Level 2
1 Dee Strefford & Frank – 99.8
2 Caroline McBlain & Kestrel – 99.6
3 Aldyth Kitchin & Spice – 99.4
4 Mandy Wade & Fred – 89.9
5 Lynette Waddington & Jazz – 89.8
6 Sarah Melling & Gus – 89.6
7 Julie Neale & Wren – 89.4
Level 3
1 Cath Seddon & Dana – 100
2 Sam Evans & Teddy – 99.9
3 Cath Seddon & Reaper – 99.5
4 David Barcroft & William – 98.9
5 Wendy Cook & Bandit – 90
6 Vicki Martin & Kaizer – 89.8
7 Wendy Cook & Talie – 89.7
8 Elaine Prescott & Zha Zha – 79.8
9 Gill Douglas & Root – 79.6
A very foggy damp and grey morning for the fylde coast which steadily improved as the day went on
As it was a last minute trial it was a small number of competitors but a lovely atmosphere. Jil and I spent the previous day hoovering and spraying the venue as its our clubhouse/training ground we always ensure we are contamination free. A time consuming job but its nice to see everyone having a good time on the trial day. We were lucky on this occasion to be able to have two judges and I would like to thank Cath Seddon & Alan Clancy for giving up their day for us. In the North West we do struggle to have co judging and very much appreciate their time and effort.
Unfortunately the morning was somewhat tarnished by the new gym which has opened In the adjacent yard. Despite Jil and I working 7 days a week there and never having an issue with our businesses clashing, they saved it for trials day Lots of noise from lifting huge weights outside the building combined with a tonne of testosterone resulted in a lot of noise for the dogs and handlers to work through. I know this was very testing for some dogs and I applaud all the handlers for working through this. I do apologise the highest level but unfortunately it is something that’s out of my control. I will be monitoring their weekend classes to see how we can try to work around it. However despite all this im pleased to say everyone qualified!! Everyone got all the car searches, and only two missed one an exterior search with one handlers dog definitely still investigating in an environmental manner the handler misread and called, and the second dog falsed on an item next to the correct one. So overall, well done everyone for all your hard work!
In the afternoon the weight lifters had gone home for a sleep, so we had a quiet afternoon, running both the outside searches first to ensure we didn’t miss the light. We managed to get finished, presentation completed and locked up before we were in the pitch black! Once again everyone qualified
Well done everyone, hope to see you all again soon
Felicity Ashford
Conscious of the nights closing in we started with the car search. All bar one team got both finds and there was some lovely work going on here. I do feel handlers need to be more aware of the wind however. Some handlers came out and expressed their dog wasn’t working very well, when in fact they were air scenting and working into the source. The wind was subtle and from watching how both the white dogs worked it was playing a major part for the dogs. However that said, the handlers didn’t prevent the dogs from doing their job so marks did not reflect this. The two fastest dogs out in this area were Wendy Cooks Bandit, and Elaine Prescotts Zha Zha. Flying the flag for the smaller dogs!! Excellent work!
Next up we had the exterior search, with Sam Evans Teddy completing the whole area in 23 seconds without going back to the first find! Very impressive. Wendy Cooks Talie wasn’t far behind with just a difference of 6 seconds to complete the area. The longest search was from a team who need to work on search area parameters, the barrier fencing is the edge of the search area, not the whole car park and then off round the corner into the inside building! Its such a shame as the dog knocked both finds within the first 10 seconds but the lack of control of the search resulted in 143 seconds. This dog also needs to move on from the first find, maybe the handler could block the find, as the dog returned to the first item five times.
Onto inside and the dreaded boxes and bags. I say the dreaded as its my worst area lol, but unfortunately, we had 5 false calls in this area so I cant be on my own! The fastest in this area with both finds was Sam and Teddy but losing .1 for returning to his first find. Not far behind was Cath & Dana on full handling in 51.7 seconds.
The final search area table chair and perimeter was crucial to some teams, and its nail-biting time for me as the judge too as we really would like everyone to qualify. Thankfully everyone got both finds in this area which resulted in everyone qualifying. Special shout out the Elaine for working through Zha Zha’s cheeky ‘its this one’ indications on anything to get her sausage quicker!! And to David Barcroft for the handling improvements inside and the fastest search in this area of 31.7 seconds.
