Saturday
The land series was interesting. We had a live flier "go" bird at around 100 yards at the base of a hill. This was a ripping good mark for the dogs. The memory bird was to the right, gunner completely hidden in a treeline. The mark landed up a hill and through a line of cover. You had to position your dog just right so he/she could see the bird land between a gap in the cover. If you didn't position your dog correctly, they'd see the arc of the mark, but not the fall. The double didn't promote switching since there was a woods between the marks.
The interesting thing about the "scenario" they give you for the test, is that they created a "remote send." They had you bring your dog to the line, put him/her on a stay, then step away from your dog about 6-8 feet. You were supposed to be taking a photo of your dog, but the birds started coming in and gunners started to shoot so you had to stop your photo session.
Devon did an outstanding job on the marks in this series. As I expected, when I walked her up and sat her then stepped away, she turned and looked at me like, "What the heck are you doing?" But I had signaled for the birds, and as soon as the judge started her duck call, Devon was all about the marks.
She took a direct line to the flier, stopped and put her head down where the mark should have been then pulled her head up. As it flashed through my mind that she should have been right on top of the bird, she took one more step forward and came up with it. The same thing must have been going through the judge's head, because she said, "I thought she took a direct line to the bird!" Yep! That's my girl!
She still had suction from the go bird down the hill when I lined her up for her memory bird; because of the separation and the cover the memory bird was tough. I usually hang onto the first bird until I send Devon for the memory bird and then hand it to the judge. However, I handed off the bird to give Devon more time to focus. This helped because when I lined her up for the memory bird, she locked in the second time. She only had a 5 ft. very short hunt for the memory bird.
We had a walk up to the land blind. Although short, the blind was challenging. It was up a hill into the same field as the memory bird but on the opposite side of the field. There was the same cover line to break at the top of the hill into the field. There was also a very obvious path 2 ft. to the left of the blind where the blind planter was going in and out of the field.
Because of the position on the blind, the gallery was only able to watch the test dog run the blind to figure out strategy. As I suspected from my previous encounter with an obvious path near a blind, the test dog sucked into this path and followed it a few feet before coming back out. This was going to be tough.
As I said later, the good news is Devon one whistled this blind. The bad news is I blew 6-7 whistles. I'm really not sure what possessed my usually compliant dog to suddenly decide she was on a duck hunt alone. She was ignoring my whistles because she was hunting up the bird. She got into the path once, but rejected it quickly, which did please me. One friend in the gallery said she didn't know if Devon could hear my whistles because they were soft, but I thought they were very loud and only soft to the gallery because of positioning.
In the end, I'll never know. Devon and I did have several conversations about "tweet means sit," but I'm not sure she was paying too much attention to me. I was convinced we'd be dropped because of the whistle refusals, but another friend said the judges discussed me before bringing the next dog to the line and they kept pointing down the field to the flier she'd lined. I held my breath for call backs, and Devon made it to water. In all 36 of 43 dogs went to water.
The water series was in a stick pond. As a young dog Devon didn't have natural water courage, but she's developed into a good water dog. I wasn't sure how she'd feel about this pond. The set up was very difficult. A longer memory bird in "open" water (with lots of underwater debris) and a short 20 yard breaky bird that dropped right in front of them.
Due to the limitations of the pond, we had to walk along a "path" which was through grass and log/stick debris in ankle deep water to send them to the blind. Handling movement was severely restricted by the land that closed in around you and the inches of muck that sucked you into the water at your feet. The honor was on a wooden pallet they placed along the shore. This pallet had open slats and moved. I knew Devon wouldn't like getting on that pallet.
We didn't start the water series until 3:30 p.m. The teen-aged gunners were losing focus rapidly. They had to be rounded up and "talked to" at least three times during this series. Things weren't starting off well, and we were around 25th in the running order.
I learned a valuable lesson about studying where I should stand at the line and watching where other handlers were standing for success. I sat Devon too far back on the shore because I was avoiding mud along the bank, and she didn't get a good look at the memory bird. Devon went for the go bird, and from body posture alone, you could tell she didn't like this pond. She was only in the mucky part so she had worse things to come!
I sent her for the memory bird, and she went but was very weak. She got 8 ft. out into the water and the gunners directly behind her (next to the line) shot off the diversion shot way too early (it was supposed to come as she was swimming in with the memory bird). Devon whipped around like someone shot at her! When she got no direction from me, she turned and swam out 90 degrees away from the bird into open water. To her credit, she was swimming in the direction of the shot.
I whistled her and tried to handle left to the memory bird, but she was clearly very confused. The judges saw it right away and told me to call her in and gave me a no bird which meant I got a "do-over." It took some doing calling her in since she knew there was a bird out there. Finally getting a bird and showing it to her on shore did the trick. The look on her face was priceless; it was, "HEY! How did you find my bird? How did it get up there?"
I took her back to the truck telling her she was a good girl and giving her some kibble as usual. However, she did know something went "wrong" out there. I was supposed to go 2 dogs back, but the Marshall was a young girl and allowed others to push in ahead of me so we ran 6 dogs later. Devon was more subdued on the line, which I thought wasn't a bad thing.
