INTER CLUB WORKING TEST 2005
A lovely day was had by all our team.
The team consisted of Bob Marcham and Rob Taylor running Open and myself and Sarah Cowan running the novice dogs.
We came 6th overall and this was mainly due to a ‘bad time’ at the pickup where we only scored 40. We would have been up with the winners otherwise as we did not have an individual failure – in fact on one exercise we had 20,20,20 and 20 for the team’s performance. The top marks of the day.
It was a lovely, well organised day and we look forward to sending a team again to this year’s Inter Club hosted by the GRC of Northumbria
Wendy Andrews
INTER CLUB WORKING TEST 2007
A lovely day was had by all our team.
The team consisted of (left to right in photo below) Laurina Blankenspoor, Lin Hughes (first time she had been in a team), myself (first time my Open Bitch, who won the BD&C Novice W/T last autumn had been in a team) and Bob Marcham.
We all thought it a great honour to be selected to represent the club and you will have heard that we came a very credible 6th. We did much better than I could have imagined as it was the first time we had been together as a team, difficult to arrange a training session as we live so far apart.
After the first test the dogs really started to work together, it was a delight to watch and we got the highest mark of the day for the team pick-
All in all it was a lovely week-
Jean Baveystock
GOLDEN RETRIEVER INTER-
I apologise in advance, but I’m going to give the game away in the opening paragraph; “We came 4th!!!” Thrilled doesn’t quite cover it!
The BD&C team on the right of the picture in blue. (Photo by Mary Neil)
Berkshire Downs & Chilterns sent a team to run in the Golden Retriever Inter-
The team captain was Bob Marcham with his Open dog ???? (Archie); Helen Burnie with her Novice dog ??? (Derby); Joanne Tomlinson with her Novice dog Canaleigh Long Island Iced Tea (Willow) and Jean Baveystock with her Open dog Baveybuilt Tiffon Too (Tiffytoo).
We went up on the Friday night, ready for the ‘pre-
We were able to meet up with all the other competitors at a dinner held on the Saturday night in Thornhill, and the main event was on the Sunday.
The day consisted of 6 tests and we started with the walk up; oh joy! It was through a field of thistles (very apt), with the lovely David Lisset judging us & lifting the tension with his friendly manner.
The next tests were done in pairs with handlers and dogs sat at the top of a hill; in the first test the Novice blind was beside some straining posts enticingly by the side of some water, and the Open blind was within a wire enclosure 45 degrees away from where the Open dog had just seen the Novice dummy picked.
In the second test the Novice dog was given a blind down the hill at the base of a large tree, and the Open dog got a long mark in front into a wood over a wire fence (we began to realise that all that practice over stone walls had been unnecessary!).
Willow & Tiffytoo poised for action! (Photo by Mary Neil)
The water test (the hardest of the day) was across a wide, fast running piece of river. The cover on the other side was high and dense with little scent; the Novice dogs were given a mark across the bank into cover, downstream from where they were sat up, and the Open dogs sent for a blind not far from where the Novice had been. As a team we won this test with 65 out of 80 (with Bob scoring a perfect 20!).
Our penultimate test was actually Test One and was again done in pairs, with the handlers & dogs sat up on a bank in a wooded area with a wire fence at it’s foot a couple of meters away. There was a double mark to shot in the distance with the Open mark first to the left and the Novice mark second about 90 degrees to the right. The Novice dog was sent first, leaving the Open dog having to remember its mark and not be pulled to the area the Novice had just worked.
For the last test we were called up in pairs for a double blind, the blind for the Novice being on the edge of a bed of nettles some way in front of them. The Open blind was a very long way up a hill in the other direction, with rushes, bushes and tree stumps to contend with. Helen & Jo (or rather Derby & Willow) scored the only double 20 out of all the Novice dogs on this test; what a great note to end a superb day on…
Jean & Tiffytoo; Jo & Willow; Helen & Derby & Bob & Archie
The winning clubs were; 1st the GRC on 480 points; 2nd the GRC of Wales on 475 points; 3rd the NW GRC on 472 points, and (after a close fought run off with Eastern Counties GRC) Berkshire Downs & Chilterns came 4th on 467 points (but you knew that already!).