Level 5

Thank you to Jackie for asking me to Judge – always great fun to set some challenges for the 5+s ! Terry was great at getting everyone where they were meant to be and all the competitors who made it great fun.

I had been watching the weather for 24 hours to see if there was a way to avoid the rain and after a quick recce of the venue I decided on a slightly different split for the finds.
We made a good call with the exterior, and having started that first we missed the deluges that came down about 20 mins after we moved indoors!

Exterior. – 2 finds – 3 mins

A fun wall with some good features a couple of doors and a small enclosed area at one end…. and I ignored it all and put two finds on the vehicle (transit van)!
One under the back drivers side tyre (GO) and the second on the front grill (Clove).
All the dogs found the clove and 1/2 managed the GO although all picked it up. I think the combination of a floor find and both finds on the vehicle with such an inviting wall was the cause of the confusion.

Interior 1 – 4 finds – 4 mins
This was a nice large village hall and I gave the teams 3/4 of it to search. I placed a few chairs in the centre and one of each side, but otherwise just left the hall as it was.
One find placed in a door frame in the top left corner (GO)
Second in a crease on the front of the stage, close to the right corner of the area (C)
Third on a metal clip on the floor, a couple of feet away from the chairs in the centre (C)
Fourth on a chair, just inside the cones by the entrance to the search area (GO)
5/6 teams completed this search gaining all 4 finds, just a couple of random WAs.
Sadly Oddbod decided that the floor was particularly scary and could not focus on sniffing and placing his feet at the same time.

Interior 2 – 6 finds – 6 mins.
This was a bit of a challenge in itself, I am not sure any of the teams had come across a split like this. So a 6 min search area was a bit of a mental test for them before they had contemplated anything else!
The area comprised of an entrance hall area, a disabled toilet and a decent size side room with some stacks of chairs and tables.
Moving in a clockwise direction
First – in the door frame close to the beginning of the search area (C) (5/6 correct) I am not sure anyone achieved this find first, but the dogs worked into it nicely once they had settled into the area.
Second – The hinge on the open door to the toilet (C) (6/6 correct) this was a nice find, the dogs caught it from both sides and I accepted that quite happily, the dogs worked into it very well.
Third – Corner of the door mat by the entrance door (GO) (4/6) this was a tricky little find. Quite close to the previous find, and in a little corner created by the open door. The dogs had to be pushed into the area and not get sucked back to the previous find.
Fourth – On a chair in the corner of the foyer (GO) (3/6 – although should have been 4!!) This find was harder than I expected, I think the area became quite overwhelming for many and they just lost track of where they were, so when it came to knowing what to send the dog back to, they were really not sure where they had been.
This created 4 finds in the foyer area leaving 2 in the other room, this uneven distribution Also caused a bit of confusion I think.
The final two finds were placed in the next room,
Fifth – On the corner of the skirting board just passed the door (C) (5/6) This was a nice open find which the dogs tracked into very well, catching it under the stacks of chairs and working into it with confidence.
Sixth – under a table and the end of a line of them (GO) (6/6) this was a beautiful find to watch the dogs catch. They all worked it really nicely and it was a great natural height for them all to hit it very comfortably.

I really enjoyed watching all the teams work the areas and seeing how they all approached the challenges.

Special mention has to go to Andy and Honey who won the trial with a perfect score. I know Honeys background and thinking about where she came from and what she achieved today really does make me well up. Andy worked her so calmly and allowed her to really show what she is capable of.
Where some of the dogs (and handlers) started to find the final area a bit much, she really came into her own, gaining more and more confidence with each find she got! Beautiful to watch.

Very proud of the others for all your achievements big or small, Oddbod who managed to come back in on his last search and gain some confidence back, Chase for Q’ing for the first time, Dexter on getting a perfect Score, and Bertie for coping with the indoors, and Pippie for coming out and working after a morning in the car while her Mum judged the L1s!
Great work guys!!