Judge’s report Level 1 and Level 5

The weather was perfect for the L1 and L5 trials today. It was a lovely drive down to Weedon and the sun shone all day.

Level 1, with a nice variety of dog breeds, was scheduled for the morning and there were 7 competitors. All but one of the dog teams had already done a L1 before so most of the handlers were relaxed which greatly helped their dogs. A few handlers called too early on the Bags & Boxes search which was a great shame because, when I gave them the opportunity to check the scented bag, they definitely indicated that it was there.

Winning 1st place Was Lynne & Alize who handled superbly, 2nd place went to Sarah’s Bodger who worked enthusiastically but methodically, in 3rd place was Sally’s dog Ellie who searched independently but needs a little reining in and 4th place was Jane’s Skipper who did very well despite being spooked during the car search. Well done to all the competitors and good luck for your future Scentwork journey.

There were 13 dog teams for the Level 5 in the afternoon with most of the group having already competed at this level before and the standard was high. I put 4 hides in each area and allowed a minute per find. A white dog was run before each area search.

We started with Interior 1 and I’d divided the small hall into two and this search area included the entrance lobby and a tiny kitchen. The scents were hidden on a table leg, a radiator cap, in the kitchen cupboard and under a wiring conduit. All the hides were discovered but only by half of the dogs.

The Exterior was next and the hides were under the lip of a planter, in a drain pipe, in a vent and in a hole in the wall. It was a nice contained and secure area and again half of the dogs found all of the scents.

Interior 2 was last but the adjacent hall had people arriving for a party so a small lobby and the disabled toilet had to be excluded from my planned area as they needed to be accessed by the party goers so this search proved easier for the competitors than I had anticipated resulting in almost all of the dogs finding all of the hides with relative ease.

Notables for great teamwork were Laura & Jett who came 1st. What a cracking little Cockapoo he is despite Laura describing him as psycho! Catherine’s Cael was very laid back but he certainly knew how to locate an odour and even tho
he looked like he was out for a saunter, he came 2nd! Stacey’s Belle came 3rd. This team certainly knows how to enjoy the sport, moving fast and enthusiastically. Richard’s Ziggy was 4th. He is another who works independently and efficiently.

Congratulations to all the teams. It was a long day but a pleasure to be your Judge today.

Thank you to Susanne for inviting me to judge these trials and for scribing for me all day. The current Covid situation certainly gives Trial Managers an inordinate amount of extra work. I bet you were ready for a glass of wine by the time you got home!

Karen Denton