Judges report 12^th Nov 2017 – Tina Schuster

I couldn’t have asked for a better day when I set off for Brogborough at 7am on Sunday morning. Being full of cold and well wrapped up, including woolly hat and Nigel’s favourite winter coat, I happily volunteered to judge the outside searches. We started with Level 2 exterior search and all of the competitors did well with unfamiliar “judges items”. It was really great to see all the teams having moved on from Level 1 and the handlers keeping their dogs motivated to search on after having found the first item. We them moved on to vehicles and again most dogs excelled at the challenge of searching 3 cars instead of just the one. The team that stood out most of me was Jamie with Bear – curbing Bear’s enthusiasm and putting him to “do his job”. We then moved straight to Level 3 exterior search. Even with the same items as Level 2, nearly all competitors had issues with the items – maybe because of the wind that had picked up by then. It was heart-breaking seeing the teams struggling so much. I was hoping the vehicle search would bring some reprieve, however a number of teams called alerts at the other end of the boot sill – again the wind had whirled the scent around! I would like to call out Kat and Kula for their determination and Kat’s ability to motivate Kula!

I would also like to thank my 2 scribes, Helen and Caroline for their support and brains – when my own was still slightly befuddled with cold. Thanks to Marianne for asking me to judge and everyone behind the scenes. Well done all competitors!

Tina

Judges report 12^th Nov 2017 – Karen Denton

Thank you Marianne for asking me to judge this Level 2, 3 & 4 Trial. It was great to have Tina Schuster as my co judge for Level 2 & 3 in the morning which meant the participants didn’t have to wait as long in the cold for their turn at the exercises. Tina volunteered to judge the outside searches while I was lucky to be in the warmth of the hall. I’d like to thank the scribes who helped me during the day and these were Kathy Killick, Becky Harris , Liz Ormerod and Nicki Hetfield-Rogerson. Marianne also scribed for me in addition to running a very well organised Trial.

We had nearly a full pass rate for Level 2. Jamie & Bear took the red rosette with a full 100% – a well-deserved win even if he did like the sound
of his own very loud voice! Congratulations are in order for Annika & Rena who got their Excellence award. Well done!

Unfortunately the Level 3 folk were not so successful with only four dogs managing to achieve the points required to pass. It’s easy when you know where the scent is hidden and I was willing some folk to call the ‘alert’ when their dogs were telling them, albeit subtly in some cases, where it was. In others, I could see why the handlers called it but I was willing them not to! However, Star lived up to her name and gave Kathy 1st place, David & Nikan, Helen & Trek and Lisa & Gibbs did well coming 2nd, 3rd and 4th in what proved to be a difficult Trial for several others. Well done to you guys.

We started Level 4 after lunch and I increased the challenge by putting both the scents on the perimeter, one of which was tucked behind a door panel. For the Vehicle search both the scents were on the same car. It didn’t defeat the majority, however, and I was very impressed with the teamwork of the handlers and dogs at this Level. The distraction in the Exterior Search was a cat carrier including bedding but although the dogs gave it consideration, none were deterred by it. The distractions hidden in the Bags and Boxes search were clean socks. The dogs were very confident in their searches and the handlers were very confident at calling the ‘alert’ after many wonderful indications. All the Level 4 teams passed with some high scores. Well done Tina and Timon who’d been rather lack lustre in his white dog role in the morning so no one was more surprised than Tina when he rallied to take 1st place by late afternoon! Everyone did extremely well as
it was quite windy and getting dark and some of the dogs had been waiting since morning because their handlers were either running another dog in a previous Level or they’d volunteered to help with the running of the Trial or both!

I enjoyed the day and your company folks. Good luck in your future Trials.

Keep scenting! 😊

Karen Denton