St Paul’s church 05/11
Club
1st Marie Poole and Margo 79
2nd Alison Pearce and Herbie 78
3rd Marie Hembrow and Wren 72
4th Kirsty Grant and Pickle
5th Rosie Scott and Rocky
Diamond league
1st Jan Martin and Amber 77
Bronze
1st Lynda Stokes and Poppy 89
2nd Chris Paice and Jas 88
3rd Anne Francis and Dilly 84
4th Kate Betts and Pip 81
5th Alison Pearce and Herbie 79
6th Sam Lomas and Fig 73
Diamond league
1st Marie Hembrow and Bridget 76.5
2nd Jan Martin and Amber 76
Silver
1st Sheila Rodger and Nico 85.5
2nd Kate Betts and Pip 84.5
3rd Lynda Stokes and Poppy 77
4th Anne Francis and Dilly 75
5th Bev Hoddinott and Delilah 73
Diamond League
1st Jan Martin and Mattie 74
Well done to all that took part, some high standards and lovely handling, esp in club with some inexperienced dogs
Silver
The table and chairs area used in the previous levels was sectioned off for this test. Again started from the door but the area was the right side of the church including two sections of seating the entrance and one side of the table, the pulpit area was the far edge of the search. The area itself was challenging, esp for those on a line. Dogs could get to source easily on both of they worked the area, one being on the edge of a chair but next to a pillar making handling trickier, the second was tucked under the carpet right at the end of the search area, this one proved more challenging but was found by everyone who covered the whole area, some lucky tasks for a few handlers but focusing on the area as a whole not just the objects/chairs paid off
Bronze
This area was similar to club with the addition of a section of 4 rows of chairs furthest from the doorway start.
The door was open for this test and the start line was the doorway. The first hide was three chairs in on the right as you entered and most dogs that searched that side first went straight past as they weren’t really searching, dogs then hit it working back, a few handlers nearly pulled their dogs off this hide as it was near the door and a walkway which the dogs wanted to work down. The second hide was in the far corner on the floor under a stack of chairs, lots of dogs picked it up from one side near the table but lost it working round the corner but got it when worked back in the opposite direction.
A pleasing test to judge and lots to like, scores all quite tight
Club - this started from the door of the church however competitors where allowed to come in and shut the door first. It was predominantly a perimeter search of the church entrance area with a large table and chairs in the centre. We tried to keep the area simple as the environment is challenging for new dogs. The hide was on the back of a chair on the far side of the table. A couple of dogs didn’t find but searches nicely just need more experience in novel environments. The rest found well within the time having searched the area well
Bronze level
1st Sheila Rodger and Taylor 💯
2nd Bev Hoddinott and Mortimer 94
3rd Sharon Miller and Rush 88
4th Hilary Denyer and Drusie 83
5th Nicky Sherman and Bubbles
6th David Beaman Scott and Chilli
Diamond league
1st Jan Martin and Amber
2nd Marie Hembrow and Bridget
Silver
1st Bev Hoddinott and Delilah 91
2nd Sheila Rodger and Nico 88
3rd Eleanor Hogan and Tilly 87
4th Marney Wells and Kipper 72
5th Kate Bowsher and Jack 71
6th Mark Phillips and Kibo 66
Diamond league
1st Jan Martin and Mattie
Gold
1st Anne Douglas and Kenzie 84
2nd Kate Bowsher and Jack 76.5
3rd Eleanor Hogan and Tilly 58.5
4th Lyn Saunders and Gayl 57.5
5th Richard Purnell and Ziggy 55
BRONZE
The bronze level today consisted of a short row of chairs, the stage area and the pulpit. One hide was at the end of the run of chairs and the second was up on the platform at the back of the church.
Some dogs had to revisit the chair hide as they had to negotiate a tighter space. Most dogs identified the platform hide from a good distance and had lovely commitment working it in.
We had a first for Scent Ops - our first 100% score. As judges, we really did debate this hard and carefully, but the run was exquisite and there was really nothing this team could have done to improve their performance. So with pleasure we awarded 100 points to Sheila and Taylor.
Silver
The area today consisted of the entrance to the church, tables and chairs at the back and then the left hand side of the church up to the pulpit. The seating in this area had been re arranged so the first few rows were 90 degrees to the wall and then another 3 rows all all parallel to the wall which drew the dogs down the the front. One hide was on a wooden shelf immediately to the left as the dogs entered the church, this was a test of the handlers trusting their dogs so early and the dogs searching from the start. The second hide was at the far end of the church on the floor at the edge of the search area going up to the pulpit. This was made more challenging by the amount of tables and chairs in the area leaving very little room for handler and dog and the most successful here where the ones that stepped right back and allowed their dogs to work it out. Some very good searches, the second hide proved to be a challenge as dogs were drawn to the corner where scent was pooling or objects such as chairs but given room they worked it to source well
Gold
Competitors entered the church and then the door was closed behind them (as we thought the hide placement + air flow from door open would be a challenge beyond this level when combined with the church heaters high in the ceiling all being on). The area was the whole church with the exception of the entrance (as silver hide had been here) and the very end of the pulpit which was closed off. This included 4 separate sections of seating made up of 10+ rows. One hide was out of reach (4.5/5ft) on a concrete plinth under a raised tray which meant a lot of airflow and an indication from any side. This side of the church was colder and odour dropped. The second hide was diagonally across on a middle row of chairs, under heat lamps which made it rise and caused some handlers to think it was traveling from the plinth, dogs searching the middle seating hit odour and could go either way to each hide but most dogs missed this simple hide on the chair as the handlers thought it was odour from the other hide and failed to work the rows or got disoriented in their search plan and missed those few important rows.
The third hide was on the back of a fire extinguisher tucked in the corner on the pulpit, all dogs found this hide and worked it in from some distance.
Some super search plans from handlers in a very complicated area with lots of rows of chairs leading to dead ends and tight spaces.
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