Sat 15th Sep 2018, Effingham

Level 1: Judge - Heather Donnelly

1st Jane – Febe :- 100
2nd Deborah – Magic :- 100
3rd Lara – Callie :- 99.85
4th Raymond – Dylan :- 99.75
5th Lindsey – Chip :- 99.75
6th Emily – Rio :- 99.75
7th Jane – Frank :- 99.5
8th Marie – Uberty :- 99.35
9th Jo – Tinker :- 98
10th Lindsay – Cypher :- 80
11th Sally – Toff :- 79.75
12th Rose – Nyanga :- 79.5
13th Pauline – Jack :- 79.5
14th James – Meeka :- 78.75
15th Richard – Ziggy :- 78.5
16th Jo – Pixie :- 78.5
17th Clare – Ruby :- 78

My thanks to Sarah Roche & Carol Ashworth for inviting me to judge at their first L1 open trial. Sarah & Carol had run a few ‘Closed’ trials previously which seemed to be a perfect way of putting their newby’s through the experience of a ‘Scentwork UK’ trial. Because of this it seemed that a lot of the competitors were not quite so nervous and really knew what to expect. This was an extremely well organised trial and having an experienced scribe, ‘Lyn Bowers’ also helped in making this a most successful day.

I started with the table & chair search and we saw some super quick finds with Lindsay Cypher achieving this in 14 seconds and Lara & Callie in 15 seconds who carried on in this way going on to gaining a third place. Well done.

We then went outside for the vehicle search and I was most impressed by how focused most of the dogs were with distant football games and dog walkers even when a couple of dog walkers walked right past the orange barrier fencing with their dogs. Again some really speedy positive ‘alerts’ from Sally & Taff, Lindsey & Chip a rather talented greyhound, both in 10 sec, Jane & Febe, who went on to get a well deserved win, in 15 secs and Raymond & Dylan in 20 secs who also came 4th.

After a super spot of lunch ably prepared by Stewart we started with the dreaded boxes & luggage search. Unfortunately we lost quite a few competitors here although all the false alerts happened on different items. However Jane worked the area well encouraging her GSD Frank to search whilst he was nervous of the slippery floor and Rose & Nyanga kept their cool as they needed success in this search and the next to qualify which they did. So well done Rose for keeping it all together.

Last up was the ‘Exterior Search’ and about half of the competitors decided to take up the challenge of not knowing which of the 3 items the scented was hidden on. Again some super speedy searches with Deborah & Magic calling the ‘alert’ in 12 secs and then going on to gaining a well deserved 2nd place.

Probably the most humorous moment was when James’s Meeka took rather a likening to a piece of luggage and decided to shove it with her nose out of the search area. Unfortunately James incorrectly called this items but Meeka was terribly convincing!

So the judging and the presentation was all done and dusted by 5pm and this only leaves me to further thank Stewart, Carol, Sarah & Lyn for all your hard work both before and during the trial.

A/F = Alert Find H = Handling T = Time (seconds)
  Tables & Chairs Exterior Search Vehicle Search Boxes & Luggage Totals
Name of Handler & Dog A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T Marks Time
1 Jane – Febe 20 5 25 20 5 15 20 5 11 20 5 23 100 74
2 Deborah – Magic 20 5 39 20 5 35 20 5 12 20 5 21 100 107
3 Lara – Callie 20 5 15 20 5 19 20 5 26 20 4.85 24 99.85 84
4 Raymond – Dylan 20 5 27 20 4.75 20 20 5 25 20 5 20 99.75 92
5 Lindsey – Chip 20 4.75 76 20 5 10 20 5 32 20 5 12 99.75 130
6 Emily – Rio 20 4.75 40 20 5 29 20 5 46 20 5 51 99.75 166
7 Jane – Frank 20 4.75 39 20 5 27 20 4.75 93 20 5 50 99.5 209
8 Marie – Uberty 20 4.75 19 20 4.85 15 20 4.75 26 20 5 26 99.35 86
9 Jo – Tinker 20 4.5 62 20 4.5 35 20 4.5 63 20 4.5 146 98 306
10 Lindsay – Cypher 20 5 14 20 5 17 20 5 18 0 5 9 80 58
11 Sally – Toff 20 5 57 20 5 10 20 4.75 39 0 5 20 79.75 126
12 Rose – Nyanga 0 5 20 20 5 24 20 4.5 38 20 5 60 79.5 142
13 Pauline – Jack 20 5 49 20 4.5 44 20 5 25 0 5 67 79.5 185
14 James – Meeka 20 4.75 49 20 4.5 29 20 5 29 0 4.5 44 78.75 151
15 Richard – Ziggy 20 4.5 25 20 4.5 45 20 5 36 0 4.5 29 78.5 135
16 Jo – Pixie 20 5 27 20 4.75 58 20 4.75 64 0 4 64 78.5 213
17 Clare – Ruby 20 4.5 41 20 4.5 71 20 4.5 70 0 4.5 53 78 235

King George V Hall, Browns Lane, Effingham, Surrey KT24 5ND

Start time – 11am
Entry Fees: £21 per dog.
Contact: Surrey Scentwork 01932 640096
Download Entry Form to book a place.