Beancroft Farm, Beancroft Road, Marston Moreteyne, Bedfordshire MK430QE
Start: Level 7 at 9:15am and Levels 1 & 3 at 1:15pm
Entry Fees: £30 per dog.
Contact: Emma Conlisk emmaconlisk@icloud.com
Trial Manager and Judges Reports
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Wed 28 Dec 2022, Marston Moreteyne
Levels 1, 3 & 7: Judges - Harry Latusek & Martina Ramage
Thank you Emma for inviting me to judge the L1 & 3 trials. Huge thank you to Helen for scribing and being a great help in general. Thanks to co-judge Harry for volunteering to judge the outdoor searches in rather challenging weather conditions.
Tables & chairs
For L1 the hide was placed under the chair at the far-left corner. For L3 the hide was placed under the chair at the front right corner (clove) and the second hide was placed under the flap of the mop on the left side of the room (gun oil). All teams found the hides with ease and the parameter search for L3 teams hasn’t been too challenging.
Boxes & luggage
For L1 the hide was placed on one of the boxes on the left back of the search area. For L3 one hide was placed on one of the boxes to the right back of the search area (clove) and the second hide (gun oil) was placed in the handle of a small black suitcase on the left back of the search area.
For the L1 teams this search proved to be quite challenging with some teams struggling to find the hide and some handlers lacking confidence to call the alert.
Particular mention to Lynda & Riley who found the hide in the fastest time and Bev & Doro who impressed with a very calm and confident search.
Most of the L3 teams found both hides without any problems. Special mention to Ulrike & Milo as well as Ruth & Fudge who found both hides in the fastes time.
Very well done to all teams for lovely searches on a very wet and windy day.
A change of judge today as Harry was unavoidably stuck on the M1 when it was closed.
Thank you to the L7 competitors for being so supportive of me taking on the judges role rather than TM and caller…bit of a shock that this morning!
I decided to run the exterior search first due to the weather conditions set to worsen.
Four hides set in a walkway with steps to an enclosed patio; time allowed four minutes.
The area was white dogged prior to the search and all hides found.
1. Left hand door jam at top of steps, clove 4/10
2. Behind slats in a stacked wooden deckchair on the LH side of wall as dogs entered, gun oil 8/10
3. On LH recessed wooden door on opposite side of the patio, clove 0/10
4. In hole in wall between two deckchairs, truffle 0/10
The weather played a part in this search providing the trickiest one of the day. Some dogs really weren’t keen on the rain at all, others struggled independently to pick up odour and when left to their own devices either came across it or didn’t. The dogs needed tasking onto the recessed door or they moved on past. They also needed tasking onto the wall behind the two deckchairs or they focussed soley on the chairs. Kathy and Rowan started off really strongly, finding the first two quickly and working really well as a team.
The first interior search was a kitchen, small lobby and a part of the main room.
Five hides, five minutes allowed.
1. Left hand door entry to the main room, gun oil 6/10
2. Skirting under whiteboard, clove 7/10
3. Base cupboard under tea/coffee, truffle 9/10
4. Middle of oven door, clove 9/10
5. Between Louvre doors in lobby, gun 6/10
Most dogs and handlers worked these areas really well, covering the space fairly evenly. A couple got caught up in a busy blank area where there were a couple of hoovers and small tables but the dogs were honest and didn’t show any interest. Good to see a few handlers call this area clear really well. Special mentions to those who called the area clear: Suzanne and Luther, absolute pleasure seeing him search so enthusiastically and well; Ruth and Dot, lovely searching and area coverage and Peter and Dolly who tackled the area really confidently and well. Little Phoebe worked the gun oil odour beautifully in the Louvre doors, a pleasure to see!
The last search area was the remainder of the room and conservatory. Three hides, three and a half minutes.
1. Skirting between main room and conservatory, truffle 6/10
2. Right hand side of the metal shelving units, next to fitness equipment, clove 9/10
3. Bar of left hand table, at the front, truffle oil 6/10
The dogs were in the main a bit more tired by now. Some came in and searched really well, finding all three in good time but handlers didn’t call it. Great job though Chris and Jubbly, Alison and Ellie and Ruth and Dot. Quite a few dogs just missed the gun oil on the table but had searched beautifully, just not quite nailing it.
Well done handlers, see you all at a trial soon, hopefully I’ll be joining you rather than judging next time!
Thanks all of you for your support today