Hold on this is a long one!
Club
1st Louise Grant and Olive 90
2nd Barry Cook and Ziva 82
3rd Gillian Eales and Danny 81
4th Alison Pearce and Herbie 69
5th Lorraine Coley and Kouna 68
6th Annette Tarry and Jennie 65
Diamond League
1st Jan Martin and Amber 88
Bronze 1
1st Bev Hoddinott and Mortimer 93
2nd Anne Francis and Dilly 92
3rd Sharon Miller and Rush 91.5
4th Louise Grant and Olive 91
5th Nicky Sherman and Bubbles 90
6th Chris Paice and Jas 88
Diamond League
1st Jan Martin and Amber 79
Bronze 2
1st Marie Poole and Margo 92
2nd Bev Hoddinott and Mortimer 78
3rd Janet Ridden and Dylan 77
4th Sharon Miller and Axl 76
5th Sheila Rodger and Taylor 65
6th Kirsten Hayes and Isla 62
Diamond League
1st Jan Martin and Amber 75
Silver 1
1st Anne Francis and Dilly 89
2nd Hilary Denyer and Drusie 88
3rd Sheila Rodger and Nico 82
4th Lyn Saunders and Gayl 80
5th Lorraine Coley and Chester 76
6th Wendy Payne and Millie 71
Diamond League
1st Jan Martin and Mattie 78
Silver 2
1st Lousie Grant and Bo 86.5
2nd Marie Poole and Margo 86
3rd Sheila Rodger and Nico 85
4th Wendy Payne and Millie 76
5th Anne Francis and Dilly 72
6th Liz Price and Paddy 64
Diamond League
1st Jan Martin and Mattie 74
Gold
1st Marie Poole and Roger 82
2nd Lyn Saunders and Gayl 72
3rd Kate Bowsher and Jack 57
4th Bev Hoddinott and Delilah 48
Diamond League
1st Jan Martin and Mattie 78
Club Judges Report:
The club area was a small room off the side of the shop scattered with carpentry materials and tools. It was a cold room with little air flow, but simple in layout with all items around the outside of the room except a couple of work benches in the middle. All teams that worked the area methodically found the hide which was at floor level underneath a stack of timber. Teams that went for a free-search approach took longer to locate the odour as many were air scenting or searching at head height initially before searching the area in more intensely. That said all teams located well within the time, and indications were clearly identifiable by the handlers.
Some great teams, which showed lots of promise for higher levels. Well done to all who braved the cold and rain to compete.
Bronze 1 – Judges Report:
The area was a small part of a very large, very busy lockup unit containing vans and landscaping equipment. It included sides of vehicles, boxes, mowers, pallets, a trailer, ladders, a small kitchen area with clothes and a toilet, all with a concrete floor and an air temperature of around 1-2 degrees Celsius.
The hides were located in the bottom of a wheel rim on a van, close to the start of the area; and inside a work boot on a shoe rack in the kitchen area at the end of the search area.
Many teams were initially overwhelmed by the area, as it looked extremely complex, but all the teams covered the area at least twice in the 5 minutes, with a good search pattern. Some dogs located the wheel odour on a pallet close by and worked it in underneath the van to source on the wheel rim, which was nice to watch. Most teams naturally worked the van wheels thoroughly and therefore located with ease. Some beautiful indications shown by all dogs.
The second hide presented a slight challenge for dogs who found the environment challenging. Located in a narrow kitchen area, the handlers often ended up in the way, or dismissed interest in the odour as interest in a shoe, and “playing”. The object also moved when the dogs put their noses in to get to source, and therefore some found a steady indication difficult.
Lovely searching from all, good search patterns, area coverage and teamwork seen throughout considering the difficult weather conditions.
Bronze 2
Bronze 2 area was the space under the mezzanine of a timber warehouse and workshop. The area was dimly lit and had various stacks of wood, tools and equipment. The temperature inside the workshop was cold which most likely contributed to limited movement of the odours.
The first hide was located in some rolled up pallet straps that were on the floor between some storage shelves and a bucket. This allowed the dog to work in to the hide from both directions.
The second hide was located in the end of some rolled up foil insulation, positioned next to a trolley stacked with planks of wood. There were a few loose planks of wood in front of the hide which in some cases pulled the dog away from the source in one direction but it was picked up easily from the opposite direction.
All the handlers & dogs coped well with navigating around the space and all teams performed to a high standard.
Silver 1
Silver 1 area was a section of a timber warehouse and workshop. It consisted of a small storeroom and a larger area with stacked planks and boards, all sorts of assorted tools and equipment and a huge workbench. Handlers had to be very spatially aware of their surroundings, particularly while working on lines as lots of trip and bump hazards, I’m pleased to say that there was a very high level of handling throughout the class.
The first hide was close to the start line in the small storeroom, at the bottom of racking. Because there wasn’t much to contain the odour it created some interesting pictures for the dogs to interpret with most dogs working in well having detected that there was odour in the room. Once located, the hide also required a level of self control from the dogs to indicate without interference and showed up if dogs
might need some more training time spent on the passive part of their indication.
The second hide was in one of the struts in the large workbench. Set in a complex area this was a simple hide and almost all dogs worked in very nicely along the edge of the bench.
Having a clear plan to work the area methodically paid off for many of the teams. Was a lovely one to judge
Silver 2
The area was a feed pallet store. At silver level the area must be realistic and there were lots of feed distractions around the area.
The search comprised of a perimeter search around the pallets and then the two vehicles parked in the barn.
One hide was placed on a pallet in the corner of the room. Dogs who missed this hide either skipped the corner or their handlers moved them on too fast because it was near a distraction.
The second was on the back of the left van which placement wise was in the middle of the barn. Handlers worked this hide very well as they had clear and well thought out search patterns.
A few dogs showed interest on human odour (judge specifically touching, leaning or crouching in a blank area as well as the steps of an office) and this did eat in to some handlers search times.
Overall some really well thought out searches and very happy searchers despite the weather!
Gold
The area was a wood workshop that had both narrow corridors and wider 'areas'.
The first hide was placed on the seat of the forklift. This was the significant challenge and dogs were able to access and indicate on this in a number of ways. Most dogs located this odour but struggled to commit to an indication.
The second was on a timber stack that pushed handlers in to a narrow 'corridor' in to a more open area. This was a fairly simple hide and those that missed it were just unfortunate that they did not search their dog down that side of the 'corridor'.
The final hide was in the middle of a rolled up strap and was set to make sure that the dog was working and clearing the whole of the end room.
Handlers really excelled in area coverage and search plans for this trial and there was some really strong handling despite the long day and horrid weather conditions!
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