Sat 8th Dec 2018, Whitchurch

Levels 2 & 3: Judges - Dolores Palmer & Ellen Linley
Level 2


1st Felicity Ashford – Mr Smiths – 99.95
2nd Sara Wren – Tia – 99.15
3rd Chris Cummins – Teazel – 99
4th Collette Guy – Lola – 89.75
5th Jill Harper – Herbie – 89.7
6th Lindsey Davies – Chip – 89.55
7th Vicky Martin – Kaiser – 79.75
8th Julie Blake – Daisy – 79.55
9th Hazel Kemble – Swift – 79.5

Level 3


1st Jill Harper – Herbie – 99.8
2nd Felicity Ashford- Danni Darko – 89.9
3rd Alison Deakin – Izzie – 89.9
4th JulieRusson – Poppy – 89.9
5th Felicity Ashford – Mr Smiths – 89.8
6th Jan Martin – Amber – 89.15
7th Wendy Coulson – River – 79
8th Janet Wilkes – Jess – 78.75

Thank you to Carole Thornley for asking me to co-judge alongside Ellen Ward Lindley. It was a lovely journey through countryside to the trial and, at that point, the sun was shining. However, as we went through the day, we had mixed weather with wind and also rain.

Ellen and I quickly sorted out which searches we were going to judge for both Level 2 and 3. Thank you to my scribes Bonny & Carole and to the two runners, Trisha & Sara who kept a steady flow into the searches.

Level 2 ran in the morning. My judging started with the vehicle search. Everyone found at least one of the scents on the car, with just over half the competitors finding both scents. Unfortunately, a couple of false alerts prevented some teams from searching on to find the second scent. The competitors and dogs performed very quick searches on the cars, well done everyone. Mr. Smiths handled by Felicity Ashford did a very efficient search off lead in 41 seconds – it was a lovely search to observe. Jill Harper also worked her dog off lead but, when she saw her dog Herbie had become distracted, she placed him back on lead leading to both scents found in 59 seconds. Christine Cummins and Teasel also did a very nice search – well waited out for Teasel to ‘show you’ where the scent was on the license plate. There was some lovely sensitive handling of Lola by Collette Guy.

Having completed the vehicle search it was my turn to do an inside search – boxes and luggage. For some reason this type of search has a reputation of being more difficult than the other searches. However, half of the teams found both scents – very similar to the vehicle search.

Again, there was a couple of false alerts. This seemed to be a general problem for some teams. I am a great believer in knowing where the scent hides are in training. Once you know you can read your dog when he/she has found the scent in a trial it helps to know if/when your dog is falsely alerting so that you can ignore the split second it happens – not pay your dog any attention. Then loads of attention and food/toy play when the dog indicates on the scent.

There was some lovely searching of the boxes and luggage by the dogs. The dog that stood out for me & who also did the quickest search was Hazel Kemble’s Swift who found both scents in 38 seconds – very impressive! Felicity Ashford’s Mr. Smith also did a very quick search. The thing that surprised me was the number of people who didn’t want to come out and reward their dog after finding the first scent. However, this all made sense in the afternoon when I found I was judging many of the same dogs in Level 3.

Congratulations to all the competitors who all qualified – a very high standard of work in the searches I judged! And well done to those who had a placing.

It was mid afternoon before Level 3 searches could be started due to some hold ups in the morning. Ellen and I then discovered that one of the competitors had a second dog entered – this necessitated extra items to be scented up and a change in the objects in the searches so that it wasn’t obvious which were the scented items. Extra cars also had to be found.

This time I judged the Exterior search. Nearly every dog found both scents. There were some really quick searches! Wendy Coulson’s River found both scents in 24 seconds – what a nose! Felicity Ashford’s Danni Darko found both scents in 36 seconds – impressive! And handling was on the whole excellent. In particular Jan Martin handled her collie very sensitively, bringing the best out of her. Well done!

Then it was back inside to judge my next search, leaving Ellen to judge vehicles in the dark – fortunately there was artificial light. The dogs and handlers worked really well together on the tables/chairs and perimeter and the searches were impressive. All but one dog found both scents. There were some really quick searches! Wendy Coulson’s River completed in 37 seconds, Jill Harper and Herbie in 39 seconds & Felicity Ashford and Mr. Smith in 40 seconds.

Congratulations to Jill Harper with Herbie, a very worthy winner. Also, to Felicity Ashford who came second with Danni Darko & fifth with Mr. Smith, Alison Deakin who came third with Izzie and Julie Russon who came fourth with Poppy. Congratulations also to Jan Martin and Amber, Wendy Coulson with River and Janet Wilkes with Jess who all qualified comfortably.

T&C - A/FT&C - HT&C - TES - A/FES - HES - TVS - A/FVS - HVS - TB&L - A/FB&L - HB&L - TMarksTime
A/F = Alert FindH = HandlingT = Time (seconds)
Tables & ChairsExterior SearchVehicle SearchBoxes & LuggageTotals
Level 2A/FHTA/FHTA/FHTA/FHTMarksTime
1stFelicity Ashford – Mr Smiths2059204.9550205412054699.95146
2ndSara Wren – Tia204.5149204.7598204.9882056499.15399
3rdChris Cummins – Teazel204.5852057020593204.58199329
4thCollette Guy – Lola20564204.756720510710515189.75389
5thJill Harper – Herbie204.7543204.9534205591052489.7160
6thLindsey Davies – Chip204.7578204.9139104.9932055889.55368
7thVicky Martin – Kaiser204.7555205681057510516479.75362
8thJulie Blake – Daisy204.757120550104.8781054779.55246
9thHazel Kemble – Swift20559104.5300105672053879.5464
Level 3
1stJill Harper – Herbie2053920552204.940204.96199.8192
2ndFelicity Ashford- Danni Darko2055520536204.9661057689.9233
3rdAlison Deakin – Izzie2051011054220586204.93789.9266
4thJulieRusson – Poppy20510720584204.924210515989.9592
5thFelicity Ashford – Mr Smiths204.940204.9222205521054489.8358
6thJan Martin – Amber20571204.5213204.75116104.99689.15496
7thWendy Coulson – River2043720524105681054679175
8thJanet Wilkes – Jess20559104119204.75721056678.75316

Aricia Dog Training, Bridge farm, Alkington Road, Whitchurch, Shropshire. SY13 3NE

Start 10:00 am
Entry Fees: £20 per dog.
Contact: Carole Thornley – 01948 667413
Download Entry Form to book a place.