1 Laura Burton – Jett – 100
2 Carole Wheeler – Tolly – 100
3 Carol Robertson – Fern – 100
4 Lisa Hunt – McGee – 100
5 Heather Bhasin – Georgie – 99.85
6 Anne Glennon – Missy – 99.2
7 Christine Davis – Indy – 98.85
8 John Hearn – Jay – 98.35
9 Lena Stenton – Angel – 89.75
10 Pat Leggate – Keilin – 88.7
With the hot weather that we’ve been having and with it being forecast for the trial day, it was agreed with the Judge, Heather Donnelly, to run the exterior searches first so competitors could avoid the mid day heat. It was a pleasure to manage this trial, with everyone being very friendly of supportive of each other.
Heather superbly judged all 15 competitors in each section, supported by her scribe, Frances Wandlowsky, and runners Sharon Peachey and Eileen Knox. We are extremely grateful to all these ladies for giving up their time and ensuring that the trial ran so smoothly.
In addition to our 1st – 4th places and the clear rounds, it was a delight to be able to award an excellent rosette to Laura Burton with Jett.
Thank you to Lesley Ann Best for asking me to judge the first L2 trial for Dogzaloud training centre at Broom. Lesley created a really lovely calm atmosphere and at the same time a very well organised trial on this very hot day. Also thank you to Fran my scribe and two runners Eileen & Sharon for keeping the competitor flow also contributing to the smooth flowing of the trial.
Unusually we started with the vehicle search. In the past during hot weather, I have found that dogs don’t like to search the metal of a hot car which probably to them is like searching a hot oven! After this I went straight onto the ‘Exterior’ search so finishing all the outdoor searches before lunchtime.
The standard of competitors was rather mixed. There were some very impressive teams whilst others were still finding their way with their dog whether it was a new pairing or that they were just starting out on their scentwork journey.
My general observations were that some competitors weren’t aware of the ‘knock’. This is the flick back that most dogs do when they have detected the odour. Also competitors didn’t know when their dog was telling them that the scent wasn’t in an area or on the vehicle and some handlers didn’t suggest alternative places to search. If a dog showed interest in an environment scent some handlers repeatedly asked their dog to search this area again. I can only give credit to the dogs that didn’t give a false alert in this instant and it just went to show how good some of your dogs are. Lastly in the vehicle search I felt that a lot of competitors didn’t believe that the scented article was on the first vehicle because I asked them to search this vehicle first and for some teams this meant an overly searched 3rd vehicle which didn’t have a scented article on it. So to my final place getters:
1) Laura & Jett.
Wow! What a team. Laura turned up and meant business!. In every search Laura cued the dog perfectly so Jett knew exactly what he was about to do and he got into searching right from the start. The vehicle search was particularly impressive with Laura’s precise and suggestive handling finding both articles in just 29 seconds. Laura has created a happy and enthusiastic worker by using clear verbal and physical ques. Well done.
2) Carole & Tolly
A lovely team and could easily have won with work like this. Carole largely allows Tolly to just get on with it and intercepts quiet and calm handling only when necessary. The Box & luggage search was outstanding finding both in just 24 secs with a good clear ‘freeze’ indication on both items. Again Carole was very businesslike in her approach and I doubt that this team will have any problem progressing up the levels.
3) Carole & Fern
Carole illustrated that she knew this dog so well perfectly illustrated in her handling at the start of the ‘Exterior Search’. Fern spotted a crow in the field and Carole, waiting her time, gauged perfectly the time to reconnect Fern back into the right mind set before starting the search which she completed in just 22 secs. Again Boxes & Luggage search was well executed especially in the rather still air environment.
4) Lisa & McGee
Lisa managed to keep this young dog’s enthusiasm under control to achieve all 8 finds in a rather quick time. Lisa’s skill as a competitor showed expertly in the way she handled each search. Lisa certainly knows when McGee shows interest in an environmental distraction and handled this correctly by quickly moving McGee on before he would get frustrated making this team a good pairing.
| 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 | Laura Burton – Jett | 20 | 5 | 62 | 20 | 5 | 14 | 20 | 5 | 29 | 20 | 5 | 17 | 100 | 122 |
| 2 | Carole Wheeler – Tolly | 20 | 5 | 33 | 20 | 5 | 40 | 20 | 5 | 35 | 20 | 5 | 24 | 100 | 132 |
| 3 | Carol Robertson – Fern | 20 | 5 | 114 | 20 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 5 | 112 | 20 | 5 | 26 | 100 | 274 |
| 4 | Lisa Hunt – McGee | 20 | 5 | 51 | 20 | 5 | 88 | 20 | 5 | 184 | 20 | 5 | 38 | 100 | 361 |
| 5 | Heather Bhasin – Georgie | 20 | 5 | 56 | 20 | 5 | 54 | 20 | 5 | 61 | 20 | 4.85 | 15 | 99.85 | 186 |
| 6 | Anne Glennon – Missy | 20 | 4.85 | 63 | 20 | 4.5 | 105 | 20 | 4.85 | 47 | 20 | 5 | 73 | 99.2 | 288 |
| 7 | Christine Davis – Indy | 20 | 5 | 92 | 20 | 4.5 | 189 | 20 | 4.5 | 210 | 20 | 4.85 | 98 | 98.85 | 589 |
| 8 | John Hearn – Jay | 20 | 4.5 | 61 | 20 | 4.85 | 91 | 20 | 4 | 208 | 20 | 5 | 43 | 98.35 | 403 |
| 9 | Lena Stenton – Angel | 20 | 4.75 | 76 | 20 | 5 | 286 | 10 | 5 | 300 | 20 | 5 | 109 | 89.75 | 771 |
| 10 | Pat Leggate – Keilin | 20 | 4 | 114 | 10 | 4.85 | 300 | 20 | 5 | 122 | 20 | 4.85 | 59 | 88.7 | 595 |