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Ran seasoned at Midlands HRC yesterday & things did not go near as well as it did last weekend.
Began the day off with the water test. Blind was up first & the handler worked off of a point that protruded out into the lake. The blind ran parallel with the bank that the point jutted out of, about 20 yds. The blind was about 60 yds. away on the left bank. There was a white bucket or large pipe that was sticking out of the water about 3-4" out of the water at an angle, that was about 40 yds. to the left of the blind, about 5 yds from the bank. Reese kept wanting to go to that bucket, and I had to fight him to get him off of it. I'd cast him on an angle left, and he'd take the left turn, but swim around & point right back to the bucket. One or two times, he wouldn't even bother to take the left back, and just rotated to the right, back towards the bucket. Finally, after 7 or 8 casts, he took a straight line to the blind from about 25-30 yds. away. In hindsight, and after talking with the Professor about it, I should have cast him on a left over to get him off of the bucket, then a left back. We then had our double, and diversion, which he stepped on both marks, & handled the diversion perfectly. Judge told me that we made it through to the land, but due to a couple of cast refusals on the blind, that we needed to run the land blind pretty clean in order to pass.
Land series comes up, & it's in a thinned pine grove with some undergrowth coming in. The blind is first on this setup as well. It is about 80-90 yds. out, and has a pine tree just to the left of the line. I line Reese on the blind & sent him. He takes a straight line for about 30 yds. before he starts to veer off line. I whistle for him to sit, and he does. His nose goes up in the air, and he begins looking side to side. I know that we are in serious trouble at that point, but I give him a right back cast, and he sticks his nose to the ground & begins to put on a hunt, moving from left to right. I whistle for him to sit again, and he sits while looking around & sniffing the air. I cast him on a left, angle back, and he turns back to the right and continues sniffing the ground while hunting. He then blows through 3-4 whistle sits while he continues his hunt. I finally get him to sit & cast back, where he eventually gets to the blind. When he comes back, the judge informs me that we would not be passing, but we were welcome to finish the test if we wanted to. I wanted the experience, so ran the walk up & marks. He did the walk up perfect, and stepped on both marks.
The next dog to run flushed a quail out of the area where Reese was hunting so hard, so at least I know what caused our problem, and I know how to correct it in hopes of it never happening again.
Only half of the field passed that test, so I was in with some very good company.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the tests, because they should have been tests that we could have passed easily. They were fair, but tough & they exposed our weaknesses in a bad kind of way, & I can guarantee that the suction that got us this weekend, won't get us again.
As bad as it stung, failing the test, we learned a lot of valuable information that will only make us stronger. We will work hard this week, then try again at Old South.
Began the day off with the water test. Blind was up first & the handler worked off of a point that protruded out into the lake. The blind ran parallel with the bank that the point jutted out of, about 20 yds. The blind was about 60 yds. away on the left bank. There was a white bucket or large pipe that was sticking out of the water about 3-4" out of the water at an angle, that was about 40 yds. to the left of the blind, about 5 yds from the bank. Reese kept wanting to go to that bucket, and I had to fight him to get him off of it. I'd cast him on an angle left, and he'd take the left turn, but swim around & point right back to the bucket. One or two times, he wouldn't even bother to take the left back, and just rotated to the right, back towards the bucket. Finally, after 7 or 8 casts, he took a straight line to the blind from about 25-30 yds. away. In hindsight, and after talking with the Professor about it, I should have cast him on a left over to get him off of the bucket, then a left back. We then had our double, and diversion, which he stepped on both marks, & handled the diversion perfectly. Judge told me that we made it through to the land, but due to a couple of cast refusals on the blind, that we needed to run the land blind pretty clean in order to pass.
Land series comes up, & it's in a thinned pine grove with some undergrowth coming in. The blind is first on this setup as well. It is about 80-90 yds. out, and has a pine tree just to the left of the line. I line Reese on the blind & sent him. He takes a straight line for about 30 yds. before he starts to veer off line. I whistle for him to sit, and he does. His nose goes up in the air, and he begins looking side to side. I know that we are in serious trouble at that point, but I give him a right back cast, and he sticks his nose to the ground & begins to put on a hunt, moving from left to right. I whistle for him to sit again, and he sits while looking around & sniffing the air. I cast him on a left, angle back, and he turns back to the right and continues sniffing the ground while hunting. He then blows through 3-4 whistle sits while he continues his hunt. I finally get him to sit & cast back, where he eventually gets to the blind. When he comes back, the judge informs me that we would not be passing, but we were welcome to finish the test if we wanted to. I wanted the experience, so ran the walk up & marks. He did the walk up perfect, and stepped on both marks.
The next dog to run flushed a quail out of the area where Reese was hunting so hard, so at least I know what caused our problem, and I know how to correct it in hopes of it never happening again.
Only half of the field passed that test, so I was in with some very good company.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the tests, because they should have been tests that we could have passed easily. They were fair, but tough & they exposed our weaknesses in a bad kind of way, & I can guarantee that the suction that got us this weekend, won't get us again.
As bad as it stung, failing the test, we learned a lot of valuable information that will only make us stronger. We will work hard this week, then try again at Old South.
