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Novice Class

1^st (95 points) - Entry No. 16: Rose Of Festive (Golden Retriever) owned by Patricia Chen Siew Peng

Very impressive and precise heelwork. Most impressed by the smart right turns and the very good change of pace. Only minor improvements need to be done. There was a bit of crowding at the figure-of-eight when on lead, but they did an almost perfect figure-of-eight when heeling free. The dog anticipated the forward command from one of the downs and started moving first. Handler needs to be a bit careful not to adjust to the dog (it happened at one of the halts). Perfect score for all the other exercises. A very worthy winner.

2^nd (86 points) - Entry No. 12: Garvenmal First Tansy (Miniature Schnauzer) owned by Wong Swee Kay

This handler needs to be a bit careful in giving additional commands to the dog when coming to a halt during heelwork. The dog missed a stand and sat instead when on lead. The down was out of position when both on lead and off lead. Figure-of-eight was good, except for handler’s clumsiness when he bumped into the dog when on lead. The Stand Stay was crooked and the finish in the Recall was slow. Scored full marks in Sit Stay and Down Stay.

3^rd (82 points) - Entry No. 2: Little Kingdom Striker (Golden Retriever) owned by Leong Vit Cheng

This team again impressed me with smart about turns. However, more work needs to be put in so as to achieve better precision in the sits, stands and downs which were mostly out of position. This was made worse when the handler tried to adjust himself to compensate for the dog. The Stand Stay was also out of position. The Recall should have been done at a faster pace. Scored full marks for Sit Stay and Down Stay.

4^th (82 points) - Entry No. 3: Jessen Toby (Chihuahua) owned by Lee Kong Hoong

Scored the same points as entry number 2, but lost out in the mandatory count-back. Would have preferred to see a more pronounced fast pace, rather than the handler giving the impression of going fast with the dog lagging behind. Required a second command to sit when on lead. Handler should refrain from giving the sit command. There was some lagging when on lead, and this became more pronounced when heeling free. The finish was slow in the Recall with the handler using the command sit too many times. Scored full marks for the Sit Stay and Down Stay.

Passed (80 points) - Entry No. 17: Halamac Finn (Golden Retriever) owned by Max Lee Tiong Huat

What I liked about this team was the good change of pace. However, I did not like the figure-of-eight where there was lagging and crowding with handler going too wide. The dog was too much distracted during heel free and it got left behind in the halt, stand, down and right turn. It was again distracted after the figure-of-eight and heeled out of position. It was out of position when sitting in front and when finishing for the Recall. Full marks for all the stay exercises.

Passed (77 points) - Entry No. 6: Cravia Loves Cameroon (Australian Silky Terrier) owned by Lim Aik Ming

Required a second command to down during Heel On Lead with some lagging at the about turn and figure-of-eight with the handler trying to compensate by pacing. Sat and stood out of position. Just managed to scrape through in Heel Free with 15 points when it required a second command to sit and also missed a down. The lagging also became more pronounced. The Recall was smart and brisk but the sit in front was a bit crooked. Scored full marks for Sit Stay and Down Stay.

Failed (79 points) - Entry No.7: Zachery Of Sherylazade (Shetland Sheepdog) owned by Goh Leong Chai

Scored 79 points which is a passing mark, but I could not pass this entry because they failed in the Sit Stay. The fast pace in the heelwork was good, however the slow pace was not distinct enough. Some lagging when on lead at the figure-of-eight as well as when heeling free when it lapsed in attention. Required a second command to down when heeling free. Perfect scores for all the stay exercises.

Failed (73 points) - Entry No. 11: Loaching Kiwi Reber (Golden Retriever) owned by Helena Hon

Managed to scrape through when heeling on lead with 10 points because of missing a down in addition to the same lagging problem it had in the previous class. When it came to heel free, the lagging became more pronounced. This, together with missing a down at the end, could not earn them a passing score with only 13 marks for Heel Free. However, scored full marks for Stand Stay, Recall, Sit Stay and Down Stay.

Failed (69 points) - Entry No. 1: Quinnviews Pup Lady (Miniature Schnauzer) owned by Looi Siew Teip

Just managed to scrape through Heel On Lead (10 points) and Heel Free (15 points) mainly because of missing two sits in each of the exercises. Apart from that, there was the lagging problem, both on lead as well as heel free, at the about turns and at the figure-of-eight. After losing so many points in heelwork, it was so easy to fail by just losing one point in Stand Stay (for a crooked stand) and five points in Recall (with handler having to say sit at the beginning as well as at the end, apart from crooked sits). Scored full marks for Sit Stay and Down Stay.

Failed (68 points) - Entry No. 10: Great Growkenn Agnes (Golden Retriever) owned by Helena How

This team failed because of not passing the Recall exercise when the dog required a second command to sit in the beginning as well as a second command to come. Apart from that, they gave a good, lively performance when heeling on lead. However, there was some lagging when at fast pace and at the figure-of-eight. When heeling free, the lagging was too pronounced to be impressive. The dog also missed a down at the end and sat instead, after some untidiness at the figure-of-eight. Scored full marks for all the stay exercises.

Failed (65 points) - Entry No. 15: Sunshine (Irish Setter) owned by Kumaran Ambu

The biggest problem this team had was with the down command, with the dog missing practically every down. The stands were also weak with the handler having to apply additional body language to reinforce. Additional body language was also applied to induce the sits. I am sure better results would have been achieved if training were done without all the additional body language. Lost points in Recall because of a prolonged command to sit in front (additional body language again!). Scored full marks for all the stay exercises.

Failed (62 points) - Entry No. 25: Leowon Rose Sahara (Shih Tzu) owned by Jimmy J M Lim

Failed because of breaking the Sit Stay and Down Stay. Heel On Lead was good except that the dog required a second command to down. Heel Free was poor with a lot of lagging. Scored full marks for Stand Stay and lost two points for recall because of sitting crooked in front as well as at the finish.