What To Do As A Handler When...

I got to run my third MH test the other day and ran into a problem...
1st series is a land walk up tripple with a live flyer as the first bird down followed by a second on the left and a third up the middle as the go bird. line for marks is from a dike next to a pond but all marks are land marks.
they call guns up and as I come out of last blind they ask my number and then tell me to go back into holding blind because they notice the have a live duck on the line. I go back into holding blind. They attempt to catch the duck and it jumps into the pond and hides up under the bank (it was a wounded bird) I say cool the duck is hiding let me run and then we can get the duck for you on way out, judge says OK so I come out of holding blind again, judge says "wait go back" and calls over gunner who sluices the bird about 7 yards from me and dog. my dog marks the bird thru the holding blind. Judge tells me to not let my dog look at bird and come on up and run test. I walk out and my dog marks the live flyer/walp up and then turns and looks at the duck in the pond (about 6-8 yars away) and does not see the 2nd bird go down, but does see the 3rd bird go down. I pick up the go bird and then the flyer and have to handle on the 2nd bird and judge tells me to "just do what you have to do to pick it up" . Then I pick up the duck they sluiced before we started the test.

Would it have been better if I had not sent my dog after they released me and just asked them if they wanted me to go back 3? Would it have been ok to pick up the bird that wasn't part of the test 2nd so I might have had a better chance of the bird he did not see? Should I have just stepped out of the blind and sent my dog for the extra bird and picked that up and then let them figure out what to do? Should I have said something about them sluicing the bird like wait till I get back out of the holding blinds before you sluice it?

How could I have handled the situation better without offending the judges??

Both the judges and you dropped the ball.

The judges should have sent you back three dogs and let you clear the area (if possible) before killing the escapee and used a dog not running as a pick-up dog.

You should have been more assertive and noted the "interference" from the escaped duck and told the judges about your dog seeing the bird from the HB. Never feel pressured into running if it's an unfair situation.

JMO

Handlers are usually anxious on line and tend to have bad judgement in wanting to run right now regardless the fact that things have gone askew. With that knowledge in mind an experienced judge will take the decision away from the handler and insist he runs in three or whatever, wait for the handler and dog to move well away, then deal with the loose duck. You ask the question what you could have done? You should have asked if you could leave the line and move well away from the test until they sluiced the duck and if needed get a pick-up dog.

John

edit: Kevin and I were writing at the same time; I agree with Kevin.

Judges should have asked you to step away if the holding blind was not well hidden, then got a pick up dog that has already run or not entered to clear that bird from the test. Judges should never run a test with a bird they know is in the test area that shouldn't be there.

As a handler I would have asked for that bird to be picked up by another dog so your test is the same as the rest. I will also never run my dog that is entered as a pick up dog because their is usually nothing good that comes out of it and your control can deteriorate. Their is usually enough non entered dogs around to pick it up.

If it were me and I couldn't get off the line to run later, and I was being pressured to run (as sometimes happens). I'd send the dog after shot- floating bird, then proceed with the triple. Get the distraction out of the way, @ that point the judges would most likely call no bird and you'd go back, but if not at least that floating distraction is out of the way, and you can focus on lining the dog up for the marks. It would be hard enough to line a dog with something like that happening in the holding blind without a floating flyer still sitting out in the water pulling the dog off the marks. Get it gone, then take the time to line the dog for each mark, send him and pray ;)

Still best case remove yourself from the line until that bird has been picked up, go back a few dogs and run later. You won't do yourself any favors trying to help out with time-management, judges, workers, etc. by running a test with interesting conditions. Just my experience but interesting conditions usually come back to bite you, better to be smart, do what is best for your dog and wait to run.

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Originally Posted by Kelly Greenwood

How could I have handled the situation better without offending the judges??

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Leave the holding blind with your dog on lead. Ask the Marshall, not the judges, "How many dogs do you want me to wait?" and if they don't think of it tell the Marshall, not the judges, they need a pick up dog. No matter when they tell you run you have bought time. You have now helped the Judges, the Marshall and yourself to have a fair test.

Tim

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tim Carrion

Leave the holding blind with your dog on lead. Ask the Marshall, not the judges, "How many dogs do you want me to wait?" and if they don't think of it tell the Marshall, not the judges, they need a pick up dog. No matter when they tell you run you have bought time. You have now helped the Judges, the Marshall and yourself to have a fair test.

Tim

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Yeah the really bad part is I was the Marshall for the test.. So I really did blow it geesh

That really is a bummer!

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Originally Posted by Hells Canyon

That really is a bummer!

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Maybe, maybe not.

I think all handlers tend to remember miscues and learn from them. When you look back on your test/trial career, you're gonna remember the bonehead mistakes. Everyone has them, so don't beat yourself up Kelly :-)

So did you get called back to the second series?

Generally when a judge says something to the effect of "do what you have to do..." after something funky happened, it means he/she/they realize they screwed up and they are going to give you a freebie. Happened to me one time when the honor dog crept a total of 20 yards parallel to the line and managed to block my dog's view of all three marks, accompanied by loud yelling from the honor dog handler. I was flabbergasted (didn't think I'd use that in a sentence today) they didn't give me a re-run and I ended up handling on two of the three marks. But we passed (last series, clean to that point) so I figured they realized they really should have gone with a re-run and would have looked bad if they failed me after letting that stuff go. So my guess is they did call you back and i hope you did okay the rest of the test.