Judges Report

I really enjoyed judging the Level 4 trial today at Stithians, near Truro in Cornwall. We had lovely sunshine and all the competitors came prepared with plenty of shade and hydration. Many thanks to Gill for stepping up as ATM, Lesley for being a lovely scribe and Terry for keeping everyone in line! 😊
We had a lovely group of different breeds, who all worked really well. The large village hall was already set up with tables and chairs when we arrived. Two large, long tables had been set end to end, with six chairs along the length and one at each end. It was an interesting configuration, and I decided to keep it as it was. The teams started with no chairs on the side nearest the entry cones. The perimeter was formed by the wall behind the tables and chairs and the two adjacent side walls and was unscented. There was a blank piece of cloth in a black plastic container on the left-hand side, and unfortunately, several dogs indicated (or maybe were talked into indicating on this, despite having dismissed it initially!). None of them showed any interest in the piece of cardboard tucked into the edge of the seat cushion on the chair at the end on the right-hand side. I scented the right-hand table in the middle (GO) just under the front edge facing the start. The second hide (Cl) was under the front bar of the middle chair behind the left table. This meant access was easier if the dogs were tasked under the table from the front. Only Liz and Poppy got both finds.
As the dogs struggled a bit with the first search, I made it a bit easier for them in the Exterior. Outside the hall is a nice flat area with astroturf and there was a wooden, mini picnic table already set up on it – a nice extra item. I scented the table (GO) just under the top on the right. Most dogs needed a bit of time to source this, but all teams got both finds without too much difficulty. The other item was a black plastic crate overturned with the Velcro (Cl) near the end facing the team. There were some beautiful indications directly on source. A collapsible, black stool had a piece of blank black cloth tucked in the top and there was a small piece of cardboard tucked in the yellow sign.
The boxes, bags and perimeter search was pretty straightforward. A large, sturdy cardboard box towards the far side of the hall was scented under the flap (GO) and there was a lovely round hole just above the skirting board on the right of the hall, perfect for a bit of Velcro! There was a little interest shown in a box containing dog scent – a collar but all dogs dismissed it well. Everyone bar one dog got both finds, poor Finley struggled with a very distracting fly. Well done to his handler, who managed to get him to focus again and find the hole in the wall, which he did very nicely.
We finished with a wall search. GO was a Velcro swatch just under a low windowsill on the right as the dogs entered the area. Cl was at the back of a wooden strut on the fence, a little further along the path on the opposite side. Tippy found the noisy crows a little interesting, resulting in a false alert but everyone else found both scents.
Many congratulations to everyone for qualifying today and especially to Liz and Poppy with a perfect score and gaining their Excellent Title and Tier 1 Badge and Margaret and Gypsy, who also achieved their Excellent Title.