Wed 27 Dec 2017, Finmere

Levels 2 & 3 Judge: Becky Harris
Level 2

1st Karen & Barley – 100
2nd Caroline & Mr Wilson – 100
3rd Tracey & Boswell – 99.75
4th Donna & Lucy – 99.25
5th Jill & Drama – 89.75
6th Tracy & Billy – 88
7th Karen & Reggie – 79
8th Dana & Buckle – 78.76

Level 3

1st Chris & Dilly – 99.75
2nd Lynn & Passi – 99.25
3rd Lesley & Hetty – 89.75
4th Kathy & Star – 89.25
5th Tracey & Hardy – 79.25
6th Julia & Jade – 78.25
7th Linda & Tassel – 69.25
8th Lynda & Teddy – 64.25

Well I wondered if running two trials one day after another would be abit too much but despite the very wintery weather, both days ran really smoothly. I can only contribute the super efficiency of running the trials down to straight forward judging, Becky Harris L2 & 3, Liz Ormerod L1 & Nikki Inglis ‘Pre-trial’ along with experienced helpers. I was really privileged to have Sue Abbott-Dixon & Lynn Bell as scribes and Geof Dixon and Karen Kendall as runners with Karen also staying on to scribe the ‘Pre-Trial’. Thank you all.

The weather didn’t seem to put off the competitors in fact on the first day, the worse of the snowy weather, one competitor came all the way from Warwickshire with another from Surrey who I am sure were glad they made the trip as they gained 1st & 2nd places. The first day also was a first as ‘Scentwork UK 2017 Dog of the Year’ was decided when Kathy Killick’s  X/breed dog Star gained 4th place and 4 points clinching the title so a fabulous results, well done.

Becky Harris, first day judge, put out a challenging yet straight forward L2 & 3 test and the L2’s took this all in their stride with Karen & her 5 month old puppy BSD Barley winning it looking like she had been doing scentwork all her life, well done. Also another exciting result was when Donna and her W/Cocker Lucy came home 4th gaining enough points for their ‘L2 Excellent’ title, congratulations.

So up bright and early for day 2 to a really hard frost but again this didn’t seem to put of the competitors and we started with 17 runners. Watching many of the searches I was quite impressed by how quickly some of the L1’s were at calling the alert as they were so confident in their dogs. However Lou was abit too quick in the first search calling when her dog Louka was on her way to selecting the correct chair. However Lou managed to keep her head during the next three searches waiting that little bit longer with Louka finding all the scents gaining a credible pass for this team. Well done for keeping your nerve. Also a special mention to Yaz & Banjo, Liz & Thomas and Gillian & Kai for gaining ‘Clean Sweeps’ and only after 4/5 sessions.  Even more impressive,Kai is a 13yr old springer spaniel who has taken up scentwork for his retirement.  And not forgetting Kate & Lola who kept it together on the vehicle search gaining a ‘Clean Sweep’ and also did Hazel and her little terrier Noodles who is so subtle in her body language, but with Hazel’s hard work become a excellent team  on the day. Well done.

The day started by waking up to a white covering of snow, thankfully the roads were clear enough to travel to Finmere. Well done to everyone who wrapped up warm and made it to the trial, you are all super keen.

We began the day with the Level 3 trial, the first search was the tables/chairs and perimeter, Christine and Dilly carried out a very tidy search finding both scents in less than a minute, working well together as a team. The dogs had to also search a side room to find a scent in the cupboard door, those that found this scent did a great job at tracking the scent to the source, however a couple of dogs struggled with finding the source of the scent that was placed on the chair and persuaded their handlers that the scent was on the chair next to it.

We then braved the snow and headed out for the vehicle searches, the teams had 3 cars to search, 2 of which had a scent on. They started off by searching a blank vehicle, Lynn and Passi did a great job, a cracking little Australian Terrier who effortlessly found both scents and was a pleasure to watch.

Back inside for the container search, Tracey guided the super keen Hardey around the search area, locating both scents with great enthusiasm, Hardey is now 10 years old and its lovely to watch a dog in its mature years having so much fun.

