last weekend many were still commenting and discussing the previous weeks Master A test at Bryan-College Station RC HT. RTF'er Sean shot some really good video so i thought i'd share. some of the audio was edited out so you will not hear a couple of whistles on blind B1.
Test: Walk-up dry pop to set up the blind. Marks m1, m2, and m3 are thrown. On the way back from m3 diversion “div 4” is thrown with a shot. Dog must pick up blind B1 before anything else, then the 3 birds still on the ground in any order. Most handlers chose div4, m1, then m2. last is blind B2.
mistakes i see:
he gave in to the slope on m1, flapping wing called him back. i think he would have gotten it fairly cleanly anway but still need to work on holding the line crossing a slope/swale.
on B1 i sent him on his name instead of "back", and he then slipped the first whistle. total mistake - handler nerves or whatever. calm down and concentrate.
could probably slow down a little more on the mark casts from the line.
delivery needs to be cleaned up a bit, you will see one particular sticky delivery. this was the first time he has done this, it was a little worse in series 2 and 3, and much worse this past weekend as sr. test dog. i believe its hunt test excitement on his part, so we are training with nothing but fresh ducks all week with lots of long period holds and reinforced "gives". as expected, he is a total gentleman all week, so we'll see what he does in a test. also maybe a longer air period before heading to the line? any pointers on this issue are appreciated.
http://vimeo.com/10229631
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Test: Walk-up dry pop to set up the blind. Marks m1, m2, and m3 are thrown. On the way back from m3 diversion “div 4” is thrown with a shot. Dog must pick up blind B1 before anything else, then the 3 birds still on the ground in any order. Most handlers chose div4, m1, then m2. last is blind B2.
mistakes i see:
he gave in to the slope on m1, flapping wing called him back. i think he would have gotten it fairly cleanly anway but still need to work on holding the line crossing a slope/swale.
on B1 i sent him on his name instead of "back", and he then slipped the first whistle. total mistake - handler nerves or whatever. calm down and concentrate.
could probably slow down a little more on the mark casts from the line.
delivery needs to be cleaned up a bit, you will see one particular sticky delivery. this was the first time he has done this, it was a little worse in series 2 and 3, and much worse this past weekend as sr. test dog. i believe its hunt test excitement on his part, so we are training with nothing but fresh ducks all week with lots of long period holds and reinforced "gives". as expected, he is a total gentleman all week, so we'll see what he does in a test. also maybe a longer air period before heading to the line? any pointers on this issue are appreciated.
http://vimeo.com/10229631
