Sun 06 Aug 2017, Daglingworth

Levels 1, 2 & 3 Judge: Karen Kendall
Level 1

1st Yvette Preston & Anya
2nd Tina Schuster & Breezer
3rd Clive Everest & Mitch
4th Lyn Bowers & Foxy
5th Sharon Smith & Inca
6th Helen Soper & Sweep
7th Chris Gregory & Dilly
8th Tracey Alker & Billy

Level 2

1st Helen Soper & Trek
2nd Pippa Bentham & Billy
3rd Pippa Bentham & Becky
4th Lynne Humphries & Wotton
5th Tina Schuster & Timon
6th Lyn Bowers & Chubey
7th Chris Ovenden & Buster

Level 3

1st Laura Ward & Ollie
2nd David Ewers & Nikan
3rd Sue Abbott-Dixon & Halle
4th Geof Dixon & Bug

I would like to thank Nigel for inviting me to judge the Daglingworth Trial. This was the first time I had been asked to judge Levels 1,2 and 3 on the same day, but Nigel had an excellent plan for the order of the exercises so I felt confident all would be well. In the event, I thoroughly enjoyed the day and my job was made easier by the excellent preparation and organisation by Nigel and team, which kept everything flowing nicely. Weather conditions were perfect, with a cool summer day, slight breeze and some sunshine.

First to arrive were the Level 3 Handlers and their dogs. We got underway with the vehicle search while the car park was fairly empty. Two scented articles (one cloves and the other gun oil) were hidden: one in the boot seam of a car and the other hidden behind a wheel cover on the car next door, with the decoy vehicle at one end. All dogs found the two articles in around 2 or 2.5 minutes, except for Ollie and Laura who steamed in with a time of well under one minute for both finds! Geoff and Bug worked nicely and methodically to finish in a good time. There were a few minor handling marks lost by nervous handlers through blocking the dog or moving the dog off the scent.

The exterior search caused a few problems for one or two, with interesting smells blowing in from the cow’s field next door. There were some wrong alerts but nothing the handlers could do as the dogs clearly alerted. Also, some handlers had difficulty calling their dog away from the first find, which unlike Level 2 was left in situ. Great finds from Ollie again, but Sue and Halle were quick too.

Inside now for tables, chairs and perimeter searches. There were interesting scent pictures in the room because of the drafts from the open door and the patio doors in the wall directly opposite. Berit and Saphie worked really well to get two very quick finds. David and Nikan worked methodically and found both scents very smartly. Then it was onto the last search, the one some handlers dread (but their dogs love), boxes and luggage. Sue was delighted with Halle who found both scents and didn’t so much as dent a box, and there was another quick search from Ollie and Laura. This was the last exercise, and there were a couple of false alerts, but some dogs seemed pretty tired by this point.

Congratulations to the well-deserved winners Ollie and Laura for their faultless work.

It was straight on with the level 2s, exercises done in the same order. Six out of the eight dogs successfully found both hides on the vehicles. Helen and Trek were just ahead of Pat and Arthur and  Lynne and Wotton with methodical and speedy searches and finds. Excellent work from these three. Well done to Chris who told me she realised she had started the clockwise search with her dog on the wrong side (her left side), but nerves had got the better of her at that point. However she got herself together and she and Buster went on to get both finds in a good time.

Exterior searches went well for most with both articles found easily. There was a nice breeze at this point which helped. Excellent focus from Timen handled by Tina with quick finds in 28 seconds. Lynne and Wotton were very close again with 2 excellent finds.

The inside searches caused a few problems with some dogs calling wrong alerts after repeated requests to search particular items by their handlers. There was a lot of air movement in this room and alerts were called on the chair next to the scent in some instances. Timen and Trek did some very quick, accurate searches with their handlers allowing them to work independently. A pleasure to watch these dogs. Most of the dogs were very tired by the time they did the last exercise, boxes and luggage.  Helen and Trek, Lyn and Chuby and Pippa and Billy all had plenty left in the tank and successfully found both hides in good times. Well deserved winners were Helen and Trek with an almost perfect performance.

Finally, it was the turn of the Level 1 dogs and handlers to see what they could do. I saw some fantastic work with clean sweeps for most, which made it very close between them all. Winners Yvette and Anna were well deserved with a faultless performance and very quick times on their first outing. Helen and little Sweep put in a great performance with some cracking times, as did Clive and Mitch with brilliant vehicle and boxes and luggage searches. Well done to all for qualifying and kindly accepting my decisions. I look forward to seeing you again before too long.

Karen Kendall

Daglingworth Trial Level 1, 2 and 3 on 6th August 2017

When I woke on Sunday morning I had expected rain, but was pleasantly surprised to find Mist, which I hoped meant that we would have sunshine instead of rain and luckily this proved to be the case!