We finished on the exterior search, the wind had settled and it was lovely to see the dogs moving around the spacious area, after struggling on the container search we all celebrated when Lynda and Teddy the Rough Collie found both scents, he really does know the job, it was a super search. The first scent was in the article closest to where the dogs started, most handlers sent their dogs straight over it, help your dogs a little with where they need to start searching as they could have had a nice early find to give both dogs and handlers confidence.

It was refreshing to see Lesley enthusiastically praise Hetty, a stunning golden retriever, after each find, this really helped maintain her confidence, well done.

I must also mention Kathy and Star, another team who were in sync, Star is very thorough at covering the search area and clearly lets you know when she has found the scent. The points they gained from 4th place today lead them to win Dog of the Year, huge congratulations.

After a quick bite of lunch and a coffee to warm up we went straight into preparing the level 2 Trial. Overall I was really impressed with the teamwork in the level 2, the handlers were supporting their dogs around the searches and working them taking into account their individual needs, it was a pleasure to watch and I look forward to seeing these partnerships progressing through the levels. The exterior search saw 2 very enthusiastic cocker spaniels showing us some stylish searching, Tracey with her younger dog Boswell and Donna with Lucy, they were having such fun. Drama was handled beautifully by Jill to find both scents, great teamwork.

Onto the container search, Caroline with Wilson and Karen with Barley carried out thorough searches, the dogs clearly indicated where the scents were hidden by offering beautiful passive freeze indications, both confident in what they had been trained to do. Barley deservedly went on to win the trial which is fantastic as she is only 5 months old, huge congratulations Karen, she was up against some brilliant teams.

Our final outdoor search of the day was the vehicles, Wilson handled by Caroline gave a clear demonstration of tracking the scent to the source, there were a couple of early calls from other handlers which unfortunately didn’t allow the dogs to get close enough to the strongest part of the scent which was a shame. As our last dog started to work we had some very excitable children come and play on the park close by with their dog, Boswell did very well not to be distracted and continued to search beautifully finding both scents.

We finished the day with the table/chairs and perimeter search, despite the dogs starting to feel a little tired they all worked well. We had a slightly higher find on a computer table which didn’t phase Tracey’s little Billy at all, he was quite adamant that he had found the scent.

Thank you to Heather for inviting me to judge, I had a lovely day. I must also thank Sue and Geof for coming to help for the day, you really helped the trial run smoothly.

Level 2 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 Karen & Barley 20 5 61 20 5 48 20 5 44 20 5 118 100 271
2 Caroline & Mr Wilson 20 5 35 20 5 143 20 5 118 20 5 138 100 434
3 Tracey & Boswell 20 5 75 20 4.75 131 20 5 116 20 5 98 99.75 420
4 Donna & Lucy 20 4.75 67 20 5 24 20 4.5 149 20 5 19 99.25 259
5 Jill & Drama 20 5 99 20 4.75 137 20 5 57 10 5 45 89.75 338
6 Tracy & Billy 20 4 253 10 4.5 199 20 4.5 188 20 5 82 88 722
7 Karen & Reggie 20 4.75 78 20 4.75 170 0 4.5 163 20 5 98 79 509
8 Dana & Buckle 10 4.5 128 20 5 42 20 4.5 100 10 4.76 55 78.76 325
Level 3
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 Chris & Dilly 20 5 55 20 5 45 20 4.75 125 20 5 47 99.75 272
2 Lynn & Passi 20 4.25 114 20 5 109 20 5 84 20 5 29 99.25 336
3 Lesley & Hetty 10 5 104 20 5 83 20 4.75 198 20 5 47 89.75 432
4 Kathy & Star 10 5 121 20 4.5 163 20 4.75 191 20 5 75 89.25 550
5 Tracey & Hardy 10 4.5 228 10 5 182 20 4.75 192 20 5 89 79.25 691
6 Julia & Jade 10 4.5 68 10 4.5 153 20 4.5 117 20 4.75 146 78.25 484
7 Linda & Tassel 10 4.75 51 20 5 104 10 5 148 10 4.5 189 69.25 492
8 Lynda & Teddy 10 3.5 300 20 4.75 108 20 4.5 251 0 1.5 243 64.25 902