We went to the line after 6:30 p.m. (the test had started at 8:30 a.m. that morning). I lined her up much better the second time and she got a great look at the memory bird. I also got the "$50 bird" which was belly (light side) up with one orange foot sticking straight up on the air and it had a shaft of fading sunlight shining down on it. The sunlight played a factor on the line, because as the go bird winger went off, the shadow was right on top of Devon on the line. Devon hates moving shadows, so she ducked (but never moved her rear end) like the bird was going to come down on her.
Devon went back out into the pond she clearly hated after the go bird. It was a very good thing her go bird was short, because it was sinking fast. It was so water-logged, Devon had a difficult time managing it and walking through the sucking muck. She had to drag the bird in by the neck and just before shore lost it. It sank immediately and she went under past her eyes (and blowing bubbles) after it to bring it back to me at the line.
She lined up for the memory bird, got a good look at it with the sun spotlight shining on it, and I sent her on a firm "BACK." I usually send Devon to marks on her name and to blinds on a "back." However, I wanted her to be very clear that she had to go for this bird no matter how she felt about the stick pond. Devon made me very, very proud. She swam straight to this bird, over lots of debris that pulled her under. She got the bird and came right in. I heard the judges comment that she obviously didn't want to be out in that pond, but she was retrieving her birds anyway. The tone of their voices made it quite clear they were very impressed with her determination and perseverance.
On the blind, Devon again gutted it out and went for the bird. However, we were both tired and the conditions were very, very tough. I knew she had to be perfect on this blind to pass. She got two-thirds of the way out to the bird and took several handles really well. At 60 percent of the way there, it looked like she was walking on the top of a fence. She was wavering between going left and going right. Left would have taken her to the bird, and right would get her into trouble quickly. I let her go to carry as much momentum as she could get in that terrible pond.
Then she made her decision and headed right which was cleaner water and closer to shore. I blew a whistle and she ignored it. She got out of sight, and I called her in. I figured I might be able to handle her back if I could get her back in sight. However, when she came in sight I knew we were done. The look on her face said, "Mom, you told me to come in, and I'm coming in! You opened the door, and I'm charging right through it! I'm done with this pond!" I continued to call her in, and the judge came down the path to tell me she was sorry. I smiled and told her I knew she had failed and was calling her in.
As I was leashing Devon up for the honor, the judge smiled at me and said she thought my dog was going to get that blind. That was a really nice thing to hear from the judges, because I did, too. My friend was working behind these two judges and she told me later they really wanted the dogs to pass. It's really nice to hear that and makes you want to test under those types of judges again.
As I suspected, Devon didn't like the wooden pallet for the honor. It was a good thing she was on leash, or I'm not sure I would have gotten her on it. By the time we honored, we were about the 30th dog to run. The pallet was half sunken in the mud and water and moving. Devon reared up on her leash when I asked her to get on it but did comply.
Devon got lots of hugs and treats for this series. It wasn't a pass, but she worked incredibly hard for me out there and got three-fourths of the way through a very difficult test. I heard later that 22 out of 43 dogs passed on Saturday. Devon was exhausted when we reached the hotel. After my dinner (she and Page were fed at the test site), she curled up next to me with her head on my chest. She fell she was so sound asleep she was snoring!
Sunday
What a test this proved to be! Each time I show up for a Senior test, they seem to keep getting harder! I arrived at the test grounds early, and even though I was dog 27 of 50 (three dogs eventually scratched) I ran 5th.
This was a long walk up, with the judge walking beside you also carrying a gun. The memory bird was an angle in at the base of a hill 3 ft. from the main driveway in and out of the property. The go bird was 90 degrees to the left in the middle of a hill. The memory bird proved to be quite a challenge, especially for the first 20 dogs because of lack of scent. I got some tips from a pro who was analyzing the test before he ran it, and they worked really well.
As soon as I cleared the judging tent, I turned Devon so she was walking straight at the memory bird. This way she'd get the best "picture" of it as it went down. She marked the go bird by turning her head and upper body 90 degrees to the left. Devon is an fantastic marker, and she lined the go bird despite not physically facing it.
I took my time lining her up for the memory bird, and I sent her on her name, but with a big voice. In hind-sight, my big voice probably drove her past the bird. She took a great line about 3 ft. to the right, but never caught the scent and kept driving. She was in very good company. Most dogs wanted to work behind the gunning station since they are used to angle back or flat birds. They also wanted to charge the hill, since that's also what they're used to seeing in training and tests.
The advice I got was to get on the whistle quickly before they got up the hill and it was a big handle. I was a little too slow on my whistle, and she got behind the gunning station. When she sat, she was to the left and behind the gunning station and the mark was to the right and in front of the gunning station.
I gave her a come in whistle, but I was nervous and it came out a muddle like one big sit whistle. I'm sure she thought, "OK mom, I got it! I'm sitting!" I gave myself an mental kick in the pants and blew the whistle again, this time truly communicating with my dog. Devon got it immediately and came in. I sat her and gave her a big right over, which she took to find the bird.