I arrived at the Hall to set up at 8.30, knowing that our Judge for the day Karen Kendall was also aiming to be there at that time.

I had organised the trial in a way that the three levels where staggered throughout the day, so that there was not a lot of waiting around for handlers and especially their dogs!

We started on Level 3 and Karen wanted to start on the Vehicle Search, then Exterior Search so that when the other levels arrived they we had cleared these search areas and the items could be used again. Tina Scribed for this and Chris chased up the dogs and owners to ensure that events were kept moving. The trial started at 9.30 and all did very well with 4 out of the 5 passing. The Winning duo of Laura and Ollie were outstanding

The Level 2 competitors started to arrive around 10.30 and as Tina was running Timon a change of Scribe was needed and this was taken on by Berit who enjoys getting involved and helping out. Also as Chris was running Buster, Kate who had initially come with Rick to see the Level 3 Trial volunteered to round people up! We commenced just after 11.15 after Karen had briefed everybody and all dogs and handlers performed very well and Kate made sure everybody was prepared as not to waste time. The winner of Level 2 was Helen and Trek, who with Pippa and Billy got Excellence Rossettes.

The Level 1 Trial started a little later than I anticipated, but with the dogs and handlers performing so well, we had the trial finished by 4.30 and everybody was on their way home. The winner of this being Yvette and Anya with 100 points who performed brilliantly as Yvette was so nervous when arriving! The next 5 dogs all got 99.75 and places were decided on time.

I would again like to thank Karen for the way she judged all 3 trials and how she made everybody relaxed as well as giving positive feedback to handlers. Karen also did some good hides which made the more experienced handlers have to trust their dogs more.

Also I would like to give my thanks to what I call  The Three Musketeers, Tina, Berit and Chris for tidying up whilst I took photos and saw off the competitors. It was a very enjoyable day with hopefully happy competitors and a very relieved Trials manager!

Level 1 A/F = Alert Find H = Handling T = Time (seconds)
Tables & Chairs Exterior Search Vehicle Search Boxes & Luggage Totals
Name of Handler & Dog A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T Marks Time
1 Yvette – Anya 20 5 16 20 5 25 20 5 23 20 5 35 100 99
2 Tina – Breezer 20 5 11 20 5 8 20 5 16 20 4.75 32 99.75 67
3 Clive – Mitch 20 4.75 32 20 5 39 20 5 32 20 5 45 99.75 148
4 Lyn – Foxy 20 4.75 75 20 5 20 20 5 54 20 5 22 99.75 171
5 Helen – Sweep 20 5 37 20 5 46 20 4.75 132 20 5 34 99.75 249
6 Chris – Dilly 20 5 26 20 4.75 96 20 4.75 68 20 5 18 99.5 208
7 Sharon – Inca 20 5 21 20 4.75 82 20 5 57 20 5 31 99.75 191
8 Tracey – Billy 20 4.5 83 20 4.75 74 20 4.75 134 0 5 164 79 455
Level 2 A/F = Alert Find H = Handling T = Time (seconds)
Tables & Chairs Exterior Search Vehicle Search Boxes & Luggage Totals
Name of Handler & Dog A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T Marks Time
1 Helen – Trek 20 5 52 20 4.75 61 20 5 39 20 4.75 95 99.5 247
2 Pippa – Billy 20 5 82 20 4.75 39 10 4.75 74 20 5 82 89.5 277
3 Pippa – Becky 20 4.75 64 20 5 60 20 5 96 10 4.75 71 89.5 291
4 Lynne – Wotton 20 5 71 20 4.75 34 20 4.75 83 0 5 119 79.5 307
5 Tina – Timon 10 4.75 265 20 5 28 20 5 31 10 4.75 79 79.5 403
6 Lyn – Chubey 10 4.75 95 20 4.75 93 10 4.75 124 20 5 197 79.25 509
7 Chris – Buster 20 4.5 72 20 4.75 99 10 4.75 55 10 4.75 93 78.75 319
Level 3 A/F = Alert Find H = Handling T = Time (seconds)
Tables & Chairs Exterior Search Vehicle Search Boxes & Luggage Totals
Name of Handler & Dog A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T Marks Time
1 Laura – Ollie 20 4.75 79 20 4.75 45 20 5 44 20 5 43 99.5 211
2 David – Nikan 20 5 101 10 5 90 20 4.75 200 20 5 41 89.75 432
3 Sue – Halle 10 5 51 20 4.75 45 20 5 99 20 4.5 111 89.25 306
4 Geof – Bug 20 4.5 132 20 4.75 75 20 4.75 90 10 4.75 107 88.75 404