Judges Reports - Level 2
"Bo Peep is a very dog friendly caravan site and an excellent venue for Draught Tests.
It was an excellent weekend with a high number of entries in all levels.
There were 11 entries in level 2 of which 8 passed. It was great to see handlers actively encouraging their dogs in the control section, which meant that the majority completed this element to a high standard.
A number of the entrants need to work on change of pace before moving to the next level. The majority of points lost and those who were unsuccessful on this occasion were due to breaking the down stay, which also will need work before moving to the next level.
There were 8 dogs that went through to the pull section which was completed in two groups of 4.
One entrant really must pay more attention to the cart especially when tackling obstacles.
This feedback seemed to have been ignored given their performance on the following day.
Overall, the pull sections were excellent with teams thinking about the obstacles and using stewards where appropriate.
The majority of teams worked well together exhibiting a calm and steady approach. Well done to all those who passed.
Thank you to our call steward Ben Mercer and to all those who helped make the weekend so successful."
Kevin Mercer
"Firstly I would like to thank the Southern Newfoundland club for asking me to judge at their tests.
I would also like to thank Kevin Mercer for allowing me to judge alongside him, and Angie Mercer for a lovely and smoothly run event.
I would also like to thank the participants for giving me the opportunity to judge our wonderful dogs.
We had a great entry of dogs and handlers.
There were handlers of all experience and to some degree you could tell the experienced ones.
However there were some very good novice handlers and one in particular I would not have known was a novice, this team was very good on manoeuvres and should go on to do very well as a team.
We also had one very stubborn young lady and her handler did a great job to keep her going.
This is very difficult under test, you never know when to give up or persevere, well done to this team.
Overall the standard was very good.
I was impressed especially with the handlers confidence in their dogs waiting for gates to be opened and closed etc and not needing to use a steward to hold the dog.
Some of the teams just need a little more practice on tight moves i.e. just taking it a little bit slower and thinking about it first, there is no time limit and it is not a race so if necessary take it slow.
The biggest problem was the dreaded down stay.
The teams that did not make the haul only lost out on this element because all of the control sections were acceptable.
Bad luck to these teams, that's Newfie's for you.
They can do it a hundred times in training and goof it up on the day, that's why we love them so much.
Thanks again for allowing me to judge and well done to everyone."
Karen Thompson
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