Devon came in with her mark to applause from the gallery. As the 5th dog to run, even with the handle she had done one of the best jobs of the series so far. Devon knew those cheers were for her, and she was proud of herself. One of the judges smiled at her as she walked off the line and said, "Hey there Fluffy Butt!" Ahh, the joys of having a Golden with cream-colored feathering at a hunt test.
Again 36 dogs made it to call backs. The second series was a water double with back-to-back land and water blinds, plus an honor. It's safe to call this series "meaty." The double was a "mom and pop" double where both marks come from the same gunning station. The memory bird landed on the opposite bank which was 5 ft. up from water level, through cover, over a roadway and in cover on the opposite side. The go bird splashed on the edge of the water. We had to run from a grassy area littered with goose decoys.
I had no handles left on the marks, which was the case for several handlers. I knew that memory bird was very tough, as it failed several dogs. I walked up to the area of the line and picked out the right spot to line Devon up for her marks. I even walked it a couple of times like agility!
As we walked to the line, I was greeted by the judge who said, "OOOHH! It's Fluffy Butt!" Devon held up her end of the bargain, lining her go bird and taking a line only 3 ft. off her memory bird. She got 5 ft. past it, then winded it and did a 180 to picked it up. Ok, we were headed for the blinds!
The land blind was long, with a factor of the pond to the left, a roadway to cross and a hill to charge. Devon went right off the line, at least taking the suction of the pond out of her way. I let her get past the road before sitting her, then gave her a firm whistle and a big left over which she took well. I gave her a left silent back when she got close to the line, and she took that nicely. She started to fade the hill, so I gave her another whistle, but just then she winded the bird. She ignored my whistle but got the bird. We're going to have to work on that at some point, but it was only one whistle refusal on that blind so we were still in the game!
Onto the water blind, which was the biggest challenge yet. They had to swim past one point of land with a cove behind it filled with decoys (if they got into that cove they were done) then to another point of land and the bird was on the backside of the second point of land right at the water's edge. The blind had suction from the go bird of the double which landed on the opposite side of the pond from the blind.
Most of us that got as far as the blinds, chose to run the land blind first, which is what I did. It gave the dogs even more time to have the mark fade from their memory. I couldn't believe we had made it as far as running the water mark. I was really proud that we'd made it that far, and now I was determined to give that blind the best we had to give.
I lined Devon up and sent her, but the devil flared left along the bank. I sat her and we looked at each other for about 3 seconds. I was going to get her into the water! I gave her a strong over and she took it into the water. She was swimming to the land which was the first point, and I tried one left over cast. She scalloped it (took it but returned to her original line because of suction) and I decided to let her get to land but then give her an immediate whistle.
It took me two tries, but once she got on the point, I was able to give her a left over and get her back in the water. She swam to the second point, and again pulled up onto the land to the right of blind. I stopped her and gave her a left over since she was parallel to the bird now, just up on the higher bank. She refused this cast and went back toward the blind planters station.
Now I was annoyed. I was not going to get this close to that blind and have us fail this test! She got a big sit whistle which she wisely chose to take. She got a left over back into the water, which she again took. Now I had to whistle her in, because she was behind the blind. She took this but swam left of the bird. I stopped her and gave her a right over back to shore where she should have been able to see the bird when she took the cast. I'm sure she was thinking, "Mom, you just told me to get in the water when I was up on that shore!" But when she turned and saw the bird, she was a very happy camper.
As she came in with her water blind, I counted up cast refusals. I counted two, and I was trying hard to keep myself from dancing a merry jig right there on the bank. I was just sure we'd done it. The judge came up behind me for the bird, and I held my breath. Would we honor off lead, signaling we were still in the game, or on lead clearly saying we were out? We honored off leash.
After the honor, I heeled Devon back behind the line. She decided she wanted to roll to dry off before she reached the blind where we could put the leash on. I gave her a quiet but firm heel -- I didn't want to lose this ribbon now! The judges stayed in their tent and let me leash up and walk to the gallery -- the biggest sign we had passed! The judges were good about alerting handlers who had failed that they could go home.
So at 7:40 p.m., Devon and I picked up her second orange passing ribbon. Only 19 of the 47 dogs who ran passed this test. I'm not sure if I've ever been more proud of this dog or me. This was an incredibly tough test, and we stepped up to the challenge.
I asked to see Devon's score sheet after the test. She had a 9 out of 10 on her land blind with only the one whistle refusal I noted. She had three cast refusals and three whistle refusals on water for a 4 out of 10, but it got us through. All of her other scores were 9s or 10s, with one very low score on marking because of the one handle on land and one 7 for trainability on the walk up. I'm pretty proud of those scores, since we're a brand new team to this game.
I took two big lessons home this weekend. First, continue to work the test one duck at a time. The second lesson comes from the first: stay fully focused on the goal at the moment. My handles worked on Sunday because I was focused on staying connected with Devon and committed to getting her to the bird. I didn't feel that connection on Saturday, and I'm not sure why. I do know what that connection feels like and that it produces results, so I'm going to work hard to make that connection at next weekend's tests.
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