Wednesday, Day 3, the 4th test and another great morning as a water triple was set up in the same pond as yesterday's water blind. The center gun was across the pond at 163 yards and 60 yards back from shore. It was shot first. The second bird was thrown from a boat down the shore to the left. The gunners in this canoe sat down after the dog was sent and instructed to take off their white coats. They were not very visible in their camo shirts from line but the dogs could see them when they got near the canoe. The last bird down was across a bay to the right at the same distance as the left bird - 122 yards. All birds were ducks and all were thrown from right to left and angled back. The line mat was only about 8 feet to the right of yesterday's line, and there was a spot for the honor dog on the left side. A few decoys floated near the shore online to the right bird. Like yesterday the swimming was tough amongst the heavy submergent aquatic plants and scattered sticks.
When the first test dog ran at 8:20, the wind was from right to left and quite light. Temperatures were in the 60's. The first test dog ran outside the go bird to the left and curled around to get the center bird. On the next retrieve, for the left bird, the dog slid past the canoe and disappeared only to reappear at the center gun. A sharp handle brought the dog back but handlers noted that the dog was invisible for handling when in the heavy cover all along the shoreline. The right hand bird was picked up cleanly. The second test dog had a very good job, picking up right, then center, and left.
The first running dog at 9:10 was #23. After two very good right side birds, the dog slid past the boat bird within inches and without any accumulated scent and the heavy cover, drove through to the center bird. Handling proved to be difficult in the heavy cover. As the day progressed trails and scent accumulated but dogs and handlers had to concentrate to come up with the birds. Several dogs handled, others had loose hunts but also there were quite a few excellent jobs. The wind stayed calm all day although it did vary in direction considerably. The test turned out to take longer than anticipated averaging about 20 minutes per dog including gunner changes. It soon became apparent that the test would not get finished today. The last dog ran shortly after 9 pm. There were no partial callbacks. Judges expected to finish the test in a few hours tomorrow morning.
