What a lovely day to judge a Scentwork Trial! Sunny, with cloudy spells lovely helpers and competitors. When we arrived, the helpers (Sue and Jacqui) had already set up the exterior cordon and items, so all I needed was a scribe (thank you so much Michelle!) and scenting the item(s) up. After some small confusion, we started with L2s. Thanks to my runner Liz, we were moving at a quick pace and all teams did well, stepping up from L1 and continuing searching for a second item. It was lovely hearing from Deb (& Louis) that my feedback worked for her on the other searches! Glad I was able to add value. We then moved on to the L1s and all competitors took the offer up of being told which of the 3 items the scent could be hidden in. I have to admit that apart from Yvette in her early trial, I haven’t seen a handler as nervous as Lisa (& Tomba), who despite the nerves, did a lovely search. After a short break (and while the inside searches were still taking place) we moved on to L3. It was interesting to see that the gun oil (being the “newer” scent was harder for the dogs to find and unfortunately we had a number of wrong alerts. Both Maria with Flo and Alison with Peppa (who went on to win the trial) did us as their trainers proud. Well worked Maria and Flo! Moving on to the L4 searches, I decided on a tennis ball in a pouch as distraction and unfortunately, its draw was too much for a couple of dogs – sorry Anne! Lynne called the distraction as well – when Kaiser was investigating and ended up calling 2 wrong alerts, which was a real shame.

It was great seeing the teams work at the different levels – I have never judged 4 levels in a day before. Again, I wanted to recognise all the helpers that made the day run as smoothly as it could and thank you Karen for being so well “wo-manned” and for asking us to judge.

I was honoured to be asked to judge alongside Nigel, Tina and Tracey, originally, I had planned to enter Peppa in the Level 2. So, day off work booked, I drove up the M40/M42 in the sunshine.

When I arrived, I learnt I would be judging the Level 3 on some sections alongside Nigel and Tina and that Tracey was judging the Levels 1 and 2, as she was going to compete in Level 3.  Karen had an amazing team of runners, scribes and helpers so 4 Levels in one day were planned and achieved, down to Karen’s impressive logistical skills. As I had a little wait I was able to watch the competitors in the earlier levels.  It was lovely to see them progress throughout the day and relax with their dogs, it is such a lovely sport with all breeds able to take part.

My first section was the Level 3 Vehicle Search, with Karen, I quickly set up the cars, stealing one from the earlier levels, only to find a competitor had just seen that car in Level 2, so we had a swap around. Those who worked every inch of the cars found the scents easily, but as the day wore on the wind changed and made the scent swirl slightly, so it became more difficult.  It was lovely to see “Dolly” and Peter as last time we met, “Dolly” was insisting on eating stones and not playing the game, good searching throughout the day with massive improvements.  A couple of the dogs were working well and wanted to move from one car to the next quicker than their handlers, I am always told to trust your dog.

Next section was Level 3 Tables and Chairs and Perimeter, for some of the teams this was their first move up to this level and although they searched the tables and chairs well, everyone finding this scent, but they were not always as thorough on the perimeter.

Level 4 Tables and Chairs and Perimeter was next up, we decided to hide both items on the perimeter and not use the chairs, it was lovely to see the teams working together moving on once they had checked out the chairs to work the perimeter. The first item was in the door jamb.

The 2^nd scented item was in the frame by the wheel of a chair trolley placed between 2 other items on the back wall, those who found it worked the area in both directions and checked all around each item, those who didn’t almost disregarded the item as they went to more familiar hiding places, only giving it a fleeting check.

We quickly removed the items and moved on to the Level 3 Boxes and Luggage, where most people had a good quick find, and remembered the rules so worked their dogs methodically. “Flo” came into the hall playing her game of jumping around which usually means she does want to work but settled immediately to give two lovely solid indications for Maria. Roz held her nerve as “Really” {I love that name} waited to the last moment to alert on the 2^nd find, “Billy” decided to sit and wait by the cones before he got started and then had 2 positive finds with great indications,

Level 4 Boxes and Luggage includes a distraction or 2, but all the teams all worked well the only time the distraction came into play was when Deb unfortunately tripped over the box and “Belle” alerted on the next item. Zoe worked “Dexter” in a methodical pattern all day and only just missed out on first place to “Jumble” and Katrina who put in a solid performance on each section.

I would like to thank my scribes Michelle and Ellen for their patience and Jackie for acting as runner, I must say everyone was very friendly and helpful all day even when it took longer than expected.  Lastly thank you to Debbie {Karen’s sister} who made tea and coffee for everyone all day. I hope everyone went home having enjoyed their day and learnt lots, I know I did. Nikki