Sat 18 Jun 2022, Hethe

Levels 3 & 5: Judges - L3 Grahame Godby & L5 Susan Benson

Hethe Village Hall, Hardwick Road, Hethe, OX27 8EY

Start: L3 – 9am & L5 – 1pm
Entry Fees: £29 per dog.
Contact: Heather Donnelly heather.donnelly6@btinternet.com

Trial Manager and Judges Reports

Many thanks to Heather for inviting me to judge the level 3. Many congratulation to Lynne and Alize on their win, clean sweep and achieving excellent in level 3. Overall there was a very high standard of dog and handler.

We started with table and chair with gun oil on a chair and a clove target, low to the ground, on a table leg on the perimeter. It was the cloves target that proved the more difficult with handlers failing to ensure their dogs fully investigated the table in the perimeter search. Only 3 teams found both targets.

We moved outside, in light rain, for the vehicle search. The teams had one car and and a wall to search with a clove target on the wall and gun oil on the car. Again the clove target proved to be the more difficult. A number of dogs indicated on a drainpipe which was 9 – 12 inches away from the target. This made me wonder if the dogs and handlers were expecting a drainpipe hide. The grass also was a distraction to some dogs and the handlers had to work hard keeping their dogs searching.

Moving back inside for boxes and luggage, the targets were on two boxes. Both boxes were close to each other and it was interesting to see that when one target was found the handers did not return to the same area.

This is such an easy sport when you are stood on the sidelines and know were the targets are!

Back out into the drizzle for the final search. Gun oil on the toolbox and cloves on a terracotta pot. Brecon, finishing with a third place, was put though some “are you sure” reinforcement as she had thrown a couple of wrong alerts. The wrong calls were a shame, for Brecon, as after the first round I had her down as the favourite for first place. However, it was Alize who shone though and rightly won the day. Which just goes to show methodical searching, finding all targets, can and will win. A well deserved second place for Melinda and Lady. With Sarah and Loxy in forth.

I had a very enjoyable day and my thanks to Lynda who scribed for me. I do hope you all enjoyed the trial and got something out of the day. My thanks to you all.

Best wishes
Graham

I was invited to judge level 5 by Heather today and what a trial. For me it was Labrador Heaven. I have never seen so many labs in one trial. There were other breeds too and it was a pleasure and privilege to meet and judge them all.
We started off with 6 scents in the main body of the hall. The majority of teams didn’t find this too challenging.
By the time we were ready for the second search, which was the exterior it was raining. We put 2 scents outside and although most got the one hidden under the step the one hidden in the door caught several teams out. For the last search we put 4 inside the bathrooms and the store room. Some dogs were concerned about small areas others just went for it.
Overall a very good trial with good results.
1. Helen and Skyler
2. Lena and Angel
3. Joanne and Cora
4. Christine and Indy
5. Kim and Maximus
6. Vicky and Dexter

Well done to you all, looking forward to meeting you as you go into the next level
Thankyou to Heather for running a well organised and friendly trial.
Last but not least Yaz for being such an efficient scribe.

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