Wednesday 28th December 2016 at: Finmere Village Hall, Bucks Judge: Nigel Wilkes
Level 2
1 Nicola & Acer – 99.5
2 Katrina & Jumble – 90
3 Tracey & Howdie – 89.5
4 Sue & Halle – 88.5
5 Jennie & Mischief – 88.5
6 Karen & Malik – 88
7 Dave & Nican – 77.75
8 Sandra & Bramble – 69
9 Fiona & Boo – 66.25
Level 3
1 Nikki & Ellie – 99.5
2 Jennie & Tinker – 99.25
3 Karen & Zsa Zsa – 89.25
4 Liz & Archie – 88.75
5 Annette & Summer – 79.25
6 Hazel & Quest – 78.75
7 Geoff & Bugg – 69
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).
Arriving bright and early on the first day I had the biggest shock that the caretaker had decided to have a clear out and threw out a load of my boxes which I had dropped off the previous day. Fortunately he hadn’t found the ones that I had stored in the toilet so I was hoping that I would have enough for the next couple of days.
Nigel Wilkes, our L2 & 3 judge arrived bright and early and we managed to discuss where to hide the scents before the first of the nervous competitors arrived. We started with the L2 & 3 table and chair search with everyone passing this section with Nikki & Ellie not wanting to hang about doing the fastest search with this team carrying on in the same way and winning the Level in record time. Nicola & Acer also didn’t some lovely work but Acer had to try and prove to his mum that the scent was really hidden underneath the handle of a bucket!
Jennie & ‘Tinker’ were on fire and didn’t put a foot wrong and came home in 2nd place so Jennie decided to enter him in the L4 the very next day. Tinker rose to the occasion and also qualified in that Level too. We also saw some good searches and team work from Katrina & Jumble (2nd place), Tracey & Howdie (3rd place) and Sue & Halle (4th place) in Level 2. Karen with her two GSD’s had a good run as both dogs qualified with Zsa Zsa also gaining a 3rd place too. Liz and Archie came home 4th and it’s lovely to watch this team as ‘Poodle’ isn’t always the easiest dog to read. Liz must have enjoyed the day as she offered and came back to help the next day. Liz’s expert scribing duties were put to good use, almost too well though as our judge Marney Wells wouldn’t let her go after scribing for the L5’s so Liz ended up scribing for the L4’s too.
There were a few scary moments with Dave and Nikan the Flatcoat Retriever as Nikan in his enthusiasm knocked over the bag where the scent was hidden. Unfortunately it had been placed in the handle which made locating it even more difficult for Nikan, but brilliant team work from Dave saved the day to gain a much deserved qualification. Hazell & Quest and Annette & Summer also gave us a couple of scary moments as both dogs have lost a bit of confidence sometimes resulting in wrong indications, but with both handlers experience and keeping their nerve saved the day for both going onto a well deserved L3 qualification.
Also a big thank you to Sally for keeping the competitor flow and along with Dave and Nicki helping me to organise the hall ready for the the trial the next day.
It was a privilege to be asked to judge the level 2 and 3 Trials on the 28th December at Finmere Village Hall by Heather Donnelly.
It was a cold, frosty and misty morning and when I arrived Heather was busy preparing everything for the trials. Before long, everybody apart from one team arrived and was ready to commence. We had a total of 17 entries for these two trials.
This was a nervous time for me as I had not judged a Scentwork UK trial before, although I had experience of managing a trial, I was aware of the difference between the two. Heather was also my scribe and timekeeper so she had much more to do than normal!
We started with Tables and Chairs and it was surprising and a welcome relief that only one team failed to find any of the scents that had been hidden on this part of the trial.
Our next trial was the Vehicle search and again the teams were ready and willing to go. Sally our ‘round up person’ was making sure that the teams were ready to commence as soon as the previous team had completed their trial.
As I was worried about the fading light, we then did the Exterior Search with items that I had brought from home. This included a ‘grazing mask’ from one of my horses, which did distract a few dogs and we had a couple of false alerts!
Finally, it was the Boxes and Luggage and I was aware that this had caused problems in past trials. Some competitors came into this trial needing both scents to pass and Dave and Nikan made it much harder for themselves by knocking over the bag where the scent was hidden, however, it proved that Nikan’s nose was working well as he eventually found it!
I must mention a few of the Teams as Nicola and Acer together with Nikki and Ellie came first in their respective trials both scoring 99.5 out of 100 which was a superb effort. Also to Jennie and Tinker and also Mischief who passed their Level 2 and 3. However, I would like to congratulate all teams as it showed throughout the day that they all had been trained to a very high level.
Nigel Wilkes
| 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 | Nicola & Acer | 20 | 5 | 72 | 20 | 4.5 | 92 | 20 | 5 | 170 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 99.5 | 347 | ||
| 2 | Katrina & Jumble | 10 | 5 | 51 | 20 | 5 | 47 | 20 | 5 | 60 | 20 | 5 | 43 | 90 | 201 | ||
| 3 | Tracey & Howdie | 10 | 4.5 | 61 | 20 | 5 | 55 | 20 | 5 | 28 | 20 | 5 | 22 | 89.5 | 166 | ||
| 4 | Sue & Halle | 10 | 4.75 | 29 | 20 | 5 | 92 | 20 | 4.75 | 179 | 20 | 4 | 30 | 88.5 | 330 | ||
| 5 | Jennie & Mischief | 10 | 4.25 | 256 | 20 | 4.75 | 97 | 20 | 5 | 199 | 20 | 4.5 | 107 | 88.5 | 659 | ||
| 6 | Karen & Malik | 20 | 5 | 55 | 10 | 3 | 152 | 20 | 5 | 182 | 20 | 5 | 63 | 88 | 452 | ||
| 7 | Dave & Nican | 20 | 5 | 53 | 0 | 3.25 | 72 | 20 | 5 | 52 | 20 | 4.5 | 134 | 77.75 | 311 | ||
| 8 | Sandra & Bramble | 10 | 4.75 | 55 | 10 | 4.75 | 47 | 10 | 4.75 | 175 | 20 | 4.75 | 59 | 69 | 336 | ||
| 9 | Fiona & Boo | 0 | 4.5 | 83 | 20 | 4.75 | 131 | 10 | 2.5 | 300 | 20 | 4.5 | 151 | 66.25 | 665 | ||
| 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 | Nikki & Ellie | 20 | 5 | 30 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 5 | 40 | 20 | 4.5 | 44 | 99.5 | 124 | ||
| 2 | Jennie & Tinker | 20 | 4.75 | 229 | 20 | 5 | 153 | 20 | 4.75 | 210 | 20 | 4.75 | 75 | 99.25 | 667 | ||
| 3 | Karen & Zsa Zsa | 10 | 4.5 | 225 | 20 | 5 | 39 | 20 | 5 | 93 | 20 | 4.75 | 70 | 89.25 | 427 | ||
| 4 | Liz & Archie | 10 | 5 | 152 | 20 | 5 | 53 | 20 | 5 | 122 | 20 | 3.75 | 142 | 88.75 | 469 | ||
| 5 | Annette & Summer | 20 | 5 | 96 | 10 | 5 | 79 | 10 | 5 | 161 | 20 | 4.25 | 119 | 79.25 | 455 | ||
| 6 | Hazel & Quest | 20 | 5 | 151 | 10 | 4.25 | 161 | 10 | 4.75 | 205 | 20 | 4.75 | 104 | 78.75 | 621 | ||
| 7 | Geoff & Bugg | 10 | 4.5 | 197 | 10 | 4.75 | 92 | 20 | 5 | 107 | 10 | 4.75 | 87 | 69 | 483 | ||