Things to take home from our last weekend of hunt tests

Here are a few tips I picked up this weekend and some things I want to remember about my girls' performances:

• Think about everything that happens surrounding your dog's first test. Mitch had a dog who had vomited and had diarrhea in the truck on the way to the test. It was supposed to be his first Junior Hunt Test weekend, but Mitch pulled him both days. He didn't want the pup to associate feeling crappy with a hunt test.
• Have very good rain gear. I'm so glad I had my Frogg Toggs! I had been tempted to get camo togs, but I ended up with black and was glad I did. As Adele says, "handler black" makes you easier to be seen than camo when you need to handle.
• Start reading Adele Yunck's blog, the Northfield Natter! Adele is an awesome trainer, and a great down to earth gal who I enjoy being around. She showed me photos she was taking and seeing them on the blog is awesome. I can't wait to dive in and learn more about Master. Congrats to Adele on Gryffin's second Master pass and getting to the water blind with Ty at her first Senior test!
• How to be a good sport with an intact bitch. We had an incident on land as one dog left the honor and the other came in from the go bird. The working dog, an intact male, went after the honor dog, who was already on leash and who was a bitch. The working dog failed when his owner couldn't get him under control and he went after the girl several times. The gutsy girl wasn't having any of this boy's bad manners. I've seen this dog fail two other tests by going after other dogs, male and female. After the incident, a couple of intact males were more than a little interested in the ground where the girl sat on the honor. After a couple of complaints, the judges asked the club to check the dog to make sure she wasn't in season. IMHO, the males were reacting to a combination of a girl and the adrenaline from the near dog fight. I've seen this happen before and it takes a while for that energy to dissipate. However, the owner of the bitch was a very good sport. She said the bitch had been in heat last month but wasn't now, which the club confirmed. The handler also offered to run last on water so her dog wouldn't interfere with any other dog. It was a good example for me since I own two intact bitches. Again, IMHO she had every right to be pretty mad (after all her dog had been attacked repeatedly and then other handlers started to complain about her dog), but she handled it with grace and offered to run last for the other dogs.
• Pagey showed hints of great of things to come. Yes, her obedience was bad on land, and she really hunted for her first mark; but her second land mark was better and her water mark was to die for. Her guts on that water entry was fantastic, too. This dog is going to be a blast to run in hunt tests. She's bold and stylish, and she's going to make heads turn. I just have my work cut out for me!
• Devon ended with more positive comments from the judges. Yeah, we failed our last test and she was bad. But the judge telling me she was one of the best dogs in the entire test Sunday will ring in my memory for a while. Devon racked up some great comments in the last four weekends from judges who have all different breeds. She made me proud with amazing marking and good blind work. Even better, there is no doubt that we should push on to Master.