Judges Report for Scentwork UK level 1 Trial

First of all I would like to start off by thanking Heather Donnelly for asking me to judge the above trial, also to Kathy Killick for scribing for me and lastly to Sue & Geoff for organising the competitors and for keeping the trial flowing.

When I was asked to judge this trial I had in my head an idea of what to expect, bit of chaos, dogs trashing items and dogs leaving the search area. Well you guys proved me completely wrong.

The first search was the vehicle search, the article was hidden in the right side rear wheel under the hub cap. I was completely blown away by the dog’s ability to track to source and the impressive level of passive indications that were shown. One particular favourite indication came from Coco, handled by Peter Jeffries. This dogs indication would rival an ‘explosive dogs’ passive indication, holding just a centimetre from source and perfectly still. Very impressive. Despite the very blustery weather this search posed no real problem for any of the dogs. Some handlers had to work particularly hard to keep their dogs focused on the vehicle, but none of the handlers gave up, which was good to see.

The next search was the tables and chairs. The article was hidden on the underneath of one of the chairs at the back of the search area. Again this seemed to pose no problems to the handler or the dogs. Teddy handled by Hazel Williamson completed this search in just 6 seconds, and was fast all through the trial! Henry handled by Jackie Lawrence had decided it was more fun to play peek a boo with my feet, but Jackie never gave up and skilfully turned him round back to the job in hand and he was successful in his search. Smartie handled by Emma Conslick, got right in to the job at hand and was so enthusiastic that he weaved his line around the chairs, Emma handled this marvellously by releasing him from the line, which then allowed him the freedom to get his nose straight on the article. Again both dogs and handlers took this search in their stride.

Next was the exterior search, the article was placed between 2 flower pots and the competitors had the choice of knowing which 3 items the article could be on. Edith handled by Julie Cox was quite a shy dog in her searches and Julie was working really hard on building her confidence, so when Edith indicated on the flower pots she wasn’t convinced her handler knew she was indicating, as Julie went to move on Edith pounced on the flower pots, making us all jump, but proving she knew what her job was and went off with a cheeky glint in her eye. Another team I was impressed by was Val Russell and Del, they worked the search areas as team, moving from item to item together. Del was successful in all her searches and was a real credit to Val. A special mention goes to Lynne Baseley and Lucy, Lucy is a very reactive dog to both people and dogs and we put in special measures to escort her into and out of search areas safely. When it came time for their turn in the exterior search, the field next door just exploded with activity! A man, 2 dogs, a ball thrower and a dog whistle was the first distraction Lynne and Lucy had to contend with. Then a family erupted from the play area, children running everywhere including trying to put hands in people’s cars while the parents just watched, it was absolute carnage. Lucy was quite stressed as you can imagine. The search was stopped and restarted when it was quieter but proved too much for Lucy. However she regained her confidence enough to complete the last search on the boxes and luggage, showing us the fabulous search dog she had been all day and going on to qualify. Well done guys.

So to the last search, the boxes and luggage. Dana handled by Cath Seddon had worked so hard all afternoon getting Dana to engage in the search areas, Dana hadn’t made it easy. But performed brilliantly in the boxes and luggage, Dana appeared to get a ‘second wind’ and was off. Straight to the box, made a very clear indication and refused to move from it until Cath called it. What a fabulous pair. Another team to watch for the future is Diesel handled by Dawn Jenkins. This dog loves Scentwork and approached every search with enthusiasm, he was fast and accurate. When it came to the boxes and luggage he threw himself into the search, but when he didn’t find it first off, he wasn’t put off, he slowed himself down and did a systematic search of every item until he was successful. What an awesome dog. Ann Tucker with Oscar the tenacious terrier worked so hard all trial with him, he definitely wasn’t going to make her job easy but she handled him in a quite patient manner which is a credit to her.

So on conclusion, I had a great afternoon judging you guys. For level 1 dogs they were a pleasure to watch work, and you all did fantastic on your handling skills. When things didn’t quite go to plan, you each showed a great level of sportsmanship which will stand you well in the future. I’m quite positive you will all be successful in your Scentwork UK Journeys, and I hope to see you again in the future. Well done everyone.

Ali Brannen

Level 3 Judges Report

Thank you to Ali Brannen and Sue Gardner for scribing, and Liz for judging with me. Also thank you to Sue and Geof Dixon, and of course Heather for running and organising. It certainly all went very smoothly, with level 3 finishing an amazing 2 hour ahead of time (unheard of!). There were 15 competeitiors, and it certainly was a close competition.

It was lovely to see some golden oldies (Butty and Foxy) having a run. They certainly looked like they enjoyed themselves and both qualified. I would also like to give a happy well done for those competitors who were particularly nervous. As judges we can always see this, and can see how nerves change what we do and the split second decisions we make in the ring (because we do it too). So well done for working through the nerves and all qualifying! I won’t name you individually but you know who you are. I was also impressed with how you were all demonstrating that you knew your dogs individually, and knew how to work them through certain issues, ignore false alerts and when to listen to them. This is what handling is all about. Well done to Kathy Killick with Rowan, Kate Osborn with Kiwi, Harry Latusek with Rosie and Charles Roberts with Skye for getting placed. But well done to you all for qualifying. There was only one clean sweep so this was a fair test, and you all did really well.