Monday August 18, 2008

At just after 7:30 in the morning Jim Couch led a caravan of participants down the road to the “New” Club Land. The group followed the winding trail up and down hills (yes there are hills in Saskatchewan) to the South end of the property. When they got to the test site they were treated to a panoramic view of rolling farmland in the distance, with the valley between the running line and a line of bushes and trees literally filled with more than 8 dozen goose decoys. There were large shells, small shells, wind socks, silhouettes and flying Canada goose kites as well as a selection of Speckled Goose decoys donated by Avery Sorting Dog for the occasion.  At the running line there was a hunting blind dressed up and hidden with willow branches and sitting in the blind were your hunting partners – Wally Turk and Hans Berin waiting with shotguns ready. At the center of the blind there was a gap just large enough for the dog to sit, and willows were woven over the top of the dog to form an arch. To the right of the dog, in the blind, was a pail for the handler to sit on as well as a “fake” shotgun.

The handler was instructed to start the test with a duck or goose called, which initiated calling from all of the hidden gun stations. When that calling stopped, the judges signaled to the first gunner with a call.  The left gun station, enclosed in a holding blind at the left edge of the line of bushes, called back and then launched a mallard drake from a winger with a tight angle back trajectory to the left, landing 92 yards from line. When that bird was launched the judges yelled “Take em” and a shotgun was fired from the line.  The judges then called again, were answered by the center gunner and a bird was launched using a winger with a tight angle back trajectory to the right, landing in what appeared to be heavy grass cover 68 yards from line. That bird was also shot using a shotgun by one of the shooters in the holding blind with the dog. The judges called again and a bird was launched from behind the right edge of the line of trees and bushes, a 90 throw to the right landing in light cover with buckbrush.  That bird was 77 yards from line. That bird was also shot by the gunner in the holding blind with a shotgun and then there were two more shots, to set up the blinds before the dog was released to retrieve.  The handler could send their dog or could walk around to the outside of the blind to send their dog. All of the marks were beautiful mature mallards.

In addition to the marks there were two hot blinds in the field.  The first was 116 yards away, very close to being in-line with where the go-bird mark landed. The second was 117 yards away, in line with the center mark from the running line – that blind was run from a post 10 yards to the right of the hunting blind.

The instructions given to the handler were that the dog was to retrieve one mark, and then must retrieve the right hand blind before retrieving the other marks. Finally the left blind was to be retrieved.

Honorary test dog GMH BigSky’s Windancer WCX CDX, a ten year old yellow Labrador owned by Lynn and Ross Campbell and handled by Ross was sent for a single mark which she completed with no difficulties. Dancer was the first female Labrador Retriever GMH in Western Canada. The next honorary test dog was Sandpocket Char, owned and handled by Jeff Morari. Char is 13.5 years old and was well known in his day as the ultimate hunting dog – the “terror of teal, master of mallards”. Char also did well.  All of the test dogs and running dogs were announced today by Rhonda Morari as they came to line.

At 8:25 the female official test dog, Burlab’s Raven SH, WCX  was run on the first series handled by Dave MacDonald from Regina This dog did well on the go bird but could not be handled to the right hand blind and was picked up.  He then did a good job on the other marks and the left blind.

At 8:35 the male official test dog, OTCH CH BigSky’s Sun Runner WCX, SH began the test. This dog did well on the go bird and the right hand blind, as well as the other marks but could not be handled through the narrow passage leading to the left hand blind and was picked up.

The judges consulted, and decided to proceed with the test as planned.

The work on the test was mixed.  Over the day there was at least one break, and one handler forgot the judge’s directions and picked up two marks before the right blind, so was dropped. The marks presented little difficulty, with only a handful of dogs handling on one mark, usually because of concerns that they might end up at one of the hot blinds. The blinds proved to be very challenging. Dogs that got a little off line on the way to the right blind would disappear into acres of wolf willow and would only rarely cast back into the wind. The left hand blind was in a narrow window between bushes and trees and tall grass, so dogs that got off line either direction were often lost.  A few late running dogs had trouble handling out of the scent from the old fall on one or both of the blinds.
The wind started from left to right (East to West), but then was steady with strong gusts from the Southeast, but this did not seem to change the test at all.  There were many poor blinds, and 7 pickups on the test. There were also many excellent jobs on the marks and blinds.  It was a hot day, with highs in the low 30’s with bright sunshine, and the judges enjoyed the shade of a tent from Tritronics while the participants and gallery enjoyed the shade under two tents from Purina. After the test the entire gallery pitched in picking up decoys and everything was cleaned up in no time.

Callbacks were given at the Clubhouse, where many participants chose to cool their dogs off with a swim in Number one pond while they waited (designated as training and playing site by the judges for the entire week). Callbacks to tomorrow’s test are: 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 35. Dog 26 will start tomorrow morning (water marks and water blind).

Submitted by Sue Taylor

Photos from Day 1
(click on thumbnail to view full image)

Diagram of Day 1 Test	View from the line

Left Bird	Middle Bird	Right Bird