Test #9:  Land Marks

The test was run on rolling grassland just opposite Gotten Lake, near Tunkwa Provincial Park.  It was another cool and very windy morning.  The test was set facing a northwesterly direction with the wind coming from the southeast.  The field was composed of numerous depressions and swales.  Junipers and pine trees dotted the landscape.   The cover was light and the field was littered with stones which resulted in dogs #10 and 40 having  very unfortunate  accidents in the field.  Both very hard driving animals took a tumble on their way  through the area of the go-bird fall.  In spite of this mishap, dog #40 completed the remaining retrieves and #10 was re-run.

The test consisted of a long-retired gun, deep in the field (414 yards from line) and shot first.  Gunners shot twice and threw the bird left to right out onto the crest of a slope.  The gunners retired into a holding blind tucked into a cluster of pine trees.  The second gun to shoot was 198 yards from line and the gunners were almost on line with the fall of long-retired.  Gunners threw the bird left to right across a road into the light cover at the foot of a stand of pine trees.  The gunners retired to a holding blind tucked into a cluster of pine trees.  The third bird thrown (171 yards from line) was on the left and thrown right to left across the corner of a depression.  The go bird (60 yards from line) was thrown right to left off a side hill down into a swale.  The fall of the short retired was under the arc of the go-bird and the go-bird fall was on line to the long-retired fall.

Most dogs retrieved the go-bird and left bird without difficulty, however several had trouble getting either the short or long retired.  Dogs had to hold a line across the side hill to the short retired and they had to take a line pinched in close to the short retired blind in order to make good work of the long retired.  Half  (8 of 16) of the field handled.  11 dogs were called back to the 10th series—a water quadruple held at Weir Lake.  Dogs # 8, 14, 41, 48, and 60 were not amongst them.
 
 

The last series was held at the north end of Weir Lake—the same location as the water blind.  A water quad was set up in a northwest/northeast direction with the wind blowing hard from the southeast, blowing across the handler’s right side–gusting up to 30 miles per hour with white caps visible.  The reed grass stayed bowed over by the wind throughout the whole test.  The judges kept out of the cold in the shelter of their vehicle.The test consisted of a long-retired bird thrown from right to left across a channel landing in very dense tall grass (224 yards from line).  The second bird thrown was from the left shore of the lake thrown left to right onto a grassy point (174 yards from line).  The gunners retired into a holding blind.  The third bird thrown was from a boat, throwing right to left down a reeded island landing with a splash (also 174 yards from line).  The go-bird was thrown left to right off a dock 94 yards from line landing conspicuously in front of the reeds with a splash.  The gunners should be commended for the energy they put into ‘monsterous’ throws.All the dogs got the go-bird successfully.  Some dogs sent for the boat bird drifted down wind and found themselves at the left retired.  Some sent for the left retired were upwind of the fall and winded the long retired.  It is important to note that because of the heavy cover between these two falls that the handler was unable to see the dog between these areas.  Handles were not possible between these two birds.  A number of dogs took a lovely line to the long-retired station but once they reached the channel they hunted the holding blind and deep into the channel before finding the bird.Six dogs out of 11 handled and for those that didn’t, the work varied.  The challenge of the last series provided a perfect ending to the trial.

Finishers were dogs #:  1, 6, 7, 10, 21, 34, 36, 40, 64, 71 and 78.