Tuesday, July 21, 2009 |
Test 3 -- Water Triple
Judges: Phil
Macmillan, Dennis Voigt and Ron Graham along with set-up crew: Tom
Sandberg, Gerry Leippi, Dave MacDonald, Doug Hildebrand and Tim Fahl
have been very busy this morning and all was ready when the caravan
arrived. The morning started with clear skies and a brisk westerly wind
at 25-30 km/h; the temperature is 18*C and expected to get up to 25*C.
The judges and the gallery will appreciate the Purina Canopies that
are set up for their comfort.
At 7:30am the female test dog, run by the Trial Marshal Ernie Rose, completed the third series test and the judges opted to make a change and retire the first gun. The ground crew quickly made the requested changes and by 8:00am, NMH Saskquill’s Prairie Thunder MH, the male test dog handled by Doug Hildebrand, was running the revised test. Thunder ran the shore on the last retrieve and ended up hunting large to get back to the fall. As a result, the judges had the retired guns open the back of their blind and the test was a go. Thunder remained to do the honor for the first dog to run the third series.
Dog #20 FTCH AFTCH Blackwatch Son of a Gunn run by Charlie Perkins, was the first dog to run the finalized test.
THE TEST: the third series of the 2009 Canadian National Amateur Retriever Championship is a water triple.
#1 is the middle station and longest bird, thrown right to left, at 208 yards in a north direction. The gun is retired. The dog starts off of an elevation and immediately cuts the narrow end of a small swim pond, over a small sand bar, through some reedy splash water that turns into solid ground and then enter a large open pond close to the right hand side for a 75-80 yard swim to the duck.
#2 is the right hand bird, also thrown right to left 157 yards in a north-east direction. The gunner is visible during the throw but sits following and is not visible from the dog’s eye view at the starting line. The dog leaves the line and enters a small pond of swim water and exits into a patch of reedy splash water then up a hill, at this point the gunner is visible again. Cresting the hill the dog must negotiate a shallow vale with short cover to pick up the duck thrown into moderate cover uphill.
#3 is the left hand bird, thrown right to left 163 yards to the west. The dog must cross a slight rise into a narrow portion of open swim water, exit into a heavily reeded expanse of splash water. Again, the dog loses sight of the gunner at the start of the line but the gun is visible as the dog emerges from the reeds. The last bird is received to the right of the starting line and the dog and handler remain to honor.
The go bird is proving challenging for some dogs as the dogs are running into the wind and the reeds are disturbing some dogs’ sense of direction. Both the #2 and #3 birds are affected by a crosswind that is pushing some dogs to the right of the line. On #3 the bank on the right side becomes quite steep and any dog enticed into running the shore quickly heads to the extreme right of the line and then requires a large hunt to make it back to the duck.
As the morning progressed the temperature and the wind increased and some clouds moved in. By 11:00am the wind was gusting up to 60 km/h and the gallery’s canopies were in danger of heading west. Purina reps Les Oaks and Tim Crone held an impromptu seminar on dismantling and packing a Purina canopy while it’s trying to take flight! The gallery cheerfully resumed their seats sans shade to continue observing the test under a hot sun with nature’s fan turned on ‘high’. The gallery also expressed their appreciation for the judges’ choice of test site within walking distance of the “facilities”!
The last third of the field dogs faced increased crosswinds and choppy water admirably and performed on par with the previous two thirds. Only one dog has failed to complete the test by breaking on the honour.
All in all, a challenging test was met and conquered by the dog and handler teams. That and a combination of awesome throwers and excellent poppers from Dogs Afield has given everyone the afternoon off. The third series was completed by 2:30pm this afternoon with 32 dogs being called back from a field of 33 dogs.
Today’s kudos extended to the throwers who stepped up from the gallery and handlers and committee workers:
Matt Aiello
Alan and Bill Kennedy
Garry and Sue Taylor
Doug Hildebrand
Tim Fahl
Larry and Anna Calvert
Larry Baker
Charly Perkins
Ron Bischke
Jim Ling
Bruce Macdonald
Janice Gunn
Tom Sandberg
Bobby Lindsay
There are 2 more people deserving of thanks as throwers and apologies for missing your names.
This evening features a Fish Fry dinner sponsored by the Field Trial Clubs of Manitoba, prepared by Dawne Mackenzie (who also happens to be a selected judge for the 2010 CNARC) – YUMMMMMY!!!!
Another raffle table will be offered tonight. The silent auction continues including donations from Retriever’s Online, Cowtown Pet Division. The product donations from Purina and Tritronics are drawing much interest, as is training equipment donated by Thunder Equipment and Tangelo Products. Many thanks also go to Myek O’Shea of Momedia for the test photo and all the candid photographs he’s taken and the daily slide show that accompanies the evening program.
