(Photos to follow)
Wednesday evening was a flurry of activity, starting with the IAMS sponsored workers party, featuring a delicious roast beef dinner with all the trimmings. Then workers pins and IAMS gift bags were handed out to the workers, followed by the raffle draw, silent auction items given to lucky bidders, and an IAMS free draw...all this, and camaraderie too, rounded off a great evening...and then to bed.
Thursday morning, cloudy and cool...but it was free breakfast at the food wagon for judges, workers and competitors, compliments of PURINA...a great way to start a dull day...with a PURINA smile. As well, PURINA had given gift bags to the workers on Tuesday.
The seventh test, a water triple with a retired gun and an honor was run off a mound, got underway at 9:15 a.m. in the same technical pond area as yesterdays land blind.
Gun #1, center at 220 yards, threw left to right and retired after gun #3 shot.. The line to this bird was an angle down the mound, over uneven terrain to tules at the waters edge, roughly the half-way point, then a swim to the far shore tules, and up to a mound for the bird.
Gunners at station #2, 25 degrees left of center, at 154 yards were in a boat, and threw straight to left into tules at shores edge. The line to this bird was an angle down the mound, over uneven terrain to tules at the waters edge, then a swim to the bird which was in the tules on far shore.
Gun #3, 80 degrees right of center at 132 yards was thrown right to left. The line was an angle run down a long mound into rugged and craggy terrain for ¾ of the way, then into the water, over an island point, and on the bird.
Bird #1, the retired gun, proved to be the most difficult bird by far, with many dogs being handled. Many dogs went right of the line through a small opening at the waters edge, ending up in tules and swamp grass and became disoriented. Some disappeared from sight for quite awhile before coming into view, and then had to be handled.
At one point a dog became confused after picking up the retired bird and went far to the right, at least 500 yards to the far tree line, the handler blowing and blowing the whistle, for about ten minutes. Concern for the dog’s safety caused a marshal go looking for the dog on an ATV, but he was called back, almost before starting, when the dog was spotted coming towards us by the gunners at station #3. The dog eventually came to line with the bird and was not even puffing; a remarkable recovery.
The test was completed at 4:30 p.m.
Back at headquarters, the Delta Marsh Retriever Club members were barbequing “Beef on a Bun” for all. Callbacks were announced at 5:45 p.m. 12 Dogs were dropped, leaving 22 dogs to run the eighth test on Friday.
Call backs to the eighth test were: 7, 17, 22, 25, 27, 29, 32, 36, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 61, 62, 68, and 70.
Overheard at the Trial
On Sunday and every day since, whenever a female handler is finished a test and about out to walk off line..a chorus of female voices from the gallery shouts “GIRL POWER!”
“Have you noticed that the judges have managed to set up all their tests close to some bushes...I wonder why?”
