Level 1
1st Denise Pile & Butty – 100
2nd Sally Wynes & Asher – 99.75
3rd Margery Grant & Alfred – 99.75
4th Adele Cole & Keisha – 99.75
5th Mary Hyde & Bramble – 99.25
6th Monique Moore & Chester – 97.75
7th Peter Grant & Hector – 96
8th Sally Bennett & Ruby – 73.5
Level 3
1st Mick Hawkins & Cookie – 98.25
2nd Lindsay Gilmore & Stanley – 98.25
3rd Ren Glass & Dudley – 97.75
4th Julie Greenough & Ben – 96.25
5th Lindsay Gilmore & Hector – 87
6th Pippa Bentham & Billie – 77.75
7th Nyah Gallini-Poole & Delilah – 73.75
We had two levels today and decided to run them individually starting with the level 1.
Despite the earlier than usual start we were ready to go at 0900 hrs, the weather was clear and after the judges briefing the competitors were ready for the off.
Our judge Christine Gregory and I set up the first task for our level 1, the vehicle. Scent was placed and cooked and the first dog team were at the start, here we go!
A lovely search by Margery and Alfred with a lovely freeze indication from Alfred got their trial off to a great start. Apart from some handler nerves creeping in all the teams worked well.
Boxes and luggage was next and with handler and dog teams now settled all teams were hitting the hide with some nice searches from Denise with Butty and Adele and Keisha.
The outside article search was next, again with some nice searches from Sally with Asher and Monique and Chester.
We finished off our level 1 Trial with the table and chairs. Sally B with Ruby finally got the indication she had been looking for and was very happy that she and Ruby had qualified (not realising she only needed 3 out of the 4 to qualify it was a nice surprise).
After a quick break we started with the level 3.
Again, we set off with a vehicle search. All dog and handler teams found both scents with some good handling skills on display, there were some nerves but on the whole these were put to one side. Hector, the first of the two Hungarian Vizsla’s, caught the wind and pulled Lindsay onto the first scent with determination and made a solid find on the second, well handled Lindsay.
Nyah sympathetically handled her Cockerpoo Delilah and Mick with Cookie also had a nice search.
The table and chairs were next with some excellent finds from Ren with Dudley and Julie with Ben.
The outside article search proved to be the test of the day with a nice hide in a step ladder which proved problematic for some teams and certainly made all the teams work hard.
We finished off the day with boxes and luggage with both scents on bags.
All dogs and handlers did very well and our day was concluded.
Thank you very much to Christine Gregory for travelling to Lords Hill to judge for us and for her professionalism and positive feedback. Thank you to Pippa for scribing in the level 1 and to Adele who very kindly took on the scribe’s role at short notice for the level 3.
I would like to thank all the competitors for their courage and for taking the plunge into the world of trials. All showed some great skills during the trial. Well done and congratulations to all of you.
Also thanks to all the bakers who as always provided us with some very tasty fare.
Rick Burgess
Trial Manager
Thank you Scentwork Wessex for the invitation to judge Level1 & 3. Kate and Rick organised everything brilliantly, making sure that my first appointment ran very smoothly. Thanks too, Pippa and Adele, my scribes for the day.
Some general observations.
It was lovely to see the enthusiasm and confidence of the dogs and for those where scentwork may not be their game of choice, I was pleased to see how sympathetically they were handled by their owners.
The searches in Level 1 were of a high quality, there was little for the handlers to do other tag along for the ride. The dogs are ready to move on, the handlers should be proud of their achievement and continue to develop their handling skills. In Level 3 one of the hides in Exterior proved problematic. I felt that the dogs may have been better helped if the handlers had been able to direct the search more precisely. Take the time to praise your dogs, you may not want to leave the area but a few heartfelt thanks wouldn’t go amiss. Almost all the Indications involved interaction with the hide and there was only one classic “freeze” indication.
Some comments about my winners.
Level 1
1st Denise and Butty. Well worth the journey Denise. Handling complimented the dog perfectly and Butty was efficient and precise, one of the few at any level that started to search at the nearest object. My notes for the final exercise, Table and Chairs, says “sniff, sniff, sniff, done!” and that really sums up Butty’s work throughout.
