Daglingworth, Cirencester, GL7 7AE
Start: Level 2 9.15am Level 5 12.30 pm
Entry Fees: £25.00 per dog.
Contact: Nigel Wilkes & Tina Schuster nigelawilkes@hotmail.com
Trial Manager and Judges Reports
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Sun 26 Jun 2022, Daglingworth
Levels 2 & 5: Judges - L2 Pauline Whittaker/Nigel Wilkes, L5 Tina Schuster
I was lucky to assist judging the Level 2 trial at Daglingworth in the morning. I also had Helen as my scribe and after a briefing we started on time and the first search indoor was Boxes and Luggage I put one on a suitcase quite close to the start and the other on a box the farthest away, this normally appears to be the problem search but the teams were very good and all but one got both hides, with the fastest being Clare and Flake.
The next was the Table and Chairs with one being on a chair and the other hide on a crate on the perimeter. Only two teams failed to find both hides and both chose the floor mop under the window, however everyone qualified with the first being Helen and Maria who performed exceptionally well over all the searches, but where hard pressed by Chris and Finn and in total 10 teams got 100 points showing the calibre of the teams involved.
My thanks to Helen for scribing for me.
It was not a good start to the weekend, when our judge unfortunately had to cancel due to illness and so at the last minute Tina Schuster stood in which was a great help to me as we had 15 competitors at Level 2. I arrived around 8 am to start getting the Level 2 searches ready as well as making sure the refreshments were out and ready for the competitors who started to arrive around 8.30. Our scribe arrived but we were one short but luckily Ann stood in after running her dog in the 2 outside searches. The morning went quickly as the teams were prepared and waiting with the help, of Paula who made sure of this. We finished around 11 am and although I was able to see both interior searches in which everybody with their dogs performed very well and although some where quite nervous they held it together to qualify. Congratulations to all 15 of you as you all qualified with 10 of the teams gaining full marks of 100.
The afternoon Level 5 started on time at 1 pm and we had 9 teams ready to go Tina was judging and had Ann as her scribe. I ensured that the teams were waiting as well as entering the scores when each search had finished. I was not able to watch any of the teams although from their faces I could tell how they were doing and most came back to the car park with smiles. At the end of the trial Paula and Bonnijazz where worthy winners and also gaining their Level 5 Excellent award. We finished around 4.30 pm and I would like to thank Tina for judging all day as well as Ann who scribed for Tina and Helen who scribed for me in the morning.
Having manged to secure a second helper for the L2, we had to re-plan when our judge for the morning had to drop out last minute. Thankfully, Ann kindly agreed to “man” the stopwatch for me as soon as she had run her dog – a great relief (who would have thought that stopwatch, watching competitors, removing – and replacing – items would be so challenging!)
L2
I judged the 2 outside searches and we started with exterior items – on the driveway (instead of the dreaded gravel). The fastest team to find both items were Helen and Maria, who won the trial overall in just over 20 seconds. 2 teams struggled correctly identifying both articles (different ones), but still passed the trial.
For wall search, we used the side of the village hall wall, which took a bit longer, but all teams found both scents. Thankfully the stream next to the village hall wasn’t too much of a pull for dogs and the cows in the next field decided to stay away!
L5
We started the L5 trial on time after a quick break (of a bottle of gin) for lunch.
Interior 1 was the large hall, with 5 hidden scent. 4 teams managed to find all of them, some (smaller and large alike) struggled with clove hidden on the fire extinguisher hook (high) and interestingly different teams missed different ones. A number of (foodie) dogs were interested in the kitchen door and Robin managed to call 2 wrong alerts (one close to the hide, and one a blatant lie by Rodney). The only scent all teams found was the early GO behind the radiator.
Exterior was the front of the village hall, with 4 hides. Only Jane and Shia fell for my trap of a clove on the bench, overshadowing a GO in the tree. All other teams found all 4 hides. This time, Jo (and Cora, who was very interested in all doggy smells and ran last) called 2 wrong alerts.
Interior 2 was the hallway, where all 3 hides were in the front of the room. The GO under the table by the committee room (back) proofed challenging for some dogs, as 2 indicated at the table top. Rodney was taking Robin for a walk in the hallway – it was a long day for him 🙂
It was great to see the quality of handler/dog team – I saw some great teamwork and handling.
I would like to thank Ann for staying all day and helping with the trial! By the end of the day, she even knew that “30 second warning” meant 30 second before time is up (not 30 second into the search). Love you Ann! Thank you all for being lovely competitors and making the day enjoyable.