Wednesday's test will be held at the Regina Retriever Club grounds from 8:00am - 5:30pm. Spectators are welcome but asked not to wear white clothing.
Check out the updated list of the competitors under Retriever Callbacks. Good luck to everyone!
posted by Canadian National Amateur Blog Team @ 1:32 PM
At 7:30am the female test dog, run by the Trial Marshal Ernie Rose, completed the third series test and the judges opted to make a change and retire the first gun. The ground crew quickly made the requested changes and by 8:00am, NMH Saskquill’s Prairie Thunder MH, the male test dog handled by Doug Hildebrand, was running the revised test. Thunder ran the shore on the last retrieve and ended up hunting large to get back to the fall. As a result, the judges had the retired guns open the back of their blind and the test was a go. Thunder remained to do the honor for the first dog to run the third series.
Dog #20 FTCH AFTCH Blackwatch Son of a Gunn run by Charlie Perkins, was the first dog to run the finalized test.
THE TEST: the third series of the 2009 Canadian National Amateur Retriever Championship is a water triple.
#1 is the middle station and longest bird, thrown right to left, at 208 yards in a north direction. The gun is retired. The dog starts off of an elevation and immediately cuts the narrow end of a small swim pond, over a small sand bar, through some reedy splash water that turns into solid ground and then enter a large open pond close to the right hand side for a 75-80 yard swim to the duck.
#2 is the right hand bird, also thrown right to left 157 yards in a north-east direction. The gunner is visible during the throw but sits following and is not visible from the dog’s eye view at the starting line. The dog leaves the line and enters a small pond of swim water and exits into a patch of reedy splash water then up a hill, at this point the gunner is visible again. Cresting the hill the dog must negotiate a shallow vale with short cover to pick up the duck thrown into moderate cover uphill.
#3 is the left hand bird, thrown right to left 163 yards to the west. The dog must cross a slight rise into a narrow portion of open swim water, exit into a heavily reeded expanse of splash water. Again, the dog loses sight of the gunner at the start of the line but the gun is visible as the dog emerges from the reeds. The last bird is received to the right of the starting line and the dog and handler remain to honor.
The go bird is proving challenging for some dogs as the dogs are running into the wind and the reeds are disturbing some dogs’ sense of direction. Both the #2 and #3 birds are affected by a crosswind that is pushing some dogs to the right of the line. On #3 the bank on the right side becomes quite steep and any dog enticed into running the shore quickly heads to the extreme right of the line and then requires a large hunt to make it back to the duck.
As the morning progressed the temperature and the wind increased and some clouds moved in. By 11:00am the wind was gusting up to 60 km/h and the gallery’s canopies were in danger of heading west. Purina reps Les Oaks and Tim Crone held an impromptu seminar on dismantling and packing a Purina canopy while it’s trying to take flight! The gallery cheerfully resumed their seats sans shade to continue observing the test under a hot sun with nature’s fan turned on ‘high’. The gallery also expressed their appreciation for the judges’ choice of test site within walking distance of the “facilities”!
The last third of the field dogs faced increased crosswinds and choppy water admirably and performed on par with the previous two thirds. Only one dog has failed to complete the test by breaking on the honour.
All in all, a challenging test was met and conquered by the dog and handler teams. That and a combination of awesome throwers and excellent poppers from Dogs Afield has given everyone the afternoon off. The third series was completed by 2:30pm this afternoon with 32 dogs being called back from a field of 33 dogs.
Today’s kudos extended to the throwers who stepped up from the gallery and handlers and committee workers:
Matt Aiello
Alan and Bill Kennedy
Garry and Sue Taylor
Doug Hildebrand
Tim Fahl
Larry and Anna Calvert
Larry Baker
Charly Perkins
Ron Bischke
Jim Ling
Bruce Macdonald
Janice Gunn
Tom Sandberg
Bobby Lindsay
There are 2 more people deserving of thanks as throwers and apologies for missing your names.
This evening features a Fish Fry dinner sponsored by the Field Trial Clubs of Manitoba, prepared by Dawne Mackenzie (who also happens to be a selected judge for the 2010 CNARC) – YUMMMMMY!!!!
Another raffle table will be offered tonight. The silent auction continues including donations from Retriever’s Online, Cowtown Pet Division. The product donations from Purina and Tritronics are drawing much interest, as is training equipment donated by Thunder Equipment and Tangelo Products. Many thanks also go to Myek O’Shea of Momedia for the test photo and all the candid photographs he’s taken and the daily slide show that accompanies the evening program.
Wednesday's test will be held at the Regina Retriever Club grounds from 8:00am - 5:30pm. Spectators are welcome but asked not to wear white clothing.
Check out the updated list of the competitors under Retriever Callbacks. Good luck to everyone!
posted by Canadian National Amateur Blog Team @ 1:32 PM
