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2013 National Retriever Championship BLOG

69K views 270 replies 97 participants last post by  DoubleHaul 
#1 · (Edited)
IT'S LIVE!!! The Retriever News Team has begun covering the events surrounding the 2013 National Retriever Championship (NRC) in Cheraw, SC. The competition begins Nov. 17,2013 at 7:00 A.M. Stay Tuned as we will make updates frequently........

http://2013nrcblog.theretrievernews.com/

Once again The Retriever News Team encourages comment on the BLOG and ask the comments be made directly on the Retriever News website. Thank you and the news team looks forward to interacting with our audience.

ENJOY the BLOG!
;)
 
#72 ·
without giving the dogs number out and only being able to go off what the blog gives us what do you think was the deciding factor in cutting this dog after 3? again i'm not trying to stir the pot i'm truly interested in learning. obviously being there and seeing it in person would probably give us all more of an idea but judging from the callbacks most of the dogs cut had handles and this one didnt. the short retired in 3rd could have been better but is that as bad as a handle?

most of my picks are still in it so i dont have a dog in the fight. just curious

1st & 2nd
Flyer: traveled left of the bird then immediately turned to retrieve the bird.
Mem: Drilled it!
Blind: early whistle up front, with few whistles to complete the retrieve.

3rd
Flyer: Pinned it!
SR: traveled a line wide and right of the holding blind, squared the pond exitng to the right of the gun station driving deep up the hill to turn and make a large loop to the correct side of the holding blind down to the area to complete the retrieve.
LR: traveled a nice line under the arc of the mark cont. to drive up the hill and then hunted her way back to the bird.
 
#76 ·
judging from the callbacks most of the dogs cut had handles and this one didnt. the short retired in 3rd could have been better but is that as bad as a handle?

1st & 2nd
Flyer: traveled left of the bird then immediately turned to retrieve the bird.
Mem: Drilled it!
Blind: early whistle up front, with few whistles to complete the retrieve.

3rd
Flyer: Pinned it!
SR: traveled a line wide and right of the holding blind, squared the pond exitng to the right of the gun station driving deep up the hill to turn and make a large loop to the correct side of the holding blind down to the area to complete the retrieve.
LR: traveled a nice line under the arc of the mark cont. to drive up the hill and then hunted her way back to the bird.
You can't infer much from reading the blog. Other than "Smacked/pinned/drilled/front-footed it" all the commentary is subject to a wide range of interpretation. (And maybe someone's 'front foot' isn't the same as yours or mine either for that matter....)

The blogistas can't (or shouldn't) give opinionated commentary and what one person sees as a minor hunt can be another person's significant hunt. What's the definition of a "loop"? Is it a tight circle right around the area of fall or is it a romp around the surrounding countryside? (I'm being a little facetious but you get the idea.) It doesn't always take a handle to get dropped if the dog has had more than one big hunt. There are also dogs that have handled early (of the quick tidy variety) that have finished Nationals.

It's also hard to interpret what "early whistle up front with few whistles to complete". A whistle isn't a whistle isn't a whistle. An "early whistle up front" could be the handler tightening the dog a bit to get a more advantageous angle to enter the water or go between goal posts. Or it could be a short stop because the dog, perhaps to avoid water, took a poor IL. Both scenarios are "early whistles' but again, demonstrate opposite issues with the first part of the blind: the first is strategic handling, the second is "uh oh".

Several whistles could mean a handler is keeping the dog sharp and tight to the line.....or it could mean the dog is scallop-scallop-scalloping it's way through the blind. Or it could mean the dog is bouncing around at the end of the blind without coming up with the bird. Those scenarios all took several whistles but they are very different in terms of a well run blind.


I don't know what dog you're referring to, and I'm not there in person to observe how the blogistas' posts compare to what I see in the field. So this is all hypothetical. Worth nil, just conjectural food-for-thought.

.
 
#73 ·
I am not a field trialer nor have I ever seen one. I would have went to Cheraw except I had to travel for work this week. I have been to some hunt tests there so I know some of the property.