Level 3
1st Mick and Cookie. I have hardly any notes on Cookie and perhaps that is because he does nothing flamboyantly, yet does a brilliant job, there is no waste of time or energy. Lovely! I do on Mick though, “slow down!” I know that time is a factor but Cookie doesn’t waste any, so you don’t need to rush and you will compliment him so much better.
Some standout moments.
Margery and Alfred, 10 months old energetic but with the self control to present a lovely “freeze” indication, The only dog to do so.
Lindsey and her vizlas, nice piece of handling, demonstrating a great transition from the Table and Chairs to Perimeter. It was only time that denied Stanley 1st place.
“Pippa and Billie, Pippa recognised that Billie was getting stressed and called a halt. Well done Pippa.
Julie and Ben, Ben finally worked his way to the tricky hide in Exterior only for Julie to try and pull him off, only momentarily, but Ben held his ground and Julie realised her mistake. Well done team!
I really enjoyed my day, thank you all for being good sports and good luck for your future trials.
| A/F = Alert Find | H = Handling | T = Time (seconds) | |||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | 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 | |||
| 1st | Denise Pile – Butty | 20 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 5 | 16 | 20 | 5 | 18 | 20 | 5 | 18 | 100 | 61 | ||
| 2nd | Sally Wynes – Asher | 20 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 4.75 | 25 | 20 | 5 | 24 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 99.75 | 72 | ||
| 3rd | Margery Grant – Alfred | 20 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 4.75 | 61 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 99.75 | 96 | ||
| 4th | Adele Cole – Keisha | 20 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 5 | 19 | 20 | 4.75 | 67 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 99.75 | 104 | ||
| 5th | Mary Hyde – Bramble | 20 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 4.75 | 19 | 20 | 4.5 | 22 | 20 | 5 | 28 | 99.25 | 79 | ||
| 6th | Monique Moore – Chester | 20 | 4.5 | 15 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 4.25 | 32 | 20 | 4 | 48 | 97.75 | 108 | ||
| 7th | Peter Grant – Hector | 20 | 4.25 | 25 | 20 | 3.5 | 87 | 20 | 4 | 59 | 20 | 4.25 | 38 | 96 | 209 | ||
| 8th | Sally Bennett – Ruby | 20 | 4.75 | 7 | 20 | 3.5 | 111 | 0 | 3 | 180 | 20 | 2.25 | 71 | 73.5 | 369 | ||
| Level 3 | 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 | |||
| 1st | Mick Hawkins – Cookie | 20 | 4.5 | 70 | 20 | 4.25 | 151 | 20 | 4.75 | 26 | 20 | 4.75 | 46 | 98.25 | 293 | ||
| 2nd | Lindsay Gilmore – Stanley | 20 | 4.5 | 85 | 20 | 5 | 89 | 20 | 4.25 | 139 | 20 | 4.5 | 97 | 98.25 | 410 | ||
| 3rd | Ren Glass – Dudley | 20 | 5 | 61 | 20 | 3.75 | 285 | 20 | 4.25 | 58 | 20 | 4.75 | 32 | 97.75 | 436 | ||
| 4th | Julie Greenough – Ben | 20 | 3.25 | 90 | 20 | 3.75 | 154 | 20 | 4.5 | 58 | 20 | 4.75 | 34 | 96.25 | 336 | ||
| 5th | Lindsay Gilmore – Hector | 20 | 4.5 | 88 | 10 | 3.75 | 300 | 20 | 4 | 52 | 20 | 4.75 | 40 | 87 | 480 | ||
| 6th | Pippa Bentham – Billie | 10 | 4 | 143 | 20 | 4.5 | 81 | 20 | 5 | 97 | 10 | 4.25 | 92 | 77.75 | 413 | ||
| 7th | Nyah Gallini-Poole – Delilah | 10 | 2.5 | 88 | 10 | 2.5 | 300 | 20 | 4 | 111 | 20 | 4.75 | 80 | 73.75 | 579 | ||