[Tobias]

any retired?

 

[Tobias]

I think you may have a better shot at staying in the water and on the correct side of the left gun if you clear the middle bird second. Wouldn’t want to be too disciplined on the middle bird and have them thinking too much water and gut hunt that hillside. I think the left bird is the discipline bird.

if the wind is blowing from 7 to 2 --- I probably would try for middle bird second also.
I figured the left and middle would be retired, but wanted to clarify that.

 

[Tobias]

To both of you: Why?

For my dog - she is likely to remember the first bird down better than she would the second bird down. I also feel like she would pull slightly right with the wind and more likely end up on the correct side of the long gun.
If we pick up the left bird last and she has a hunt, it will most likely be such that she will wind the bird at some point in her hunt unless she ended up in no man's land to the outside of the mark. I'd probably encourage a fat entry and hope she'd line to the bush where the retired guns are and make the decision to go left, rather than right of it.

 

[Tobias]

More than one of us that ran were hoping for that. There was a significant push to the left from the go bird and the terrain, more than I expected.
Dr. Bruce ran last and I watched in the holding blind with Lily, the buy dog. The Dr.'s dog went left of the middle bird but he was able to telepathically handle to the mark.

I'll be speaking with one of the judges soon. I want to ask him if the test gave him expected or unexpected answers.

from the photo, it is hard to see how the terrain really lays. Do you think picking up that bird last also influenced dogs in that direction? If picked up second, perhaps the memory of the right hand mark would influence the dog a little more right also.

 

[Tobias]

To clarify.... most people chose to pick up the middle mark last? Even though dogs struggled with that order? Were dogs choosing the middle bird themselves or were the handlers choosing for them? Was there success for any dogs that chose to pick up the middle bird second, or was the outcome the same?

 

[Tobias]

That brings up another selection question. When do you let the dog decide?

I don't try to outhink my dog,. If she had come back really wanting that outside mark, I'd have let her have it and try for the middle bird last. It would not have been fun to be running early on this series. LOL