I am really enjoying the blog. The set up descriptions and commentaries are fun to read. The pictures are cool. I can almost picture the dogs working.

Kudos to those folks who are there doing the play by play. I hope they do this at every national. I will be watching for it.
 
#75 ·
Flyer: traveled a path under the arc est. a hunt in the area cont. to hunt area getting wider and wider but could never come up with the bird, gunners came out to help dog once dog got the bird he collapsed. The vet and stewards were rushed to the dog's aide in a matter of seconds then dog & vet were rushed to the on-site mobile vet unit here to provide the best and immediate care for our canine athletes in this National event. We will update you momentarily on Pedro's condition.
Here's hoping that Pedro is ok
 
#78 ·
From blog
#54 Pedro is doing better. The vet is getting his core body temperature to come down nicely and they expect a full recovery. Pedro is a true competitor who was not coming home without the bird. We salute Pedro's heart for the game and Thank all that ran to his aide in his time of need. Thank you everyone for your kind words and thoughts of Pedro.
 
#92 ·
Agreed Charlotte. Pedro and Dolores won the Open I judged with Van Ames at the Long Island club in early October. He was very fun to watch and you could tell that he was a savvy veteran when it came to a very difficult key bird in the 4th series. I'm so glad he's going to be OK.
 
#105 ·
we all appreciate you saying so! feel free to post comments directly on our BLOG so our SPONSORS see the positive reviews and allow us to continue to bring you the news from the national. We would not be able to report without their support!
 
#85 ·
During the time that we had several handles it didn't seem like anything changed. I watched all of those dogs. The gun stations were fine, no extra wind or little wind all about the same. It was weird something changed many folks tried to pull the left side momma/poppa secondor third and then over ran and handled.

The flyer station probably gave the most issues. It was very hit or miss on where it landed.

Holland smacked it and so did Wiley. The. Many handles.

Cheers

chris
 
#98 ·
During the time that we had several handles it didn't seem like anything changed. I watched all of those dogs. The gun stations were fine, no extra wind or little wind all about the same. It was weird something changed ..........
I don't know how it could possibly matter, especially with the level of expertise at the National level, but there was a gun change right then.
 
#87 ·
Watched all of the above. Mom first, then rb, then pop and flier last. But most took flyer third and pop last.

Wiley told Dave she wanted flyer third. He initially lined up for pop third, but she came in and locked onto flier and he listened.

Something changed and many dogs over ran the pop and needed a quick handle to keep them from driving up the hill.

Cheers

Chris
 
#94 ·
The last dog posted on the blog was 75, Punch. Anyway to find out what all the dogs through 7 did? (especially 2 and 4 :))?
 
#100 ·
I thought that Vickie Lamb might do illustrations in addition to her announcer duties, but obviously not, and the best illustrator in the business is Ms Ingham and I did not see her listed as part of the RN Team
 
#110 ·
Good question Bill. I can't believe they can keep photographers out. It is not a "private" event, and what do they hope to accomplish? I do love the blog, thanks ladies!
 
#112 ·
Carol : somewhere in the fine print it reads that all images are owned by the National Retriever Club and in reality it is a private event...their trial, their rules
 
#116 ·
Someone asked about the "short distances"...if they were done with range finding binoculars, there's actually a LOT more distance due to the terrain changes.

Someone asked why retire the mom and pop...they did not retire until after dog picked up first bird from the ones I saw. The bird was actually more angled back and a lot closer to where the gunners were standing...much tighter than the picture looked.

This was the case in 1st and 2nd series as well. Another thing you can't see in the pictures is how much the terrain changes from start to finish.

On the two blinds, the first 20 yards counted by the binoculars actually went about 20 feet down a steep bank from the top of the dam (you can actually see the dam in the picture of the 3rd series, but even from that perspective, you can't see how far it is from the top of the dam to the basin. The land blind has yet another basin to go through where the patch/line of pine trees is just to the right of the line. After crossing the road, the line to the blind is actually going slightly uphill at an angle across the hill as well.

The 7th series, they're at Wood Duck pond, there's one really big washed out area on one side, the other side is terraced to try to prevent washouts.
 
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