Thursday 29th December 2016 at: Finmere Village Hall, Bucks Judges: Marney Wells & Karen Kendall
Level 1
1 Linda & Skye – 99
2 Annette & Disney – 98.75
3 Sue & Tia – 97.5
4 Lynn & Passi – 78.25
5 Jennie & Reo – 77.75
Level 5
1 Karen & Charlie – 146
2 Ali & Chase – 146
3 Katheryne & Pepper – 102
4 Karen & Zelda – 97
Level 4
1 Val & Indie – 100
2 Marianne & Kai – 100
3 Nigel & Breezer – 100
4 Ali & Maya – 100
5 Carolyn & Enzo – 97.75
6 Marianne & Merri – 88.75
7 Michelle & Myah – 78.5
8 Ann & Maisie – 78.5
9 Jennie & Tinker – 78.5
I thought that to run a couple of trials in-between Christmas and new year might prove popular. I find that most dog folk like to do something during the festive period and I proved to be right as we had 17 entries on the first day (Level 2-3) and 20 entries on the second day (Levels 1, 4 & 5).
We started this the 2nd day with two judges – Marney Wells judging L4 & 5 and Karen Kendall judging L1. This was a first and took a bit of organising but it did mean that the various levels could watch one another and no one was waiting around too long and it seemed to work quite well.
Marney judged our first group of L5’s who were our guinea pigs for a slightly different format with two indoor and one outdoor searches and a different scoring system where the competitor can earn ‘bonus points’ if they found all the scents before time. It seemed to work well with all four entries passing with Karen & Charlie the terrier coming out trumps again to win another Level yet again.
The Level 5’s finished around 11am which was perfect as the Level 1 & 4 competitors started to arrive. Both Karen Kendall and Karen Denton who had qualified in L5 were happy to stay on and judge and scribe our L1’s. Both ladies worked brilliantly as a team keeping a good steady flow of competitors with everyone passing. Winner of the L1 was Linda & Skye a veteran working bearded collie, 2nd was Annette with Disney – a Papillion and the smallest dog in the class, 3rd was Sue & Tia and 4th Lynn & Passie a successful show dog. Also a well deserved qualification to Jennie & Reo who although missed the baggage in the boxes and luggage search didn’t trash one box. Well done Jennie all your hard work paying off.
So team Marney and Liz got stuck in with the L4 table & chair searches with Tracey Alker ensuring a steady flow of competitors and who also came to cheer everyone on. The L4’s started off well with all the dogs ignoring the dog toy and scented sock decoys in the table and chair search but Raggs decided that the toy hidden in the watering can in the exterior search was just too alluring that he pushed out of the search area!. So it ended with the dreaded boxes & luggage search and several competitors still needed to find these 2 scents to qualify. I found watching this last exercise nerve wracking. Fortunately Michelle, Ann and Nicky were able to spot the difference between their dogs finding the scent and just wanting to play with the boxes which saved the day for all three who are all now looking forward to L5.
However there were some brilliant box & luggage searches from Val & Indie and Marianne and Kai coming 1st and 2nd at this Level. 3rd was Nigel & Breezer who was on good form gaining full points and the delighted Ali and Maya gaining ‘clean Sweep’s with Maya in L4 and Chase in L5. Also well done to Carolyn with both her Cockers Spaniels and Marianne her Border Collies qualifying both of their dogs.
| A/F = Alert Find | H = Handling | T = Time (seconds) | |||||||||||||||
| 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 | |||
| 1 | Linda & Skye | 20 | 4.5 | 99 | 20 | 5 | 37 | 20 | 4.5 | 53 | 20 | 5 | 200 | 99 | 389 | ||
| 2 | Annette & Disney | 20 | 5 | 31 | 20 | 4.75 | 17 | 20 | 4 | 52 | 20 | 5 | 14 | 98.75 | 114 | ||
| 3 | Sue & Tia | 20 | 3.5 | 73 | 20 | 4.75 | 29 | 20 | 4.5 | 74 | 20 | 4.75 | 96 | 97.5 | 272 | ||
| 4 | Lynn & Passi | 20 | 5 | 18 | 20 | 4.75 | 42 | 20 | 4.5 | 65 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 78.25 | 141 | ||
| 5 | Jennie & Reo | 20 | 5 | 18 | 20 | 4.75 | 23 | 20 | 5 | 58 | 0 | 3 | 128 | 77.75 | 227 | ||
| A/F = Alert Find | H = Handling | T = Time (seconds) | |||||||||||||||
| 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 | |||
| 1 | Val & Indie | 20 | 5 | 52 | 20 | 5 | 29 | 20 | 5 | 107 | 20 | 5 | 52 | 100 | 240 | ||
| 2 | Marianne & Kai | 20 | 5 | 72 | 20 | 5 | 66 | 20 | 5 | 71 | 20 | 5 | 66 | 100 | 275 | ||
| 3 | Nigel & Breezer | 20 | 5 | 25 | 20 | 5 | 26 | 20 | 5 | 189 | 20 | 5 | 55 | 100 | 295 | ||
| 4 | Ali & Maya | 20 | 5 | 89 | 20 | 5 | 93 | 20 | 5 | 43 | 20 | 5 | 84 | 100 | 309 | ||
| 5 | Carolyn & Enzo | 20 | 4.5 | 129 | 20 | 4 | 62 | 20 | 4.5 | 298 | 20 | 4.75 | 155 | 97.75 | 644 | ||
| 6 | Marianne & Merri | 20 | 5 | 263 | 10 | 4 | 41 | 20 | 4.75 | 289 | 20 | 5 | 37 | 88.75 | 630 | ||
| 7 | Michelle & Myah | 20 | 5 | 80 | 10 | 4.5 | 53 | 20 | 5 | 143 | 10 | 4 | 87 | 78.5 | 363 | ||
| 8 | Ann & Maisie | 20 | 5 | 86 | 10 | 4.5 | 179 | 20 | 5 | 44 | 10 | 4 | 117 | 78.5 | 426 | ||
| 9 | Jennie & Tinker | 20 | 4.75 | 97 | 20 | 4.75 | 169 | 10 | 4 | 145 | 10 | 5 | 148 | 78.5 | 559 | ||
| # | Nikki & Rags | 20 | 4.75 | 64 | 10 | 2.5 | 201 | 20 | 4.5 | 116 | 10 | 4 | 124 | 75.75 | 505 | ||
| # | Sue & Lyla | 20 | 5 | 89 | 0 | 0 | 111 | 10 | 4.75 | 214 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.75 | 414 | ||
