| |
|
Thursday,
November 16th - Finish 5th, 6th and Start 7th
|
Thursday's weather was sunny, windy and milder than Wednesday.
The five remaining dogs completed the fifth about 8:30
a.m. The Quad had taken a toll - 45 dogs remained. Fifteen
more had been lost. They were: 6, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19,
28, 30, 42, 51, 52, 53, 67, 75, and 86. The sixth would
be initiated by dog # 71.
|
|
| Sixth
Series - Land /Water Blind |
| By
shortly after 9 a.m. the Sixth series, an approx. 300
yd. land/water blind was ready to run. The line was
located on top of a hill and had a long entry - about
100 yds- then continued (parallel) along the running,
marshy shoreline with some swimming water (about 100
yds.) to the land beyond. There it continued
for another 100 yds over rising terrain (tree studded).
The handler was allowed to move up to a ribbon so he
could see the dog go down the hill and (hopefully) enter
the water below. (Water unseen from line) A strong wind
switched from down to crosswind . Trees, wind and terrain
made it difficult to keep dogs on line ( However it
was reported that Lean Mac had only 1 whistle!) Number
Six went relatively quick and was completed by 12:30
p.m. Afterwards callbacks listed only 37 dogs back to
the Seventh - a land (some water) triple in the same
area. Eight had succumbed to the sixth. They
were: 3, 4, 5, 40, 58,
64, 84 and 85.
|
|
| Seventh Series - Land Triple |
Again, it was not necessary to
move so the test was set up in good time. Dog 87 would
be first to run. The test utilized some of the land
from the previous test. The series contained a shot
flying mallard and a retired gun. The first bird down,
a dead drake, was on the right. It was thrown left where
it landed on the line to the previous blind about 225
yds from the line splashing into a marshy area. The
second mark was in the middle . Gunners were on top
of a hill which had a steep bank with gullies running
through it. They threw a dead cock rooster flat toward
the right. It fell behind a room sized patch of cattails
250 yards away. The last mark was on the left. It was
a flying hen mallard angled sharply back where it fell
on land, across a road about 225 yards from line
(no swim). As the dog was sent for it, the middle pheasant
mark guns retired.
The flyer, angled sharply back caused
some hunting and dimmed dog's memory of the other two.
The right mark lay on line to the previous series There
was a good deal of terrain (dike) where the dog could
lose sight of the mark and become confused as to where
it really was.. Since it was thrown left and the middle
mark right, the middle ground between the two could
tempt dogs to hunt behind the gun. A switching
or downwind did not make it any easier. The most
difficult mark, of course, was the long middle retired
pheasant. To recover it, dogs had to go through two
ponds and over a dike from one to another. There they
went out of sight for a period of time and could reappear
well off line. If the dog stayed in the water they could
find the bird. Dogs that skirted to the left and drove
up the hill were usually lost. There they seemed to
be unable to hear the whistles and could not be handled
to the bird. At times a glare from the water made the
marks difficult to see. Generally, handlers took the
outside birds first.
Lean Mac provided unintentional
entertainment during his turn. After being released
to retrieve, Judges decided to call a no-bird and rerun
him. Maxx, perhaps slightly deaf and intent on the retrieve,
just continued hunting. Handler Mike Lardy tried everything
- voice, "body language", etc. to get him back before
finally succeeding. Later, when he finally completed
his series, a wing covered his eyes and he headed toward
the gallery and other places trying to locate Mike.
On the way he offered his bird to several people
on the gallery path before finally making his way back
to Mike.
The demanding triple took 12-15
minutes per dog and could not be completed by dusk.
The test was suspended after #37 ran and will resume
at 7 a.m Friday. So far only a few dogs had done it
fairly well. |
| |
|