Monday, June 20, 2011

Brought to you by Purina

Test 1 -- Double with a Flyer and a Retired

Test 2 -- Land Blind

The test is set on both sides of a long draw. The mat is on the Southwest side of the hill with a view to the North. To the Northeast side of the draw at 208 yards is a gun station with a dead rooster pheasant thrown to the left. At 311 yards sits the flyer station with a rooster pheasant shot to the left. The blind is at 175 yards and is a hen duck. From the mat, the handler will turn to his right to run the blind which is across the draw and up the opposite hill.

At 6:45 sharp, the test dog, FC-AFC Chippewa Wilson has come to the line. After the rain last night, the air is clear and at 50 degrees with very little wind and the dust has settled. As the remaining handlers watch the test dog, they are super vigilant to any changes in the test. There is a light breeze which blows from behind the handler. Time will tell as the first three running dogs are already in the holding blind.

Judge Pat Nicholls takes a quick "siesta" before the day starts!

The running order became a little confusing because of all the no birds late yesterday. It is as follows: 40, 41, 43, 36, 37, 38, 44, 45 and so forth....

There was a last minute substitution for the Test Dogs yesterday....Here they are officially:

Knollwood's Sweet Lily (LF) “Lily,” handled by Nancy White

FC-AFC Chippewa Wilson (LM) "Wilson,” handled by Barbara Furlano

Thanks to both handlers and dogs for their service!!

The Retriever News Team: Vickie Lamb, Gwen Jones and Caitlin Furin
Tina "the paparazzi" Ebner is behind the viewfinder

The Two Purple People Eaters!!

8:55 a.m.-- The sun is peaking through the clouds and the field is already brighter than yesterday. The wind is changing, offering up some excellent work and then causing some great difficulty for the dogs. The work has gone from some of the best that we've seen to some very large hunts and a handle.

Alex Washburn watches intently.

Thanks to our Sponsors!!

Al Wilson's grandsons "Mutt" & "Jeff"

It was announced this morning that dog 57 FC-AFC Atlasta Winner, "Lassie," and handler Martha Blank are a scratch. The dog sustained an injury getting off a truck a few days before the start of the trial. There has been a handle and the gunners in the field were asked to pick up the flyer.

Lisa & Danny Farmer and Dennis Ebner

Mr. "Z" waits in the holding blind

Last dog ran @ 10:41, Gary Zellner - Z for last!

Pat Nicholls, Mary Howley and Mitch Brown confer on the Callbacks.

Callbacks came shortly after 11:00 am. Callbacks for Third Series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115

Dogs Dropped: 13, 15, 16, 22, 26, 30, 36, 42, 51, 54, 55, 57, 66, 79, 87, 90, 94 and 105

Number of dogs back to the third series: 97; 18 dogs dropped.

Test 3 -- Water Blind

The Third Series is located around a deep bowl with a small pond at the bottom. The dog is entering from a location approximately from the northwest side. The dog proceeds down a steep hill and across a flat covered in tall grass. They proceed to cross a small stream onto a large V-shaped piece of land with the point facing the water and the wide end angling up a slope. Once the dog crosses the point he entered the water and swims approximately 20 yards, as the dogs leave the water they will climb approximately 100 yards to the bird which is a hen duck. We gauged the blind at 194 yards taking approximately 2 1/2 minutes per dog. Starting dog #96.

Ann Vicklund from Purina and Danny Farmer

The Handlers move forward to see the dog better on the Water Blind.

Barbara Furlano with "Wilson"

Nancy White with "Lily"

Well, we are having a bit of a mountain pass rainshower, just had a rebird and now the first dog is running, dog #46. Visibility is not that good during the rainshower. This is a test where the dog can only hurt themselves, there appears to be no way to truly get ahead. There have been some multiple-whistled blinds. A few dogs seem to be too loose at the end of the blind. The gallery is only able to see the end of the line so they are watching the handlers.

We have about 25 more dogs to run. The wind has picked up and the sun has come out. They will finish this test and the Fourth Series will not start until tomorrow.

The Test Dog will be run at 6:45 am for the start of the Fourth Series. The Callbacks for the Fourth Series will be posted at the Headquarters and the instructions on how to get to the next test will be posted as well. The location is fairly close to where we are now. The starting dog will be #9.

The Callbacks to the Fourth Series have just two dogs dropped:  #31 and #68.

The Marshals would like to remind everyone that the Test Dog is tomorow at 6:45 am sharp.

URGENT--BIG CHANGES IN TOMORROW'S PLANS

Test Four will NOW Be HELD at John Pampy's property.


Worker's Caravan leaves HQ at 5:30 a.m.


Contestant Caravan leaves HQ at 6:00 a.m. First TWENTY DOGS should be in the caravan. Dog #9 starts this next test.


TEST DOGS WILL BEGIN RUNNING at 7:30 a.m.