St John Bosco, Aldham.
Special Puppy
|
Position
|
Name
|
Breed/sex
|
Handler
|
|
1st
|
Apollobay Ultimate Paradox
|
LR B
|
Jackie Smith
|
|
2nd
|
Overthwarts Bilton
|
LR D
|
Keith Foster
|
|
3rd
|
Operative Officer of Hadfelda
|
LR D
|
Rob Cresswell
|
Novice
|
Position
|
Name
|
Breed/sex
|
Handler
|
|
1st
|
Tuscanni Winston of Fobbingacres
|
LR D
|
Chris Brown
|
|
2nd
|
Hitowngreen Falcon
|
LR D
|
Jane Sawyer
|
|
3rd
|
Bellspaddle Dexter at Wephamdown
|
LR D
|
Kate Bollen
|
|
4th
|
Bellspaddle Otto
|
LR D
|
Jo Rollinson
|
Veteran
|
Position
|
Name
|
Breed/sex
|
Handler
|
|
1st
|
Overthwarts Olive
|
LR B
|
Mark Schiller
|
|
2nd
|
Fobbingacres Tornado
|
LR D
|
Chris Brown
|
|
3rd
|
Websend Whitefarland
|
LR B
|
Tom Lowe
|
Judges Choice for the Ron Bendall Trophy won by Jackie Smith with Apollobay Ultimate Paradox
Best Golden Retriever for the Marberry Shield won by Peter Dobby with Polihale Gin Sling
Despite the recent very wet weather it stayed dry for the test and the ground held up well , we are grateful to the St Vincent de Paul Society for their permission to use their ground again. There were four good tests set by the Stewards of the day, Sue Palmer and Fred Rice and our judges were, Roy Tomlinson, Tracey Chesser, Brian Chesser and Paul Wheeler.
Our thanks for all the helpers that turned out to make the day a success. Our thanks to our sponsor Masters Dog Foods for their continuing support.
Full report. John Cameron 17/4.
Our first working test of the year saw us returning to St John Bosco, Aldham, by the kind permission of the St Vincent de Paul Society. This Special Puppy/Novice and Veteran test was held on Sunday April 15th. They day was overcast and slightly misty with little wind and the grounds were very wet from the recent rainy weather, but thankfully the rain stayed away for the tests. There were four good tests set by the Stewards of the day Sue Palmer and Fred Rice and our judges were Roy Tomlinson, Tracey Chesser, Brian Chesser and Paul Wheeler.
We also had Gordon & David our two “star” dummy throwers, and help from non-committee members, which is always appreciated.
Test one which was judged by Tracey Chesser consisted of a mark into water to gunshot followed by a blind with-out shot to an area of cover to the right and slightly short of the first mark. The test provided a number of challenges to both the handlers and the dogs, with fast following water, a difficult entrance into the water and the fact that the handler could not see the dummy or the dog in the water made for an interesting start to the day.
Test two judged by Brian Chesser comprised of a mark to shot into an undulating area of short cover, as the dog was returning a second shot was fired as a distraction and a blind was placed into an area slightly to the right of the first mark. Some of the less experienced dogs were impacted by the distraction while others found on the blind that the undulating terrain was pulling them left and back to hunt the area around the first mark.
Test three judged by Paul Wheeler involved a double retrieve into a wooded area consisting of heavy cover. The first retrieve which many found to be the more difficult was a mark to shot that required the dogs to pass between two large trees which acted as a barrier, this led some dogs to hunt short and as a consequence needing handling onto the dummy. The second retrieve was a blind to an area to the right of the first mark in a small contained area of cover. While the distances involved were short the nature of the cover made this a good hunting test for the dogs.
Test four judged by Roy Tomlinson was a two dog walk up with each dog having a retrieve to shot both behind and in front of the line. The ground was slightly undulating, and the cover was short.
Rather unusually none of classes required run offs to determine the final places suggesting that most of the dogs found some elements of the day to be challenging. After the presentation of the awards Brian Chesser said a few words on behalf of the judges.
Finally, would again like to thank Masters Dog Foods for sponsoring our test, and supplying a bag of dog food for the first three places. Thanks again to our Judges who hopefully enjoyed the quality of the dogs taking part. We now look forward to our second test on June 3rd.
We have loaded some additional photos of the day on the following link https://www.flickr.com/photos/151713341@N04/albums