What a weekend! Monty and I are both exhausted! (yawn)
First of all, today Monty earned his WC, which was actually a lot of fun! I was less than worried about that test, but it did give me a good chance to practice sits at heel position after returning (and while still holding- I think I was doing the novice "grab" due to nerves during the JH tests but I can't remember much of that part, LOL) the bird.
Let me also state that Monty has been the "talk of the town" since our run yesterday. LOL It was the most crazy experience of my life, I swear. Today, I had people from the Masters and Seniors tests coming up to me and asking if I was "the one?"
Yesterday, we started off with water marks and then moved to land. Monty is a huge water-lover, and his water entries are second to no one, so he passed that portion with flying colors. THEN, after working the popper station for the 1st water mark through the rest of the 44 juniors dogs (approx. 37 more dogs), we end up hitting the land series.
The land series- a 70-yard dead bird mark from a popper station in the field out and to the right of the blind (right to left "throw" from a winger) into a clump of heavy cover amid moderate cover. This was followed by a live-flier (ours ended up about 70 yards out) from left to right out of a group of trees into uneven ground- same moderate cover. It was probably a bit more than 90-degrees or so outside by then...without shade out in the field.
I am literally shaking in my shoes, absolutely terrified (with little left of my stomach lining), and I sit Monty at the line, hold onto his collar with a finger, and signal for the bird. They launch the bird and the judges call "Dog." I send Monty and he RACES out there in a straight line (I'm dying with inner excitement, thinking he absolutely nailed the mark).
He proceeds to run OVER the mark, continuing for at least another 50-70 yards in a straight line. THEN, he starts hunting out there, can't scent a thing (because there aren't birds out there *anywhere* of course), so decides to head over probably another 50 yards to the left to the shore of the pond where he had so much fun in the morning series, looks into the water, and then jogs along the shoreline toward the 2nd gunners' station.
At this point, I'm freaking out inside and unsure what to do, so I watched and waited while my heart steadily climbed into my throat, pounding like a jack-hammer...it seemed like it must have taken him at least about 10 minutes. The judges gather around me and ask me "Can you handle your dog to the bird?" Speechless, I look at them with wide eyes in all of my newbie wonder (especially since I haven't ever handled a dog nor has the dog ever even seen anyone try to handle before) and reply, "I don't have a CLUE!" They tell me that I should at least give it a try.
Sooooo, I fumble around with my duck call and whistles, figuring that the first thing to do is probably try a remote "sit" on a whistle (in spite of the fact the dog hasn't been taught remote sits yet), finally finding my correct whistle and giving a short, sharp blast. Monty stops in his tracks and looks at me. I was floored, but managed to yell out (with an exaggerated pointing motion waving toward the bird), "IT'S OVER THERE!"
Monty glances at me and then amazes us all...the judges, the gallery, and ME! He steadily and confidently trots right out, in a straight line, directly to the mark about 100 yards away, grabs it in his mouth and then comes right in to deliver it to hand. OMG, it was CRAZY!!! :shock:
I was so excited and so proud of him (and my expert handling skills, of course! LOL) that I forgot everything and gave him a huge hug when he came in (which of course isn't allowed...there I go, being a girl again, LOL). The judges looked the other way and reminded me that I had one more mark, the live flier. So, after composing myself and Monty (who was quite pleased with himself), we signal and he nails the live flier. The entire place errupted into cheers, and I had people telling me that it was the best single-handle mark that anyone had ever seen.
Anyhow, we passed and ended up getting our first leg toward our JH yesterday. Yay!
First of all, today Monty earned his WC, which was actually a lot of fun! I was less than worried about that test, but it did give me a good chance to practice sits at heel position after returning (and while still holding- I think I was doing the novice "grab" due to nerves during the JH tests but I can't remember much of that part, LOL) the bird.
Let me also state that Monty has been the "talk of the town" since our run yesterday. LOL It was the most crazy experience of my life, I swear. Today, I had people from the Masters and Seniors tests coming up to me and asking if I was "the one?"
Yesterday, we started off with water marks and then moved to land. Monty is a huge water-lover, and his water entries are second to no one, so he passed that portion with flying colors.
THEN, after working the popper station for the 1st water mark through the rest of the 44 juniors dogs (approx. 37 more dogs), we end up hitting the land series.The land series- a 70-yard dead bird mark from a popper station in the field out and to the right of the blind (right to left "throw" from a winger) into a clump of heavy cover amid moderate cover. This was followed by a live-flier (ours ended up about 70 yards out) from left to right out of a group of trees into uneven ground- same moderate cover. It was probably a bit more than 90-degrees or so outside by then...without shade out in the field.
I am literally shaking in my shoes, absolutely terrified (with little left of my stomach lining), and I sit Monty at the line, hold onto his collar with a finger, and signal for the bird. They launch the bird and the judges call "Dog." I send Monty and he RACES out there in a straight line (I'm dying with inner excitement, thinking he absolutely nailed the mark).
He proceeds to run OVER the mark, continuing for at least another 50-70 yards in a straight line. THEN, he starts hunting out there, can't scent a thing (because there aren't birds out there *anywhere* of course), so decides to head over probably another 50 yards to the left to the shore of the pond where he had so much fun in the morning series, looks into the water, and then jogs along the shoreline toward the 2nd gunners' station.
At this point, I'm freaking out inside and unsure what to do, so I watched and waited while my heart steadily climbed into my throat, pounding like a jack-hammer...it seemed like it must have taken him at least about 10 minutes.
The judges gather around me and ask me "Can you handle your dog to the bird?" Speechless, I look at them with wide eyes in all of my newbie wonder (especially since I haven't ever handled a dog nor has the dog ever even seen anyone try to handle before) and reply, "I don't have a CLUE!" They tell me that I should at least give it a try. Sooooo, I fumble around with my duck call and whistles, figuring that the first thing to do is probably try a remote "sit" on a whistle (in spite of the fact the dog hasn't been taught remote sits yet), finally finding my correct whistle and giving a short, sharp blast. Monty stops in his tracks and looks at me. I was floored, but managed to yell out (with an exaggerated pointing motion waving toward the bird), "IT'S OVER THERE!"
Monty glances at me and then amazes us all...the judges, the gallery, and ME! He steadily and confidently trots right out, in a straight line, directly to the mark about 100 yards away, grabs it in his mouth and then comes right in to deliver it to hand. OMG, it was CRAZY!!! :shock:
I was so excited and so proud of him (and my expert handling skills, of course! LOL) that I forgot everything and gave him a huge hug when he came in (which of course isn't allowed...there I go, being a girl again, LOL). The judges looked the other way and reminded me that I had one more mark, the live flier. So, after composing myself and Monty (who was quite pleased with himself), we signal and he nails the live flier. The entire place errupted into cheers, and I had people telling me that it was the best single-handle mark that anyone had ever seen.
Anyhow, we passed and ended up getting our first leg toward our JH yesterday. Yay!
