Wednesday morning arrived with temperatures in the low 50s and no wind. As the participants arrived both tests were manned and ready to run.
Flight A finished their second series quickly and moved the Checkerboard Field at Phelps. The work on this test in general better than the B group, primarily because the paths to left and middle birds were better defined due to the number of dogs that had already run the test. Still, even with these paths, several dogs fell victim to the same factors that affected Group B. This test suspended at 6:00 in order to give the workers time to head to Fredericksburg for the Worker’s Party. It was estimated that the A group will need to run for about an hour on Thursday and then will move to the Wood Duck hunt also in Phelps.
Over at Shady Grove, group B resumed the Water Triple with Blind. Fog over the water delayed the start and the first working dog came to the line at 7:55am. Today this test showed what it was capable of doing as several dogs double handled, went back to old falls or failed to do the blind with. The island holding the gun station for the right and middle birds created a lot of suction for dogs. Some dogs were able to work thru the problem others did not. It soon became apparent that there was no preferred order to pick up the marks in this series and every possible combination was used. Several handlers picked their dogs up before completing the marks and a closely stationed pickup dog was used to retrieve the middle bird that landed on the island. There was very little delay in these instances, which once again was credited to the fine pre test preparation from MNRC setup teams.
The blind work was for the most part good. Few dogs had a problem with the first point coming from the right. Most of the difficulties with the blind was the last 25 yards. It was not uncommon to see dogs ping pong as they showed reluctance to continue back into the corner of the pond. Several dogs beached early to the left of the blind and while they were able to recover the bird, it is uncertain how Judges Kevin Bunnell and Lynn Morrison will view this work. This test also suspended at 6:00pm to accommodate the Worker’s Party. B should finish this test early Thursday afternoon.
Sue Dorsheid and Regis
