There was an amendment in the callbacks issued after Monday’s test, and dog 14 was now called back to run the second series.

The second series started a little later Tuesday morning, as before 8am the sun rising in the East interfered with the visibility of one of the birds.  The caravan was once again led by Jim Couch, this time a short 600 yard drive North on the property to pond 3; a picturesque long narrow pond with 3 points, 2 islands and multiple pockets of cattails and bush along the edges.  At least 5 dozen mallard decoys dressed up the South end of the pond in preparation for the hunt and 6 Canada goose decoys surrounded the islands to the North. The judges set up on and adjacent to a mound on the Southwest corner of the pond while the test unfolded below.

The instructions were that the handler and dog were to do a walk up from the holding blind to a bit of ribbon beside the mound, at which point calling started from out in the field and the running dog could be told to sit.  A single duck was then thrown and shot – a severe in-throw from beside a tree landing on the base of a point 69yards from line.  This single was then picked up as the 4th marked retrieve by the dog that had just completed the triple and blind, making it a cold honor for the running dog. The dog that retrieved this single then remained on honor while the triple went down for the next running dog.

The running dog and handler then moved 5-6 yards closer to the waters edge, into a makeshift blind to watch the triple go down.  After some calling from the gunners in a boat anchored behind the right island, a bird was thrown and shot from the right island to land on the left island, 102 yards from line.  Next, gunners called and threw and shot the center bird from behind a stand of trees throwing right to left, to land in a clearing on the sidehill 89 yards from the running line.  The point of exit from the water for this center 2nd bird  was not far (15-20 yards) from the point of exit from the water for the single (4th bird) – a factor that caused problems during the test for many dogs on either the center 2nd bird or on the  single 4th bird or both.  The 3rd bird, a very tempting breaking bird, was thrown  and shot following a call from a holding blind well right of line to land in the decoys with a splash 15 yards in front of the running dog. The running dog was then released to retrieve the triple, and the honoring dog was released. 

After the third bird of the triple was delivered to hand a blind (hot during the triple) was run from the honoring post, 10 yards to the right of the running line for the triple.  The line to the blind carried across the end 20% of the same point where the single 4th mark had landed on the base, and with the steady strong Southeast wind this provided some challenges as dogs crossed the point enroute to the blind.  Once over the point, the dog (temporarily out of sight from the judges and handler) had to stay in the water down the shore for another 30 to 40 yards before exiting the water and going up the hill for the blind, 119 yards from line. 

After running the blind, the running dog was required to run the single (4th marked retrieve) from the honor post while the next running dog did a cold honor. Finally, the running dog had to do an honor for the triple before being released by the judges.

The first test dog was Burlab’s Raven SH, WCX  , run by Dave MacDonald.  Raven did fine on the cold honor (the single was run by Goldn Guns Goin A Blue Streak WCX, MH, handled by Louise Roberts - this dog over-ran the mark and was whistled back).  Raven then broke on the third bird thrown of  the triple. She went on to retrieve all of the birds, handling on the island (left) bird.  Running the blind, Raven made it to the point but then cut right to shore and hunted around the gunner for the single. He refused many casts and was picked up. He ran the single while the next test dog (GMH GoldnGuns Double Darn Dare Ya CDX,WCX, handled by Louise Roberts) did the cold honor, and then honored on-leash while that dog did the triple.

Dare completed the triple, handling on the island bird and then had a good blind. The judges indicated that this would be the test, and the running dogs were lined up in the holding blinds. The test dogs took approximately 19 minutes/dog for the test. As the day proceeded the average time was between 16 and 18 minutes to complete the test.

The wind was from the Southeast at the start of the test, shifting to a little more South by late morning. By 12:30 the winds were very strong and steady, and building, creating whitecaps in the water and making into-the wind casting unlikely to be successful. The day was another hot one ; 38 degrees by mid afternoon. Judges sat out in the sun as there was not a good place near the line for the Tritronics tent – it was enjoyed instead by the marshal Doug Hildebrand and his crew. The gallery clustered underneath the two Purina tents , where shade was at a premium.

This test proved to be very challenging for the dogs.  Most of the dogs handled on one or more birds. There was one pickup and at least three breaks as well as some rough blinds.  There were also a few nearly perfect jobs. The left island mark created some problems when dogs either faded with the wind and went to the left shore or hunted upwind of the bird near the boat and needed to be handled to the other island. Several dogs, when being sent for the center bird (bird 2) on the sidehill clearing got caught up in the scent at the base of the point from the single and had to be handled out of it to the mark. Many dogs got into trouble when they were sent to retrieve the single – if they crossed the point upwind of that bird, they very quickly found themselves in the area and the scent cone of the old fall from the 2nd bird. The wind was steady and strong all afternoon, and work in the afternoon was similar to the morning.  The last participating dog finished running at approximately 6 pm. Eighteen dogs were called back to tomorrow’s test : the upland test.  Dogs called back are: 1,5,8,12,13,16,17,19,20,21,24,25,26,28,29,30,31, and 32. Dog 31 will start tomorrow morning. Plans are for the caravan to leave at 9am to start the upland hunt and flush.

Submitted by Sue Taylor

Photos from Day 2
(click on thumbnail to view full image)

Day 2 Test Diagram

Left Bird	Left-Mid Bird	Right-Mid Bird	Right Bird