Novice and Class ‘B’ – Kay Allen

I must start by saying how much I enjoyed being at a dog show and being surrounded by happy, motivated dogs, your standard is outstanding and the novice class was probably one of the hardest classes I have ever judged, with very little to choose between the top teams.  My thanks to Guus and Steven for their faultless stewarding and to Paul on the score table.

Novice

I set a very simple Novice round of two right turns, one about turn and two left turns, which worked really well in the lovely large ring that I was provided with, my thanks to Guus who stewarded the Novice class faultlessly and well done on winning the C class, it just goes to show the standard of your training to be able to be stewarding a novice one minute and then putting on a winning performance the next, I am sure Gio will become the Champion he deserves to be.

 I had 32 entries and of those 12 did excellent well constructed training rounds.  20 dogs turned up for stays and of those 7 broke either the sit or the down, which is quite a high percentage.  That said I was very pleased with my line up.

1st Margreet Mijnsbergen with Djinga from the Go Getters (Goldie), Wow, what style, I was not surprised to find out this was not your first Novice win, I was hugely impressed with your entire round, accurate, stylish, a real pleasure to watch.  Good luck in the higher classes.

2nd Cees Groen with Hond Nice of you to Come Bye Keen Kite (BC) Again another stylish round just let down by a slight anticipation in the finish on the retrieve, not a bad fault in my books but a fault nonetheless.  Well done.

3rd Petra Frijling with Senna (Gos d’Atura – Catalan sheepdog) Lovely team to watch, Senna giving her all, marks lost for Petra not walking a straight line, otherwise would have been in the top spot.

4th Henk Eekman with Britt Dara van’t Olde Salland (Oudduitse-Herdershond)  A quietly handled, neat round with only minor changes of position in heelwork.

5th  Jose Rande with Sunny from the Magic Sunshine (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) Cracking round from this little dog, I have never seen a small dog hold such a lovely position, will watch your progress with interest.

6th Carola Tilburg with Ghyro (BC) I really liked this team, just minor inaccuracies in heelwork which I am sure with a bit of work could be sorted, capable of so much more I am sure.

7th Sylvia Vos with Roxy Romie van de Zwarte Bellenhoeve (Kooiker Hondje) Another very neat team, more work needed on left turns, but otherwise not a lot wrong.  Well done.

Must mention Ivonne Meer with Abfab Irausquinn (WS) Ab Fab indeed, probably the most faultless novice round I have ever judged but sadly a casualty of stays.  Destined for the top I am sure.

Class ‘B’

 Unfortunately I had to move my send away due to the sunshine and the shadow cast by a lamp post on the side of the ring, this meant adjusting my slow pace heelwork pattern which proved a little challenging for some handlers, the heelwork was broken up into sections with each change of pace separated by a set exercise.  Steven was an excellent steward and managed to steer everyone in the right direction, and I have to say one of the nicest people I have met, just a genuine nice guy with a fabulous dog and not difficult to see why they are the current world champions.  I consider myself to be fairly laid back in my approach to judging, and I don’t have a problem with handlers having their lead on their body or, if they so desire, to remove the lead in between exercises to play with their dogs irrespective of the level of class, to my mind any opportunity to reward good work should be grasped with both hands, and whether it’s a lead or a sleeve then so be it, I would far rather have that, than have a dog being corrected.  Stays again proved costly with 50% of the class breaking either the sit or the down.  Scent also proved rather costly with the top 3 dogs failing, giving me an interesting time working out the placings.

1st Sandra Pierson with Akso (BC) Not the most stylish dog in the ring today but completed all exercises to a good standard. Well done.

2nd Annemarie Ibelings with Absolutely Fabulous Phoebe (BC) A faultless round from Phoebe but handler giving extra commands by wiggling her fingers (inadvertently I am sure), this and a major anticipation on the sendaway cost them the class, a team destined for the top without doubt.

3rd Annalies Van de Vlede with Di Luca (BC) An absolute clear winner …..until scent, stunning round with very little to mark so unlucky to have failed the scent.

4th Rineke Smit with Tika Jillaroo Uluru (Kelpie) I was delighted to have you in my line up, another victim of a failed scent, but with ring work of this quality I have no doubt this team will be C only very soon.

5th Elly Kooyman with Jamie (WS) Lovely stylish dog but somewhat noisy, but how nice to see a dog enjoying his work so much that he has to shout about it.

6th Gino Dewitte with My sweet Devils Eye Encke (BC) I liked this dog a lot, but felt it lacked confidence, I am sure with some sympathetic, motivational training they could hold their own in the higher classes.

7th Davy Alliet with Fouzywouzy from Imkes Friend (BC) A very talented young handler with a stunning red merle collie, unlucky in the stays, otherwise a very credible round, good luck with your own dog, I am sure you have a great future in the sport.

Must mention Lucie Van De Casteele with GB, some of the most stylish heelwork I have had the pleasure of watching, unfortunate to break stays, if I could have, I would have stolen GB and brought him home, a lovely, lovely boy.

Thank you so Monique and Lucie for organising such a fabulous day and for the wonderful experience of judging in your lovely country.  And good luck for the Obedience World Cup next year , I think I may be waving a flag of a different colour from now on!!