Sun 8th Jul 2018, Brogborough

Levels 1 & 5
Judges: Nigel Wilkes & Tina Schuster
Level 1

1st Lorraine Waters – Alf :- 100
2nd Samatha Lovejoy- Teddy :- 100
3rd Julia Reeves – Dandy :- 100
4th Gloria Bonnell – Dylan :- 99.75
5th Jean Tuc – Zack :- 99.5
6th Helen Pye – Chester :- 99
7th Beverley Buckner – Teddy :- 98.75
8th Denis Layton – Ruff :- 98.5
9th Niki Irving – Mutley :- 80
10th Christine Layton – Soul :- 80
11th Nic Christie – Kimi :- 79.75
12th Harold Latusek – Zack :- 79.75
13th Heather Bhasin – Georgie :- 79.5

Level 5

1st Becky Harris – Flossie :- 130
2nd Sue Abbott-Dixon – Halle :- 129
3rd Julia Edwards – Jade :- 128
4th Nikki Ingliss – Elli :- 117
5th Tracey Briggs – Hardy :- 108.5
6th Nicola Davis – Acer :- 107
7th Geof Dixon – Bug :- 107
8th Liz Prmerod – Archie :- 98

Another fabulous Scentwork UK trial.   It is always so lovely to be able to watch such talented dogs and their handlers performing such great searches.   Especially as the weather was really hot today.

The venue does provide a lot of trees and plenty of shady areas so no dogs were sitting out in the hot sun.  I provided a paddling pool and a gazebo to help with cooling the dogs.    A lot of dogs made use of the lovely cool water.

A massive thank you to both judges Nigel Wilkes and Tina Schuster who both did a fabulous job.  Also great thank you to Nicki who scribed all day and to Geof who  helped with the running duties, and provided lunch for us all.  Of course to Sue Abbott-Dixon as well who always helps.

We cannot put these trials on with out help so it is always a pleasure to be able to thank them properly.

A great day for level 1 people who seem to get better and better.  Some coming a great distance.    I was especially pleased to be able to award Lorraine Waters and Alf their level 1 excellent rosette.  Just two trials to achieve this.  Very well done.

Level 5 in the afternoon proved to be very challenging but all stepped up and did some amazing searches inside and out.

Until the next time…..

Thank you to everyone from Marianne x x

Tina Schuster

After having had to cancel our last judging “promise” due to snow, we finally manged to make good and judge a trial for Marianne in Brogborough. With shade for the competitors and a paddling pool for the dogs, we were well prepared for the weather and started the L1 outside searches on the car (before it (the car) got too hot). Some of the dogs struggled “going to source” with the scent being “whirled around” in the breeze and by the time we did the competitors’ second dogs, it was so hot that Sam’s Kipper decided to lie in the shade of the car and refused to move (or search)! We then moved to the exterior search, where all competitors took advantage of the “3 potential items” help. It was lovely to see how all of them managed to keep their dogs working – despite the noise (bottle bank and barking dogs), heat and other distractions – especially Christine and Soul! Thanks to yet another lovely lunch provided by Sue and Geoff, we started the L5 replenished and I judged the outside search, while Nigel conducted Interior 1 in the hall. It was great seeing the work ethic of all the L5 dogs and the pairs truly working as “teams”. I certainly learned a lot from their handling – I am not sure “we” (Timon and I) would have worked that well! It was quite daunting judging my peers, thank you all for being so kind to me and well done to all!

Nigel Wilkes

It was an early start for Tina and I as we were judging the Level 1 and 5 trials for Marianne and on top of that we had to go close to Silverstone where the GP was on so we knew the traffic would be heavy.

On getting to the Village Hall Marianne and Nicki were busy getting everything ready and quite a few of the competitors were already there and waiting to start. Tina and I discussed with Marianne what was happening and Tina would judge both outside searches and I would do the inside.

There were 23 teams so we knew it was going to be a hard morning. Tina and I gave a quick brief of what was going to happen and we got under way. I hid the scent on the chair towards the front and the first three teams that came in all failed as they indicated on the chair next to where the scent was. I was very pleased when the next team found it very quickly. I do think that some of the handlers jumped in to quickly when their dog was only investigating and not indicating. You could see that some of the teams were experienced whilst others were only doing their first trial.

There was a very good mixture of breeds and it was fascinating to see them work. We then went onto the boxes and Luggage and the hide this time was at the back in a small case.  Most of the dogs found the hide although again some handlers called the ‘Alert’ when their dogs were only  being inquisitive, but this will improve with experience.

Two dogs stood out for me in the morning session Muttley and Alf with Alf winning and it was well deserved. Also I have to mention Lorraine and Chester. Unfortunately prior to the start of the trial Chester was injured when he and another dog were trying to catch a ball and after 2 of the searches Chester seized up and did not want to put weight on his injured leg so Lorraine had know option but to withdraw him from the trial, which was a pity as she may have got her Excellent award if she had a good trial.

