Thank you Stacey for asking me to judge and scribe Jill who both helped out so much throughout the day.

Interior 1 lobby and meeting room
4 hides, 4 minutes
1. On left door frame as handlers started G
2. On lower bar on table in the meeting room G
3. On right side of doorway close to fire extinguisher C
4. On left hand chair near doorway C
Some good area coverage in this search with a mix of dogs on/off line.
8/12 handlers were noted to have had dogs significantly nibbling, biting or pawing at the hide. A real point to work on over the winter months and discuss with trainers how to best tackle this. All of these handlers were asked to consider this as deductions would be made in the future and we shouldn’t have to replace hides that are pulled off or risk items being bitten and damaged.
The other four dogs worked beautifully with lovely, non-intrusive indications.

Exterior wall, metal fence and one vehicle
4 hides, 5 minutes
Two hides on vehicle, one on drivers wheel hub (C) the other on passenger front side (G) near the wheel. I chose the wheels of the vehicle due to how many dogs were nibbling, biting and pawing at the hides on search 1.
Two hides on yellow metal fence, one in the corner (C) which most dogs found and one about half way along (G) which dogs needed to be allowed to work. Quite a few dogs were pulled away by handlers tasking to the corner and/or handlers assuming nothing else would be on the fence and not to search the remainder of it. Big take away for 10/12 handlers…don’t assume you know where the hides will be. If the dog has been up and down a section of of wall trust them and move on somewhere else…
This search was beautifully handled by our eventual winners, Bettina and Oscar and 2nd place Bev and Tye. Both handlers worked the search are perfectly and was the search that made all of the difference in the placings.

Interior 2 part of main hall and small bar area
4 hides, 4 minutes
1. One at the front on some bar stools G
2. On the right hand chair, in the middle of the two C
3. On a leather wall cover to the left of the bar area C
4. On a metal divider to the right of the bar area G
This area was generally worked and covered really well. Just a couple of handlers forgot about the chairs/bar stools and came to them towards the end of the time. Always useful to have those time reminders; sometimes as a prompt to consider how well we have covered the area and where to focus next.

Very well done competitors, lovely to see such lovely handling and for so many to qualify with a really good score. Places came down to points, WA and time, with only a second separating 3rd and 4th place. Huge well done everyone, it was very interesting watching the dogs work look forward to seeing you at future trials when my young dog will be joining you in the level 5 queue!