I'll clarify, Dog A barked on the line at each bird thrown and whined. Personally i find vocalization to be an elimination factor. I'm a firm believer of the line manners instructions from page 30 of the FT rules...
24. When called to be tested, a dog should come tractably at heel and sit promptly at the point designated by his handler and remain quietly where placed until given further orders. Retrievers which bark or whine on line, in a blind or while retrieving, should be penalized. Loud and prolonged barking or whining is sufficient cause to justify elimination from the stake.
I am surprised at the equalness of the voting though. I think it clearly demonstrates an issue with FT mentality today. 1st, I believe that vocalness in a dogs is;
1. a hereditary trait controlled through training
2. one of the toughest issues to train through.
Many would contend that the best of the best is determined by success in competition, rightly so. Yet as long as people are willing to reward dogs through placements, focusing on one trait such as marking and ignoring other listed traits like vocalization I think we're actually hurting the breed. If judges would read and enforce the quoted portion of the book, those dogs would never get far enough to place, and people would eliminate that undesirable traits like this from the lines. Marking is of primary importance, not all important. Just my .02....
/Paul
ps. This did not come from any recent trial, but came from working with a young man who has a higher than a kite linebred dog that is known for this problem. This poor man is desperate for a solution to the noise and i think with time and control we can contain it. He's failed two junior tests, and I told him that frankly he should switch and run derby because this poll demonstrates, there are those who will ignore it if the dog pins the marks.
