Test 3 - Water Blind Over Point - 272 Yards

Test dogs ran at 7:15 a.m. with dog #18 at 8:00 a.m.   Early competitors were met by a cool morning as they arrived at the test site on the slope above the pond on the west side of Spring Road.

The blind was run in a southeasterly direction.  The line to it—272 yards long—was down a slope into the water, proceeding toward a scented point formation composed of grassy clumps.  A white jacket, chair and two pails were perched on a rise above the point and about 60 yards to the left of the line to the blind.

The blind was planted on a grassy slope across the pond just a couple of steps down from a large juniper. The entry to the water was about 50 yards down the slope.  The slope also fell-off to the left allowing dogs to gain a good view of the white coat, chair and pails and also provided an alternate route avoiding the stick pile and toppled young evergreen that was on the line to the blind.  Cover on the entry to the water was moderate to heavy.

There was no wind when test dogs ran and the sky remained mainly overcast.  By 11:30 a.m. the temperature had climbed to 24 degrees celcius and a breeze built from the southwest, blowing onto the point and rippling the still water.  It gusted up to about 15 miles/hour.  By mid afternoon it blew from the north/northwest and then subsided by the conclusion of testing about 4:30 p.m.

The initial line proved a challenge for almost all dogs.  Many dogs fell-off to the left with the slope and were in danger of squaring the entry and the lure of the white coats, chairs and pails and were also vulnerable to landing early on the point formation.  For these dogs, a number of handles were usually required to return the dog to the correct line.

Cover on the back portion of the point formation had been cut so dogs were visible.  However, the front and the left portion of the point (closest to the white coat, etc) was in heavy cover and some dogs were not readily visible in it.

Dogs that landed on the point formation early, and got into the heavy cover usually were reluctant to handle back across the clumps into the water and those that did required several whistles and persuasive casts.

The afternoon wind proved a challenge with a total of 13 pick-ups.  Successful casts into the wind—away from the shoreline and back into the water—were dear.

The fourth test, a set of water marks, is to be run at the same location as the water blind.  First running dog is #30.  Test dogs to run at 7:15 a.m.  54 dogs back.  Dogs # 11, 16, 25, 35, 38, 44, 45, 46, 47, 51, 55, 56, 59, 72, 74, 75,  and 77 were not called back to the 4th test.