First place went to Cath & Dana with 100 points who was just faultless all day. It was lovely to see as they have struggled through some difficult searches together in the past. Sam & Teddy were just .1 behind in second place, Cath & Reaper in 3rd place on 99.5 with some minor handling that will come together as he matures, and 4th place was David Barcroft with William on 98.9 who’s major improvements inside and clean sweep secured this place.
Well done everyone, until next time, happy sniffing!
| T&C - A/F | T&C - H | T&C - T | ES - A/F | ES - H | ES - T | VS - A/F | VS - H | VS - T | B&L - A/F | B&L - H | B&L - T | Marks | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A/F = Alert Find | H = Handling | T = Time (seconds) | |||||||||||||
| Tables & Chairs | Exterior Search | Vehicle Search | Boxes & Luggage | Totals | |||||||||||
| Level 2 | A/F | H | T | A/F | H | T | A/F | H | T | A/F | H | T | Marks | Time | |
| 1 | Dee Strefford & Frank | 20 | 4.9 | 89.2 | 20 | 5 | 48 | 20 | 4.9 | 116.7 | 20 | 5 | 62.8 | 99.8 | 316.7 |
| 2 | Caroline McBlain & Kestrel | 20 | 5 | 72.2 | 20 | 4.9 | 70 | 20 | 5 | 41.3 | 20 | 4.7 | 173.4 | 99.6 | 356.9 |
| 3 | Aldyth Kitchin & Spice | 20 | 5 | 25.7 | 20 | 4.9 | 51.1 | 20 | 4.8 | 291.3 | 20 | 4.7 | 122.11 | 99.4 | 490.21 |
| 4 | Mandy Wade & Fred | 20 | 5 | 53.7 | 10 | 5 | 114 | 20 | 4.9 | 112.5 | 20 | 5 | 60.3 | 89.9 | 340.5 |
| 5 | Lynette Waddington & Jazz | 20 | 5 | 103.5 | 10 | 4.9 | 21.9 | 20 | 5 | 46.6 | 20 | 4.9 | 70.1 | 89.8 | 242.1 |
| 6 | Sarah Melling & Gus | 20 | 5 | 39.5 | 20 | 4.9 | 73.4 | 20 | 4.9 | 93.4 | 10 | 4.8 | 49.7 | 89.6 | 256 |
| 7 | Julie Neale & Wren | 10 | 4.7 | 104.7 | 20 | 5 | 37.6 | 20 | 5 | 65.6 | 20 | 4.7 | 104.2 | 89.4 | 312.1 |
| Level 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Cath Seddon & Dana | 20 | 5 | 121.3 | 20 | 5 | 58.2 | 20 | 5 | 117.6 | 20 | 5 | 51.7 | 100 | 348.8 |
| 2 | Sam Evans & Teddy | 20 | 5 | 33.5 | 20 | 5 | 23 | 20 | 5 | 59.4 | 20 | 4.9 | 46.7 | 99.9 | 162.6 |
| 3 | Cath Seddon & Reaper | 20 | 4.9 | 46.5 | 20 | 5 | 78.4 | 20 | 4.9 | 74.2 | 20 | 4.7 | 110.4 | 99.5 | 309.5 |
| 4 | David Barcroft & William | 20 | 5 | 31.7 | 20 | 4.5 | 143 | 20 | 4.5 | 105.6 | 20 | 4.9 | 87.4 | 98.9 | 367.7 |
| 5 | Wendy Cook & Bandit | 20 | 5 | 149.6 | 20 | 5 | 42.8 | 20 | 5 | 48 | 10 | 5 | 86.6 | 90 | 327 |
| 6 | Vicki Martin & Kaizer | 20 | 5 | 41.2 | 20 | 5 | 73.2 | 20 | 4.9 | 53.7 | 10 | 4.9 | 73.1 | 89.8 | 241.2 |
| 7 | Wendy Cook & Talie | 20 | 5 | 51 | 20 | 5 | 29 | 20 | 5 | 70.6 | 10 | 4.7 | 120.9 | 89.7 | 271.5 |
| 8 | Elaine Prescott & Zha Zha | 20 | 4.9 | 110.5 | 10 | 4.9 | 88.7 | 20 | 5 | 48 | 10 | 5 | 102.8 | 79.8 | 350 |
| 9 | Gill Douglas & Root | 20 | 5 | 24.4 | 20 | 5 | 33.9 | 10 | 4.9 | 40.4 | 10 | 4.7 | 104.2 | 79.6 | 202.9 |