| WA = Wrong Alerts (4 = elimination) | P = Points (articles found X 10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| B = Bonus (10 if all items found) | D = Deductions | T = time (seconds) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interior Search 1 | Exterior Search | Interior Search 2 | Totals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| No of items | 4 | Time allowed | 300 | No of items | 5 | Time allowed | 420 | No of items | 3 | Time allowed | 240 | 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 | Karen & Charlie | 0 | 40 | 10 | 0 | 139 | 0 | 50 | 10 | 4 | 292 | 0 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 84 | 0 | 120 | 30 | 4 | 146 | 515 | ||
| 2 | Ali & Chase | 0 | 40 | 10 | 2 | 81 | 0 | 50 | 10 | 2 | 259 | 1 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 210 | 1 | 120 | 30 | 4 | 146 | 550 | ||
| 3 | Katheryne & Pepper | 0 | 40 | 10 | 8 | 282 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 2 | 420 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 240 | 1 | 100 | 10 | 8 | 102 | 942 | ||
| 4 | Karen & Zelda | 0 | 40 | 10 | 0 | 180 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 13 | 420 | 0 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 90 | 20 | 13 | 97 | 675 | ||
Level 1
I was delighted to meet five enthusiastic teams of handlers and dogs who had come for their first Level 1 Trial on a bitterly cold, but still and dry December morning. The dogs were a great mix of breeds, types and sizes and included a large Labradoodle, Bearded Collie, Spaniel, an Australian Terrier and a tiny Papillon. I was really looking forward to watching how the different breeds and their handlers worked during the searches.
We started with the vehicle search and I used my van with the scented article hidden under the lower corner of the front number plate. The teams approached the vehicle from the rear and proceeded to search the sides. All dogs worked well and successfully found the scent location. Reo the Labradoodle did a very nice, methodical search and was beautifully handled by Jennie.
There was a quick break while my van was moved and the exterior search area set up. The scent article was hidden in the top holding mechanism of a camera tripod which was laid on its side for safety. A gentle breeze had started to blow at this point and teams entered the search area heading into the wind. All dogs worked really well and successfully located the scent. I really liked the way Linda worked Skye. The dog was off lead, and Linda stood quietly and well back from where the dog was searching.
The chairs and tables were next and it was great to get inside to enjoy a cup of tea and warm my hands up! The dogs seemed to like the indoor environment too as they all did brilliant searches! More handlers were happy to let their dogs search off lead indoors and this led to some speedy finds. The confidence showed and there was some great handling too. It was interesting to see how these dogs worked very differently to each other.
The final search was the luggage and boxes. All 5 teams had qualified by this stage, but that didn’t stop the nerves creeping in. The scented cloth was hidden in the handle of a rucksack, with the end of the cloth poking out. Dogs had to search a mix of 13 boxes and bags. Three of the five dogs successfully found the scent, though I held my breath as Skye passed over the bag several times before finally alerting. Lynda handled her dog brilliantly, kept her cool and quietly encouraged Skye to continue the search until finally she got it. Sue and Tia and Annette with Disney both did excellent searches, finding the article with no problem.
Congratulations to all five teams and thank you for kindly accepting my decisions. This was my first Scentwork judging appointment and I was delighted that you all passed. The standard was extremely high and I am sure you will soon be ready for Level 2.
Thank you Karen Denton for scribing for me, I really appreciated your support and help. Thank you Heather for inviting me to judge at such a friendly and well organised event.
Karen Kendall
Levels 4 & 5
I would like to say a big thank you to Heather for asking me to judge at her Scentwork trial at Finmere.
To say I was inexperienced at this has to be an understatement but Heather assured me there was nothing to worry about and she would keep an eye on me! As it happened, I had no need for concern as Heather managed everything with calm efficiency, setting up each test as we were working the previous one so we had no hold-ups.
Having Liz Ormerod as my scribe was perfect. She coped with all of the scoring and kept me on the straight and narrow all day (even when I was having forgetful moments over the dog wee incident!!).
Tracey Alker kept a smooth flow of competitors so all went smoothly.
I must say the biggest thanks to the handlers who were willing to work their dogs under me. The four teams in Level 5 were a joy to watch. It was fascinating to see dogs and handlers so well matched and how the handlers had all learnt how to best let their particular dog work things out.
In the Level 4 group, we, again, were treated to seeing some really amazing dogs and handlers working together. As Heather has done such a good job of mentioning all the competitors by name in her report, I won’t repeat it all here but you can all be extremely proud of how your dogs worked, every team was a joy to watch.
There was, however, one team that was outstanding, and that was Val and Indie. The commitment and focus that this little dog gives to her work is wonderful and Val has such confidence in her dog that she just lets her get on with it. That’s how I would like my own dog to work!
Marney Wells.