Miso Sipola – Finland
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the kind invitation to judge in IWT Switzerland. It is truly an honour, and I am very much looking forward to the event, the dogs, and the people I will meet there.
My passion for hunting and shooting has been a significant part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was this passion that led me to buy my first retriever back in 1985. Since then, I have had the privilege of working with many wonderful dogs, and I have proudly made up five champions over the years.
As an official FCI judge, I have had the opportunity to judge field trials, dummy trials, and working tests in many different countries across Europe. Each experience has been unique and enriching, and I always feel privileged to see so many talented handlers and dogs in action. I wish all teams the very best of luck and hope everyone enjoys a fair, challenging, and rewarding competition.
Neil Appleton – UK
I have always been passionate about fieldsports and those involving dogs in particular. I am honoured to be a Kennel Club A Panel Retriever Judge & also a Professional Gundog Trainer based in Wigan, Lancashire.
I am an IGL Retriever Championship qualifier with countless awards in both Working Tests & Field Trials having been competing for twenty years. Although I take great enjoyment in judging and competing, my greatest enthusiasm is with picking up on various shoots with my labradors. I love the outdoors and am extremely fortunate to pick up on beautiful estates in the UK.
I would like to express my gratitude for inviting me to judge. It is both an honour and a privilege and I wish you all the best of luck.
Terry Prentice – UK
Part of my upbringing revolved around training dogs for field sports. I have competed in field trials since the early 1970s. Over the years, I have achieved considerable success with both Labradors and Golden Retrievers, all under my Findpoint affix. I am proud to have qualified for the IGL Retriever Championship seven times, and in 2014, I was honored to receive a Diploma of Merit.
For the past thirty years, I have served as an A Panel judge representing the Royal Kennel Club, judging not only in England but also in Ireland and across Europe. In 2025, I judged the IGL Retriever Championship on the Scottish borders at Lauder.
Since 2016, I have had the privilege of representing the International Gundog League as their President, a role I hold with great personal honour.
I would like to wish the teams the best of luck, and to thank the IWT for the invitation to judge such a prestigious event.
Andrew Slingsby – UK
Living in Lincolnshire, I have been involved in dogs since I was a child, when I first started beating on shoots and then moved to picking up and shooting.
I have been a Professional Gundog Trainer for about 12 years now full time where I predominantly help clients to train their own dogs and cover all aspects of Gundog training and do a lot of problem solving with dogs which have various issues.
I have always enjoyed shooting and picking up with my team of dogs on local shoots during the shooting season which led me to start competing about 17 years ago, I started competing in working tests at first then moved to field trials and have made up two FTCH’s in this time and run in the IGL Retriever Championship four times. I am also now a Kennel Club A Panel Retriever judge and enjoy my judging commitments during the trial and working test season.
I very much appreciate my kind invitation to judge the IWT and look forward to seeing some excellent dogs compete.
Andrew Mutimer – UK
I was introduced to gundogs and shooting by my father Julian who helped me train my first dog and enabled me to take his dogs picking up to learn how to handle them.
My journey training dogs began around 2009, and I managed to win my first field trial in 2012.
I started judging working tests and field trials soon after in 2013 and became a B panel kennel club judge in 2021.
I’m currently working 4 Labrador Retrievers, 1 Golden Retriever and an English Springer Spaniel.
Throughout the shooting season I take my dogs picking up on shoots, wild fowling, driven shooting and walked up shooting.
I feel honoured to have been asked along with my fellow judges to return to Switzerland to judge this years’ IWT.