Little Haywood is a great place for a trial and it was very well organised and run by Dolores, even though she was in pain and hobbling around with a badly swollen ankle that she had twisted the day before. I would like to say a very big thank you to Kate, who scribed and also gave lots of moral support both to myself and the competitors, and also to Carole who removed and replaced the scented items, you both made my job a lot easier.
One thing I love about the Scentwork UK trials is the level of camaraderie and support that exists between competitors and today was no exception. We had a lovely group of handlers and dogs – thank you all for your patience and for adhering to the covid rules and for coping without the usual tea and biscuits!
Watching you working with your dogs today was a real pleasure! All of the dogs were keen and raring to go and you handled them beautifully. The standard of handling throughout the trial was generally quite high, with very few handling marks being lost. The dogs knew what they were doing too and it was really interesting watching the different searching styles, from the super speedy Baxter who almost ran straight to the scent, to Mist
and Alize who systematically checked each article before deciding where it was. Indications, which can make or break a search, were generally accurate although not always obvious to those watching – it shows how well you know your dogs!
Congratulations to everyone – most people qualified and we had a high number of clean sweeps too, but a particularly big well done to Kerry and Taggy, Lynne and Alize and Elizabeth and Bonzo – you all made it look so easy.
I would also like to shout out to Mary and Baxter – he is one speedy scenter, and also to Liz and Mist – if anyone ever doubts that older dogs can participate in competitive scentwork – I shall tell them to come and watch you two work together, it’s truly inspiring!
Well done again to everyone, keep up the good work and good luck to you and your beautiful dogs in the future.