SEWSSC WORKING ASSESSMENTS 17^TH MAY 2015

SPONSORED BY MASTERS DOG FOOD

Judge – Julie Revill

I was delighted to be invited to judge the Working Assessments at my own Club and had looked forward to the day very much. In the event my co-judge Fiona Stevenson, and myself had a super entry and great weather on the day, maybe a touch too warm on occasions! Thanks must go to Charles Dixon and members of the Committee for the arrangements which were, as usual, perfect. Good food, good company, good dogs and good weather what more could you want?

I did generally feel that the standard was not as high as I remember it being from the last test I entered myself – BUT – and it is a big BUT – there are many dogs coming on who have real potential and I hope all the handlers will continue their training, and improving their dogs and their own knowledge. It is great to see the working ‘minor breeds’ are alive and well, long may it continue.

My comments show handler error in a lot of cases - not listening to the judge’s instructions, not giving the dogs understandable instructions, moving forward too fast not allowing the dog to cover all its ground, and moving in on retrieves without asking permission to do so. (You do lose points for this but there will be higher losses if you do not ask permission).

I tried to make notes on each dog and do hope my comments will be constructive and of assistance to new, and also the more experienced, handlers.

PUPPY

1^st Ottaway’s WSS. GLENBROWS MOMENTO. Easily the best hunter in Puppy, moved with some enthusiasm, but still needs to learn to quarter the ground better. Steadiness was a problem, she ran in on her retrieve, but collected it quickly and returned it to hand beautifully. She found her unseen retrieve eventually by using the wind (lovely to see) and again retrieved it to hand. This young lady has enormous potential – well done.

2^nd Windebank’s WSS. ISFRYN COPPER MAGIC FOR PURWICK. Her obedience was good and gained almost full marks. Her hunting showed potential but I felt that a lot more training was needed – she did not understand what was required of her. I believe that her handler may have concentrated her training on retrieving as although her seen retrieve was not good, she eventually found her unseen and collected and retrieved it to hand beautifully. Many marks were lost by her handler walking forward on retrieves, please remember to ‘stay put’ – only moving forward with the judge’s permission, less marks will be lost this way.

3^rd Edge’s Sussex Spaniel. TAWNYKA TOTAL TABOO. Excellent obedience. This little girl has some potential for the future. Her hunting was slow and deliberate and her retrieves could have been better, but she did find her seen when the handler walked up to it, and then retrieved to hand well. Her unseen was a failure unfortunately, again the dog did not seem to know what was expected of it.

I have to apologise to this handler and the handler of the other Sussex in Puppy, I never could add up and got my totals wrong, so the run off was not actually required – sorry.

4^th Luckin’s Sussex Spaniel. SOVAROMA STRANGELY BROWN. The dog hunted quite well and gained most of his marks for this. He could still do with more pace and a better pattern. He did his heeling OK but broke his Stay a number of times which lost him steadiness marks, his recall was also a bit ‘wild’. Sadly he failed on both retrieves. Lots of potential here, keep at it.

As there were only two more dogs in this class, I will quickly make comment on them.

5^th would have been Stone’s WSS, STEDIGAN ALL IN GOOD TIME. Heeling good, failed on steadiness. His hunting had pace but was a bit hit and miss, however I could see he knew he should follow a pattern. Sadly his retrieving was non-existent today. My notes say – he has style, keep with it.

6^th Buckwell’s WSS. KILLENA TUMBAA. This dog was hampered by going first I think! It was just not his day. Although his obedience was good, his handler lost him marks by touching and holding him to ensure he obeyed. Whistle response was good. He ran in on his seen retrieve and I could not give marks for his unseen as handler walked right up to it, a shame as the retrieve was good eventually.

NOVICE

We decided to judge this class together, Fiona Stevenson testing for obedience and then I tested for hunting and retrieving. This was a huge class of 16 dogs and on lovely ground, but the sun came out and a lot of dogs seemed to feel the heat which showed in their hunting.

I do have notes on each of the dogs and I am happy to pass them on via email if anyone would like them – contact me on julita@furzelands.demon.co.uk.

It was interesting to note that three of my four top dogs featured in the final placings when Fiona’s marks were added to mine, albeit in different positions!

