Ali Brannen

First off I would like to thank Marianne Tembey for asking me to judge at this trial, also thanks to Helen Kennedy for scribing for me. It was a lovely day for a trial, everyone seemed to be on good form so after the Judges briefing we cracked on with the searches.

We started with an interior search, the hides (from left to right) were a dado rail, a box of videos, the pipe of a fire extinguisher, a stack of tables and a gap in the floor by a skirting board. I put out a few distracting items, such as a trio of chairs and 2 shopping bags in the middle of the room, along with 2 coats hanging around the room. 4/11 teams found all 5 hides, 2/11 found 4 hides, 3/11 found 3 hides, and 2/11 found 2 hides. The most commonly missed hide was the skirting board closely followed by the dado rail.

Next was the exterior search. The first hide was in the rubber seal of a drain pipe at the start of the search, followed by a crack in the wall, next was another rubber seal on a drain pipe and the last hide was in a gap in an air brick. 7/11 teams found all 4 hides, 2/11 found 3, and 2/11 found 2 hides. This proved pretty easy for most teams and there were some super quick searches from some teams.

Then on to the last interior search which consisted of a foyer, corridor and disabled toilet. The scents were hidden in the leg of a display board in the foyer, at the back of the toilet seat and lastly in a plug socket. 4/11 teams found all 3 hides, 3/11 found 2, 3/11 found 1 and 1/11 found 0 hides. The most commonly missed hide in this area was the plug socket.

So on to the teams:-

Wendy & Quincy = They make a really great team and Quincy is certainly a little character. He was so certain in the exterior search that he towed Wendy around the area proving he really has got a great nose and knows his job. A well-earned 3rd place for these guys.

Chris & Bailey Boo = Again a lovely team. Chris handles Bailey really calmly even when he’s shouting at her and always manages to get him to settle and carry on searching. Again he did a lovely job in the searches, and when settled he is a very accurate dog. 6th place earned for this team.

Helen & Nellie = Cracking little dog and Helen is a wonderful handler. They make a great team and work really well together. This dog works calmly and knows its job well, showing some lovely clear indications and handled the search areas brilliantly. Landing them in 2nd Place.

Jennie & Reo = Another good team here. Reo makes Scentwork look easy, he covers the areas well and in a nice calm fashion. On the first interior search, they had found 4 hides and just as Jennie was about to give up and turned her back on him, he wandered off and alerted on the last hide without her literally just as the timer went. Definitely a heart in the mouth moment. 5th place for this team.

Heather & Timmy = Timmy is another little character and at times makes Heather work quite hard during searching. Heather manages him well and was able to redirect him when he got distracted. Again some lovely indications, he’s a boy that knows the job but doesn’t always make it easy. Some good handling on Heathers part.

Sue & Hallie = Hallie is such a lovely dog, full of enthusiasm and I’m sure would work all day given half the chance. She has a lovely passive indication and has really learned to focus on the job in hand. Sue handles her beautifully. They really are a lovely team to watch and have a great working relationship.

Dolores & Gypsy = Gypsy is another enthusiastic dog and again Dolores handles that enthusiasm well. She was accurate in all her searches, with a good indication. Although in the exterior search Gypsy found a stick and decided that was a much better game than this Scentwork malarkey. Again I think this dog would search all day given the chance. A 4th place for this team.

Kathy & Star = These 2 work well together, with lots of encouragement from Kathy when Star seemed to struggle. Star is a quiet soul and Kathy handles her with patience and calmness, which really helps to focus Star back on the job at hand.

Jeni & Sully = Another great show of teamwork. Sully is an amazing search dog that just doesn’t give up. He was wonderfully accurate and made the searches seem easy. When Jeni got stuck on the last interior search, the shout from Helen of half time seemed to break Jeni from her trance (Probably too much sun from judging on Saturday), and again Sully showed just what he can do, putting him in first place.

Annette & Disney = The bond between these two is clearly evident from the way Disney works. He has really improved since I last saw him and showed a good level of independence in his searches. He really is a happy boy, even doing a circuit of the first interior search. He also did a fabulous job on the exterior search moving with speed and a great level of accuracy. Cracking little dog.

Yaz & Banjo = Banjo is a real sweet soul, although spooked himself in the first interior search on the floor which seemed to knock him off his stride. Yaz handled him well and even when he was unfocused she worked really hard to get him back to the job at hand staying calm and patient throughout.

On conclusion some lovely searches, great handling and really lovely indications. All competitors stayed positive throughout even when things didn’t go as planned. Well done everyone on all your hard work. I look forward to seeing you in the future.

A white dog was used in all searches.