17th August 2025

Levels: Intermediate, Advanced & Expert

Thank you to all those who competed at Banbury Dog Training Club's event yesterday. We had a few cancellations due to the hot weather and a couple of poorly dogs on the day. I hope they are all feeling better.

The day turned out to be a lot warmer than forecast and we had to take a lot of breaks for us all to cool down, especially the judges and stewards who were out in the field through the tests. There were some great results over the 3 levels with some unexpected wins for some. The day ended with 4 qualifying EDEX in Expert.

Thank you to Sheren Perez and Diane Burski for Intermediate. To Allyson Tohmé & Nicola Crowther for Expert and to Jenny Orchard for being my steward in Advanced. We also had a number of spectators who enjoyed finding out more about the sport and watching the different levels of competition.

Advanced Level - Judges report

Judge: Sheila Smith
Steward: Jenny Orchard

I enjoyed this, my first judging appointment. We had 3 entries on the day. The round incorporated the agility elements within the heelwork to keep things moving and to see how the dogs worked around the equipment.

I would like to thank my steward Jenny Orchard for her assistance, I think the hardest thing was trying to get stakes in the rock hard ground.

The day was very hot which I think affected the two black dogs at different times. The sendaway to the nice cool shade of the hedge was too good to leave, almost!

Some work needed on the agility, especially the clear jump, and there were obvious teeth marks in the wooden retrieve article.

Well done to all my lovely competitors and thank you for asking about the marks you were given. 

Expert Level - Judges Report

Judge: Allyson Tohme
Steward: Nicky Crowther
Event Manager: Sheila Smith

The weather was dry, extremely hot and humid with little wind. Ground conditions were dry, rock hard with reasonable cover. 8 entered, 7 ran. Breeds: WSD/BC, Lab, Border Terrier, BSD (Mal)

This was my first visit to this marvellous venue which is a superb location for the sport. Everyone was very warm and welcoming and the facilities excellent. To say that I was overjoyed when I discovered that Nicky was to be my steward would be an understatement. To have such an experienced and accomplished helpmeet lightened the load immensely and meant that I could focus my full attention on the most important members of the day, the competing teams.

Nicky did the bulk of the work of the day, from trying to insert several sets of poles into the unyielding earth, placing the property search articles, organising the detection exercise, moving the agility equipment, positioning the Assistance Dog artefacts as well stewarding the teams around the control section.

As is my wont, I divided the day into sections; property and detection, followed by the Assistance Dog exercises, Control and finishing with the stays so that the dogs could complete them in the shade of the quickly erected gazebo. After completing each section handlers were given their marks to hand in to expedite collation of results and keep me “blind” to overall scores/qualification. The theme of the day was “A Weekend Away;” unfortunately two competitors would have been unable to look after their choppers as they failed to locate and retrieve their lost toothbrush! The detection portion of the day was mixed but fortunately my contingency plans were executed professionally by Nicky.

As a trainer and assessor for Dog A.I.D. I am particularly interested in the Assistance Dog exercises. All the items were given to the steward, and I asked to inspect them before they were placed. The tunnel proved to be the most problematic for most teams with only one team gaining full marks. Despite the dichotomy that exists between the roles of judge and trainer I thought it worthwhile to offer competitors some observations post this section on ways to potentially enhance the training and execution of these tasks but also how the thermal properties of the articles can affect performance.

The regulations and guidance have always emphasised the term “practical” and, at this level, the word “useful” is also incorporated; terms which, along with the need to consider progression from Advanced level, guided my approach to the control section of the day. To this end participants were required to carry their “weekend bag/picnic basket” during the heelwork portion. At the end they were then asked to unzip the bag, remove the wet facecloth they found, zip up the bag and perform the retrieve exercise.

The sendaway and redirect was next, “A” recall and then the speak. During the stay the “weekend bag/picnic basket” was placed between the handler and dog.

Qualifying EDEX

1st Babs with Marvel (Malinois) a consistent performance throughout as one would expect from this team. Congratulations.

2nd Jill with Sasky (Black Labrador) despite concerns over the heat she did you proud. Very well done.

3rd Judy with Gunner (Black Labrador) another very experienced team and a solid overall execution. Well done.

Qualifying EDQ

4th Carol and Artie (Border Terrier) the highest score in the AD section and such a determined little character. Take a bow.

(Apologies if I have made any mistakes with names) I would like to thank the competitors for taking the change of judge, the round and my marks in their stride and you should be immensely proud of yourselves and your dogs.