BRONZE 1 TRIAL BRECKENHILL 15 FEBRUARY 2026

JUDGES REPORT

Judge: Lesley Clements

This trial took place in an upstairs room that had been set up for a rustic wedding ceremony. There was a carpeted central aisle with rows of fold up chairs along each side. At the top there was a large floor standing display wreath and a trestle table with two chairs. Behind this was a glass door leading to a fire escape.

The hides were placed one at the start of the search tucked under the handle of a large plastic storage box containing spare fairy lights (this box had been pushed under a table) and the other under one of the trestle legs of the top table.

Most teams chose to tackle the search going anti clockwise which meant the dogs should have hit the first hide quite quickly and a fair number did. But it took the handlers to be actually working with the dogs and ensuring that the both sides of the box under the table were searched. Those that didn’t found that their dogs blew past the area in order to get to the busier part of the search and it wasn’t until the deeper area was cleared that they returned to the start and got the hide.

The second hide under the trestle table leg proved interesting to watch as the searches went on. Initially it was quite clear that the dogs were catching the odour high and some distance from the table. Some had to work quite hard to solve the puzzle and work it to source low down. However, as the odour changes were implemented and the weather changed from grey skies to sunlight (coming in through a velux window) this changed, with the dogs catching odour at floor level and working in from there. In simple terms, one may have imagined odour to behave in the reverse but clearly there were other forces at play not least the odour itself.

All but one team got both hides.

The standard in this trial was quite high in the placings reflected by the scores and it was nice to see the improvement amongst teams that have taken part across the trials in the Winter Series.

1st Jillian Marshall and Humphrey 96

2nd Liz Mitchell and Holly 91

3rd Susan Anderson and Kuro 88.5

4th Joanne Marshall and Harry 82

5th Antoinette Traynor and Gan 81

6th Carrie Haveron and Buzz 81 (on time)

CENT OPS BRONZE TRIAL BRECKENHILL

Judge: Liz Mitchell

Sunday 15 February 2026

1st Sandra Haveron and Woody 88 points

2nd Antoinette Traynor and Gan 85 points

3rd Julia Patterson and Jasmine 77 points

4th Lesley Clements and Gavita 76 points

5th Debbie Goligher and Stella 73 points

6th Jillian Marshall and Edna 60 points

Other qualifiers, some just narrowly missing on the ribbons, in no particular order were:

Jemma Elliott and Arlo

Mandy Ring and Diva

Joanne Maybin and Caillie

Susan Anderson and Kuro

Ronnie McAleese and Flora

Hearts and flowers were very much in evidence at Breckenhill in honour of Valentine’s Day. In particular, the pink artificial rose flowers proved of interest to many of the dogs!

The search area was a long room in a converted barn; the room was divided into two by a row of chairs which were not included in the search. The venue had been used recently for a dinner reception and two rows of tables and chairs had been left in place and were decorated with confetti hearts and artificial roses. We moved some of the chairs to various locations around the room to make the search more interesting. There was one double fire escape door, which was closed, at the far end of the room.

Also in the search area were a small table, two garden benches, and coat stand.

There were some benches and tables available for an overlap search and these were used effectively by some handlers so that the dogs were already searching when they entered the search area. The search commenced when the dog’s nose crossed a line between two types of floor surface.

Of the eleven teams, six worked with gun oil, three with clove and two with Kong. Both hides were accessible to all dogs. The first hide was on the slatted seat of a chair which was under a table and disguised by some gauzy fabric. One of the garden benches was placed at an angle near this hide which created a puzzle for the dogs to work out how to get to source. Most dogs worked this to source very nicely, but some handlers did not trust their dog’s indication and called the dog away or were slow to call the alert. The second hide was under a piece of wood (cross-section of a tree trunk) on the slatted seat of a chair placed at the end wall. This chair was between a garden bench and the small table and then a row of chairs along the wall going in the direction of the fire doors. At some points in the trial the scent seemed to be tracking to the fire doors and a couple of dogs gave a false indication in this area. Some dogs winded the odour but

before being able to work it back to source were called away by handlers to search somewhere else.

Some handlers showed evidence of having a clear plan for a systematic search covering all areas. Most handlers allowed their dogs to free search or started on a line then freed the dog for part of the search. A couple of teams needed to put the dog back on the line.

Most dogs located at least one hide. Only two dogs found both hides. It was nice to see that all the handlers and dogs were able to cope with what was a challenging search and covered the whole area. Handlers who observed their dogs’ changes of behaviour well and then supported the dogs by appropriate tasking scored highly.

Well done everyone, it is lovely to watch the teamwork!

Special thanks to Carrie Haveron for timing and keeping the afternoon flowing smoothly.