Day 2- Monday, October 11, 2010

Brought to you by Purina & Avery

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT OUR REPORT: We don't want you to miss anything! We post updates and we continually are adding details about all the tests and Flights, dating back to Day 1 on Sunday, 10-10-10.

Flight A continues w/ Dog 15 in the morning  (Test Dog at 7:30 am)

Flight B continues w/ Dog 17 in the morning  (Test Dog at 7:30 am)

Flight C continues w/ Dog 18 in the morning  (Test Dog at 7:30 am)

FLIGHT A: First Test Dog ran at close to 7:30 am. By late morning, the consensus seemed to be that the dog work and test mechanics have been going well so far today. One flyer landed twice the average distance. It generated excitement among the gallery but not a no-bird.

Problems resumed late in the morning with the flyer station. Two live birds escaped without being shot, one hunted up by the gunners in a nearby field. This caused only a short break in the test.

























FLIGHT B: First Test Dog ran at close to 7:30 am. First running dog ran at 8 am. Ironically, yesterday's mechanics caused multiple no-birds, with little to no wind; yet, despite today's high winds, the mechanics have been fine. There are mixed opinions about the impact of the wind on the left-hand bird that lands in the milo. If the dogs don't mark this bird well, and hunt for it, they are having trouble. The test dogs overran it, then appeared to have remembered it, having run this test once already yesterday.

FLIGHT C: Test Dog ran at 7:50 am. This morning the wind has changed everything. It is blowing from the N/NW in gusts ranging from 26-30 mph and even sometimes at 35 mph. The test has changed dramatically because yesterday the wind was at the handlers' backs and today they are facing it. The wind will help with the blind today; but, will make the marks more difficult.


Frank Barton said that the U.S. Fire Service has issued a fire warning, due to the wind and low humidity. He cautioned smokers to smoke in their cars. It is inadvisable anywhere in this region. He also announced that the MNRC Store will be open for sales today between 2 and 6 pm at the Ramada Inn, in the same room where it was on Saturday. This will be the only location where this merchandise will be sold. The Lassen Retriever Club merchandise is available by the Clubhouse.








*** At 12 pm, each Flight has approximately twenty dogs left to run in the first series. Workers will be moving to each Flight's next venue while the Judges are working on Callbacks. Lunches are available for purchase at the Clubhouse.

CALLBACKS FOR FLIGHT A: Dog #1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121. Total # dogs called back: 107. Scratches: #65, 81, 88.

CALLBACKS FOR FLIGHT B: Dog #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 112, 113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120. Total # dogs called back: 103. Scratches: #28, 74.

CALLBACKS FOR FLIGHT C: Dog #1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 68, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114, 117, 118, 120. Total # dogs called back: 86. Scratches: #8, 23, 28, 57, 66.

Flight A: "Oh No"  Land Triple with Double Blind Walk-up with Honor

This land test consists of all rooster pheasants. All birds are launched from left to right and at square angles, going round-the-horn from left to right. Lengths are 75, 95 and 110 yards, respectively. The right mark is a flyer. The left blind is only 35 yds and is between the left and middle marks. The right outside blind is 85 yds. A key factor in this test is the milo strip that begins about six yards from the Line. Some of the plants are as tall as five feet. They are very green and flexible, and wave back and forth with the wind. The proximity to the Line and movement can create quite a visual distraction from the middle and right marks. The field contains are variety of cover. It slopes gently downward toward the middle and right marks and is dotted with low moguls.
Flight B: "Not So" Land Triple with Blind

Flight B has moved to the Not So venue. This is a mostly land Triple, with surprise water on one of the marks, and a land blind. The intent of the Judges was to create a hunting scenario. All birds in this series are hen mallards and are launched out of wingers. 1st down: Right-hand bird is out of a station completely hidden by cattails, angled back to the left, at 70 yds. The right mark is separated from the two on the left by a fair amount of distance, a wide angle and significant changes in cover. 2nd down: A huge Flyer long bird, most of which are landing at a square angle to the right around 125 yds. 3rd down, from a station in line with the Flier's station but closer to the Line, landing in green cover of varying length, at 78 yards. The blind is under the arc of the short left bird, between the station and the tall cover on the left outside of the test, at 94 yards.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing handlers is that their dogs must disappear on their way to the right-hand bird, even those dogs holding a good line. There is a very long land entry, after which the dogs go down an embankment, and out of sight. The bird lands on the other side of a 20' wide span of water connecting two ponds. The majority of factors around the area of  fall are not visible to the handler. The shortest time in the no-see-um zone has been five seconds, according to some of the handlers. Dogs reappearing close to the line to the bird have been averaging 20 to 30 seconds out of the handlers' range of vision.

Flight C: "Par 4" Water Double with Diversion Bird 

 

Flight C is by the golf course...therefore named "Par 4." It aptly could be renamed "Hats a Flyin.'" 

It was decided that the left station should be moved approximately 50 to 60 feet to the north (toward the left in the photo above) to compensate for the strong north wind, so the bird would land where intended. The consequential delay in the start of this test mostly is due to the fact that this necessitated getting all six Judges together to approve it. The time it took to accomplish the changes themselves was minimal, by comparison.

It is a good thing that the gallery is downwind; otherwise, the dogs may have more to see moving through the air than just ducks. Two drake mallards are launched from stations on the other side of the water. There is no flyer. The 75-yd memory bird is on the left, and is launched right to left. The 68-yd go-bird is launched left to right. Both land near the water's edge. As the dog is returning with the go-bird, a 40-yd diversion bird is hand-thrown from the near shore into the middle of the channel. The handler begins the test seated on a bucket.