1^st Page’s Clumber Spaniel. MICKLELESS SUNNY DAWN. Hunting here could have had more pace (possibly the heat) but she was obedient to the whistle and had a good pattern. Totally steady to shot, good seen retrieve with good direction from handler. Unseen also good, taking direction well. I saw this one as having great future potential. Well done.

2^nd Kirton’s American Ccker Spaniel. QUAJALOSH MISS ATTITUDE OF SABISABI. Nice to see this breed returning to minor breed tests. Decent hunting, well directed but does need to go more freely – again the heat could well have affected this. Ran in on his seen retrieve, but eventually collected it to hand, handler – try not to move forward – same remark for unseen. Marks were lost for this.

3^rd Cooper’s WSS. FIERGEN CITY LIMITS. This dog impressed me a lot. Good hunting pattern if slow and not very wide, responded to whistle commands well. Retrieves were excellent, using the wind to advantage on the unseen, both to hand. This dog has enormous potential if handler can get the hunting right and increase his pace – well done.

4^th Waller’s WSS. ISFRYN ALPACA ALLEY. Hunting was freer than many today, but still a bit slow. Responded to direction well. On her seen retrieve she went off on her own, but found it in the end and retrieved well. The unseen she over ran but then collected it with an impressive display of use of the wind. Well done.

OPEN

This class was judged by both judges together, agreeing on marks after each dog’s run – we were in full agreement in our placings.

1^st White’s WSS. FIERGEN PRIVATE DANCER. This one was a joy to watch, she moved well through the woodland, getting her nose down and responding well to whistle and direction, it was obvious that she knew her job well, both her seen and unseen retrieves were copybook. A very well deserved win.

Also Best Hunter in Tests and Best in Tests.

2^nd Moon’s Sussex Spaniel. TREVALLISSE EYE OF THE STORM. This dog also knew her job but failed to maximise the use of lovely woodland, her handler lost her some marks using voice as opposed to whistle. Certainly she moved fairly well through the cover but did not really have her mind of her task. She was completely steady to shot but failed on both her retrieves which was a great shame.

3^rd Evans’ WSS. COEYBRAIN RYAN AR NANTLE. This one started off well with nose down and moving nicely, then he blew it all by ‘bogging off’ and doing his own thing, his patient handler managed not to lose her cool and engineered a copybook seen retrieve but he spoiled his unseen by dropping it on his return – pity.

4^th Vowles’ Sussex Spaniel.SH CH JUBILWELL BEAST OF BODMIN AT VORBROOK. It was just not this lad’s day. He began OK with nose down, but hunted for himself and not his handler. Steadiness was a problem. I have to blame handler error a bit as she tended to ignore instructions and went forward much too fast on hunting, and walked in on the retrieves, losing a lot of marks. The seen retrieve was brought to hand nicely but he failed on the unseen.

Judge – Fiona Stevenson

I would like to thank the SEWSSC Committee for inviting me to judge the Club’s annual Working Assessment Test. My co-judge, Julie Revill, and I were delighted with the super entry and we were blessed with lovely weather on the day, albeit a little too warm for some of the dogs and handlers.

Thank you to the Committee who worked very hard to put on a successful event. I was very well looked after and felt a general happy vibe from everyone who took part.

Due to the large entry, especially in Novice, I judged the Special Beginners and Julie judged Puppies, with the Novice test split into two disciplines, with obedience judge by me and hunting retrieving judged by Julie and scores combined. We judged the Open test together.

SPECIAL BEGINNERS

The Special Beginner test was aimed at testing the main aspects of gundog work, namely walk to heel, stop, stay, recall, hunting and retrieve. Each discipline was tested with a maximum of 10 marks awarded, totalling 60 marks. Congratulations to everyone who entered and ‘had a go’. The results are as follows:

1^st Ottaway’s WSS GLENBROWS MOMENTO – very nice, steady heelwork losing very few marks in the first four exercises. It was nice to see her head down during the hunting exercise and a positive response to turn commands. Her retrieve started well but she lost interest on the way back. However, with her handler’s calm approach, was eventually encouraged to return it to hand. I was delighted to see that she went on to win Puppy and was just out of the cards in Novice. One to watch for the future. Well done.

