Daglingworth, Cirencester, GL7 7AE
Start: 9.15
Entry Fees: £25.00 per dog.
Contact: Nigel Wilkes nigelawilkes@hotmail.com
Trial Manager and Judges Reports
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Sat 26 Jun 2021, Daglingworth
Level 7: Judge - Tina Schuster
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Today started quite dull as Tina and I made our way to Daglingworth Village hall for the Level 7 Trial. We arrived early and Tina set about looking at the search areas for the day. Teams soon started to arrive and at 9 am Tina in her German manner of making sure everything was running like clock work gave a briefing. She then set up the first search in the Main hall where 3 hides were hidden. I for once was also the scribe for Tina so actually saw the dogs work for a change.
The first search I am sure the handlers were feeling despondent as there were only a few that found two, the rest only one. The second search was outside where five hides were and the teams improved where 3 or 4 fines were made. We went into the final search with at least 2 being in a position to qualify unfortunately at the end of the trial we had no qualifiers although all of the teams worked really well and should be proud of their dogs as they worked really hard.
This was the first time that I have run a trial that we have had no qualifiers, which was a shame as all the hides were found in each search by different dogs which meant that they were all gettable.
I would like to thank Tina for Judging and all the teams for attending and hope you enjoyed the day even though you may of left dissapointed.
I started the Judges briefing by saying that I was nearly as nervous as the competitors and was hoping to make the day a pleasurable experience.
I showed the competitors all 3 search areas and bang on time, after running the white dog, we were off.
Interior 1 was the big hall, with only 3 hides and a table and chairs set up in the middle. The hides were
– Small wooden box under table at edge of room (truffle)
– Under table leg (cloves)
– On skirting board (gun oil)
With a decoy on the table in the middle of the room (which no-one called). All hides were found by at least one dog, with the most finds called being 2 out of the 3. It was interesting to see how the dogs were spending a lot of time searching chairs.
Exterior was next – out in the front. There were 5 hides in the search area, with most teams calling 4:
– Under bench leg (cloves)
– Dry stone wall low (gun oil)
– Dry stone wall high (truffle)
– Stone in corner (cloves)
– Tree (gun oil)
There was a decoy in a metal tow bar attachment (debris), which Balian alerted on. Again, all hides were found by a dog and kudos for Helen (and Chip) for having the confidence to (wrongly) call clear.
Interior 2 had 4 hides, which would have allowed 4 teams to pass if they had found them all. The search area was the hallway and disabled toilet. The hides were
– Disabled arm (gun oil)
– Radiator (cloves)
– Corner (truffle)
– Coat in hallway (truffle)
Karen and Jinxs, who was working her socks off in that search, found all and called it. Unfortunately, they did not reach the 9 finds threshold.
It was very interesting to see how different dogs did not strongly identify the truffle oil and how the scent travelled from the coat in the hallway. At this high level, handlers make a lot of assumptions and expect number of hides in certain sized rooms, and having 3 in the toilet/the large room compared to 1 in the hallway lead to handlers dismissing smaller spaces and over-searching/detailing in larger areas.
It was disappointing not to see a single team pass, and I am grateful to the positivity displayed by all competitors. It was great watching all the teams work and thank you for a lovely “day out”!