| Friday
morning was again sunny, windy and quite cold with temperatures
around 27 degrees. The remaining 20+ dogs completed
by about noon. With a few exceptions work was not too
good this morning either. At this point 3 dogs were
mentioned as in good shape, They were; Maxx, Prize and
PDQ (Quick). Callbacks came fairly soon and only 26
potential National Champions remained. Those lost were:
1, 2, 8, 22, 44, 49, 55, 56, 59, 68, and 83. Starting
dog for the 8th series would be #24.
The stake was moves north,
back to Hwy 53, West of Judd Little' s ranch. There
a long entry water blind with a poison bird was constructed.
It was about 250 - 300 yards long with the first 100
yards leading to the water. Once in the water, the dogs
had to cross a scented point, re enter the water and
parallel the shore to land beyond. About 60-70 yards
back on land, a dead mallard lay in the grass marked
by a "portable" bush. On land to the right, about halfway
past the line a poison bird - a dead pheasant
was thrown to the right (away from the line) before
the dog ran. It took about 5 minutes per dog. (Originally
a flyer had been shot angled back toward the line to
the blind for the first test dog. For the second it
was shot away from that line. Both dogs were instructed
to pick up the bird after recovering the blind. After
they ran, judges decided to go with a dead bird thrown
away from the line and dogs would not pick it up. The
blind was nearly downwind. Early work was variable.
Later some dogs were tempted to hunt the scented point,
only one or two wanted to retrieve the poison bird.
A real danger was running water on the right. Several
had serious or fatal results when they were unable to
hear whistles there. Unfortunately, Maxx was one of
them. Suspected hearing problems surfaced again when
Maxx appeared not to hear and kept on going - completely
out of the test.
The series was completed
and call backs listed only 19 dogs in contention. Those
lost were: 14, 16, 23, 32, 38, 65 and 71. The ninth
will be water marks with two retired guns and 1 flyer
back at the Sea Ranch. Test dogs at 7:30 a.m. with the
first running dog, #43 at 8 a.m.
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