The Afternoon session started about 30 minutes late and we were to have 10 teams, but unfortunately 1 team did not arrive. Tina again did the exterior search so I did the interior and as  I have seen most of the dogs work before and I knew that the result would be close as they were all very good teams.

I set up the search in the hall with 3 hide’s one on the arm of a chair, another on a radiator and the third low to the ground by the double swing doors. The teams soon got into this and I thought maybe I had made them too easy. A few of the teams however, made the error of convincing the dog that the hide was on the small table next to the chair instead of waiting till their dog had actually found the scent.

The second interior search was a little harder as I thought we needed to set a tougher search as the teams were so evenly matched. The first hide was behind the bookcase, with the next hide in the kitchen door low to the bottom which did cause quite a few dogs to pick this up. The next hide was in the bucket with 2 in the Disabled toilet. This did prove to be a more difficult search with only a few teams finding all five.

The teams really worked well with Flossie and Becky being deserved winners but all teams should be proud of how their dogs worked on such a hot day.

I would like to thank Marianne as well as Nicki who was my scribe for the day and did such a wonderful job.

A/F = Alert Find H = Handling T = Time (seconds)
  Tables & Chairs Exterior Search Vehicle Search Boxes & Luggage Totals
Handler & Dog A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T A/F H T Marks Time
1 Lorraine Waters – Alf 20 5 12 20 5 6 20 5 9 20 5 30 100 57
2 Samatha Lovejoy- Teddy 20 5 27 20 5 23 20 5 20 20 5 35 100 105
3 Julia Reeves – Dandy 20 5 23 20 5 30 20 5 35 20 5 40 100 128
4 Gloria Bonnell – Dylan 20 5 11 20 5 63 20 5 25 20 4.75 60 99.75 159
5 Jean Tuc – Zac 20 5 21 20 5 16 20 4.5 54 20 5 78 99.5 169
6 Helen Pye – Chester 20 4.75 55 20 4.5 84 20 5 27 20 4.75 88 99 254
7 Beverley Buckner – Teddy 20 5 40 20 4.5 61 20 4.5 50 20 4.75 70 98.75 221
8 Denis Layton – Ruff 20 4 60 20 4.75 106 20 5 44 20 4.75 176 98.5 386
9 Niki Irving – Mutley 0 5 15 20 5 62 20 5 23 20 5 8 80 108
10 Christine Layton – Soul 0 5 31 20 5 40 20 5 37 20 5 58 80 166
11 Nic Christie – Kimi 20 5 10 20 4.75 18 20 5 26 0 5 18 79.75 72
12 Harold Latusek – Zack 20 4.75 78 20 5 92 0 5 170 20 5 87 79.75 427
13 Heather Bhasin – Georgie 0 4.75 28 20 5 28 20 4.75 150 20 5 21 79.5 227
Interior Search 1 Interior Search 2 Exterior Search Totals
No of items 3 Time allowed 3 mins No of items 5 Time allowed 5 mins No of items 4 Time allowed 4 mins P+B-D = Points + Bonus – Deductions
Handler & Dog WA P B D T WA P B D T WA P B D T WA P B D P+B-D Time
1 Becky Harris – Flossie 0 30 10 0 68 0 50 10 0 200 0 30 0 0 240 0 110 20 0 130 508
2 Sue Abbott-Dixon – Halle 0 30 10 0 113 1 40 0 1 300 0 40 10 0 239 1 110 20 1 129 652
3 Julia Edwards – Jade 0 30 10 1 103 0 50 10 1 300 1 30 0 0 240 1 110 20 2 128 643
4 Nikki Ingliss – Elli 0 30 10 1 74 2 30 0 1 300 0 40 10 1 213 2 100 20 3 117 587
5 Tracey Briggs – Hardy 1 30 10 0 200 1 40 0 1 300 0 30 0 0.5 240 2 100 10 1.5 108.5 740
6 Nicola Davis – Acer 0 30 10 0 72 2 40 0 1 285 1 30 0 2 240 3 100 10 3 107 597
7 Geof Dixon – Bug 0 30 10 0 112 0 40 0 1 300 0 30 0 2 240 0 100 10 3 107 652
8 Liz Ormerod – Archie 0 30 10 1 200 1 40 0 1 298 0 20 0 0 240 1 90 10 2 98 738

Brogborough Village Hall, Ridgeway Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK43 0YA

9.30AM – 5PM
Entry Fees: £21 per dog, Capped at 20 handlers.
Contact: Marianne Tembey Tel: 07949 786255
Download entry form to book a place.