2^nd Coles’ WSS STEDIGAN COMING UP ROSES – only lost out to 1^st place by one mark. Again all exercises carried out very well, demonstrating basic obedience has been instilled. Just pulled slightly on heel and handler lost a mark due to leaving her dog before commanded to do so. She hunted very well with enthusiasm. A good retrieve but dog ran in and had to be helped to find the dummy but brought it back willingly. Another one to watch for the future.

3^rd O’Connor’s WSS DUNKSDREAM DIZZY DAFFODIL - a very good run in all of the exercises. Lost marks on heelwork but she eventually settled down. The sit to command was not as sharp as 1^st and 2^nd. A nice recall with good presentation. The hunting principles are there and just need to be developed to get her head down. Her retrieve was not completed; such a difficult exercise to animate in some Welshies as they prefer to hunt. Lots of encouragement needed and find a favourite toy to keep for special retrieving playtime! Keep up with the training.

4^th Connelly’s WSS KILLENA MOONDANCE – again, only 1 mark behind 3^rd place. Overall a good test, just not as sharp on the sit command and recall. Hunting was a little slower but she got her nose down and remained steady. Unfortunately, lost marks on the retrieve, as she did not pick it up. My notes say, “a nice steady dog but lacked oomph”. Well done

Other places as follows:

5^th Luckin’s Sussex SOVAROMA STRANGELY BROWN - Nice dog with potential. Steady heelwork, broke stay command, hunted well but a bit DIY and sadly lost interest in his retrieve.

6^th Nowak’s WSS CATJACK DIVA – Nice heelwork, sit to command good but needs to be sharper, hunted well but needs more drive and after an enthusiastic start, lost interest in her retrieve. Keep going as the basics are almost there.

7^th Vowles’ Sussex Tawnyka Cedar Sunrise Over Vobrook – Same remarks as 6^th above in heelwork and sit command. She was a bit sticky on the hunting and wasn’t very sure about what she was being asked to do. The increasing temperature certainly was not helping her either. An enthusiastic run out to the dummy but lost interest and did not pick it up. Another day and cooler temperatures will probably make all the difference.

8^th Taylor’s WSS PLUTO SWOLD CLOUD – A first attempt at anything of this kind of training for dog and handler. However, good marks were scored in the early exercises so needs to focus on training to hunt and retrieve. Overall well done for a first attempt and I hope dog and handler can get along to the training sessions organised by the Club and other similar training opportunities as there is lots of potential to improve.

NOVICE

The Novice Test was divided into two sections of assessment. Julie assessed the hunting and retrieving elements, whilst I assessed obedience. A maximum of 30 marks were on offer for my part of the assessment, with Julie’s assessment awarding a maximum of 80 marks. My comments on the placings are as follows:

1^st Page’s Clumber Spaniel MICKLEMESS SUNNY DAWN – A faultless exercise in off lead heelwork, stop command and recall. This lovely girl stood out and her handler handled her in a calm, confident manner. She will go far I am sure.

2^nd Kirton’s American Cocker QUAJALOSH MISS ATTITUDE OF SABISABI – Only lost 2 marks on the off lead heelwork as she wandered a little but the rest of the assessment she scored full marks. Nice to see she went well under my co-judge in the hunting and retrieving exercises. Well done.

3^rd Cooper’s WSS FIERGEN CITY LIMITS - All three exercises carried out well. Just lost marks on the speed in which he did them, although the heat may be to blame on this occasion. I have seen this dog develop and progress well which is down to the commitment of his handler. He now needs to develop animation and speed. A well deserved place.

4^th Waller’s WSS ISFRYN ALPACA ALLEY – A very nice performance on all three exercises but lacked oomph. I see she was saving herself for the hunting and retrieving exercises that she did well. A nice pairing of dog and handler.

I also have notes on each of the dogs that didn’t make the top four and I am happy to pass them on via email. Please contact me on blythway@yahoo.com

OPEN

Julie and I judged the Open class jointly and were in full agreement in our placings. Please see Julie’s notes on this class, as I am in complete agreement with her comments.