Paula and Merrijazz,our eventual winner on the day.Excellent displays also by Karen and Trouble, Claire and Flake,and Philomena and Crisp.
My heart went out to Ann and Zigi,nervous wasn’t the word.So we had a little chat,and a verse of shake rattle and roll to settle Ann down,who I’m glad to say successfully completed the task.

Boxes/Luggage
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I laid out some 14 boxes/ luggage,placing the scent cloth in the buckle of a briefcase,siting this to the left hand side of the search area.
I’m pleased to say all 13 teams were successful in finding the scent.
It appeared to be another race between the teams,I’m sure someone out in the car park was laying bets….
Paula and Merrijazz,needless to say,7 seconds…Again we had six teams completing the teams in under 22 seconds…
It goes without saying the dogs knew their task on the day, and this obviously is down to the handlers and their training methods.
Well done Ann and Steel,Ann showing nerves of Steel, waiting until Steel returned to the scented item,and gave a positive indication..
We had 7 clean sweeps,with rosettes all being decided on time.
It was a pleasure to judge this level one trial,some lovely teams of the future.
I wish you all good luck ,and hopefully our paths will cross again at some time in the future

Following a nice lunch break it was on to level 4 in the afternoon,my scribe Gloria Bonnel remained with me during the afternoon.I Thankyou for doing a wonderful job.

Vehicle/Wall
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This search was set up on the wall at the side of the building,some 30 meters in length.Several items were laid out along the bottom of the wall,which contained,drain pipes,drain hole covers and several window ledges.
I chose to hide the cloves and gun oil scents underneath two window ledges,1.9 meters apart,or 6’ in old money.
Of the 8 teams competing,7 successfully found both,although a few looked a little unsure when calling,but thankfully put their faith in their dogs,and were duly rewarded.
Lovely methodical searches by Rachel and Topic,Robin and Rodney and Fiona and Theo.

Exterior
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14 items were laid out at the front of the building,in a pebbled/gravelled area,surrounded by a beautiful Cotswold stone wall.The scents were concealed in the handle of a household fire extinguisher,and the handle of a set of vehicle jump leads.These being sited front left and rear centre of the search area.The distraction scents of coffee and almond were both contained within household fire alarms and placed amongst the articles.
5 of the 8 teams worked well and found both,2 with finding 1.
Again Rachel and Topic, along with Bobby and Bella and Christine and Indy were a pleasure to watch.Lovely teamwork Ladies.
Unfortunately the 2 well established trees ,situated in the centre of the search area,proved to much of a temptation for a couple of the dogs on the day.
Overall it was a lovely display of teamwork by the majority,and for those that weren’t quite on form….Remember ….”Every Dog Has It’s Day”…

It was a lovely spring morning when I got to Daglingworth for the Level 1 trial at 8:30. We started the briefing on time and there were a number of teams who had never done a trial before. Harry and I decided I would start with the outside searches, while he was doing the inside. I used the back of the hall for the wall search first and all teams found the hide under the second window sill with mostly no problem. Sean and Fleur, who didn’t pass their trial demonstrated what a difference an experienced handler makes, by closely monitoring their dog and taking note of any change in body language and “guessing” the right place for the hide. We then did the exterior items on the driveway with everyone (apart from Sean and Fleur) finding the scent in the cable reel. Even though I moved the search to the easier surface of driveway, a couple of dogs were distracted and it took some effort from the handlers to get their dogs working. Well done Anne, who got Steel to work through the temptations of.. Well life 🙂

For the first time ever (or so it seemed) we actually were ahead of time and had an early lunchbreak for Level 4 to start at 12. With 2 teams missing, due to traffic/sat nav misguidance, we started on time and the 2 teams “slotted in” when they arrived. I was doing the inside searches this time and started with Tables, Chairs and Perimeter. All 4 scents (2 distractions and gloves/gun oil) were on the perimeter objects, which threw some teams! It transpired that some dogs like the smell of coffee (which was in a cabinet) and some were not recognising the gun oil (in a gtech hoover). I was pleased though that most teams found both scents, with some handlers (Elainne) second guessing that “one scent has to be on the chairs”… finally trusting her dog on the second perimeter item. We then did boxes an luggage, with both scents hidden in luggage and where Vanilla proofed to be more enticing than coffee! Evie decided to pull the glove swatch out and again, it was the gun oil that dogs struggled with more.

I would like to thank Clare for staying and scribing for me in the afternoon – not to mention the washing up and tidying up – highly appreciated. Thank you all for making this a lovely – quick – day!