The Weyerhaeuser Centennial night Shish kabob BBQ on Monday evening was a great success, with lots of good food, drink and visiting. Two large tents had been set up in the area adjacent to the Clubhouse, with tables and chairs to accommodate everyone. Purina handed out their packages and dog food to workers. There were many comments about how well the first day went mechanically - the workers (field and social) are certainly to be commended. A fun highlight of the evening was a 50:50 draw accomplished by sending committee-member Lynn Campbell’s yellow Labrador to retrieve a numbered plastic duck out or a group of 42 numbered ducks in a wading pool.

Gusting winds and thunderstorms rocked the campground on Monday night, capped off by a heavy rain shower at approximately 5am on Tuesday. The rain stopped by 6am but cloudy skies and cool temperatures persisted (15C, 60F) through the morning with a moderate West wind. By mid afternoon the wind was strong (gusting 30-40km/hr West/Southwest, then Northwest) and the sun was out (22C, 74C).

Test 3 - Water Triple with Honor

 

The test was run facing North and East on a pond with multiple points and two islands, as well as a long channel leaving the North end of the pond. A man-made bridge crossed the channel just 40 yards North of the long gun station.

The test was a stand up water triple. The No.1 (left) bird was thrown from right to left across the channel, into the wind, 198 yards from line. The No.2 (center) bird was thrown from just left of the base of a point from left to right in heavy cover, landing at the left base of a large stand of trees. The No.3 (right) bird was thrown from right to left with a splash, so that the correct line was just past the end of a point. Mallards were used on all stations. The first test dog ran at 7:50 am.

Dog 20 started this test. There was some difficulty in the dogs running the test early, with two handles and a pickup in the first 6 dogs. The work seemed to improve as the day progressed. The cool temperatures and the brisk wind resulted in a smaller gallery for this test, but there was still some vocal support especially for the women handlers (Girl Power! Rules again).

There was very little trouble with the No.3 bird (go-bird) in this test, although a few dogs took quite some time hunting high on the slope before coming back down to search the shoreline.

The No.2 bird was difficult for quite a few dogs, with a variety of minor problems. Some dogs did a swim by past the gunners, resulting in a wrong-sided hunt and some even slipped through to get the long bird. Many dogs hit the point and ran up the point towards the gunners - early dogs taking this line generally scented the bird, but some later dogs (once the wind shifted from the Northwest) had more difficulty.

The long (No.3) bird also caused some problems. Many dogs landed on the shore between Guns 1 and 2 - some of these dogs simply ran down the shore to get past gun 1 and then scented the #1 bird and crossed the channel. Others beached early, ran up the slope to the dike road above the gunners and ran left down the road where they were able to wind the bird once they got well past it. Dogs who beached early but then turned right in the heavy cover (towards the #2 gunners) were sometimes not visible until they were up above the old fall. A few dogs ran the entire left shore to get to the long gun. Quite a few dogs took a good line but then stayed in the channel until they winded the bird as they passed it. The test took 12 to 15 minutes for each dog and handlers were excused after they ran their dogs. Tents used at the line (over the judges) and over the holding blind did not last the afternoon as the wind gusts tore them apart. The last dog finished running at 6:45pm. Dogs 12, 18, 19, 21 and 26 were dropped, with 35 dogs called back to the next test. The fourth test will be a water blind, and dog 29 will start.

Submitted by Sue Taylor