Test 5 - Land Blind , 315 yards w/ Poison Bird	Test - 6 Land Quad with Retired Gun

Test #5:  Land Blind and Leave-It Bird

It was a very cool but sunny morning.  Windshields were heavily frosted.  The test was set on rolling grasslands

There were 5 pick-ups.  44 dogs were called back to the 5th series – a double land blind.  Dogs 18, 23, 39, 43, 58, 61, 63, 67, 68, and 80 were not called back.  Dog #48 is the first dog to run on the 5th series.  Test dogs ran at 7:30 a.m.  and dog #48 at 8:00 a.m.  The blind, 315 yards long, was run in a north/northeasterly direction with wind coming across the line from the east.  A gunner about halfway to the blind threw a poison bird about 20 yards short of the blind line.  The line to the blind also included a log about 24 yards from the running mat, crossing a road and down into a gully opposite the knoll where the poison bird was, passed a white jacket on a chair about 30 yards to the right of the line slightly deep of and opposite the poison bird.

The dogs dropped out of sight for a few seconds after crossing the road.  At this point the dogs were opposite the poison bird knoll and just short of the white jacket and chair.

A number of dogs refused whistles deep of the 2nd log and some handlers had a challenge getting dogs passed the poison bird.  One dog did pick-up the poison bird.

The last dog was run on the blind at 10:40 a.m.  38 dogs were called back to the next series.  Dogs # 2, 22, 31, 50 and 54 were not called back.

 Test #6:  Land Marks – Quadruple

The test was set at the edge of open grassland where the timberline began to encroach.  The line was placed facing northeast at the backside of the road.  The opposite side of the road was flanked by a side cut that rose up 5 ft at its highest point.  A wide but relatively shallow gully ran through the body of the test.  Gun stations were all placed on the rise on the far side of the gully.  A handful of 40 foot pine trees stood on the close side of the gully and the far side was dotted with young seedlings.

The test consisted of a long retired gun shot 1st and three gun stations in a row shot left to right.  All blinds were thrown right to left except the retried which was thrown angle back up the hill.

The long retired (216 yards from line) was the first to shoot and throw.  Then down the hill to the left, the 2nd gun threw away from the retired gun across the face of the slope (186 yards from the line).  The 3rd gun (114 yards from line) threw the bird down the slope and finally the 4th gun threw the bird angle back (142 yards from line) deep and to the right of the 3rd gun station.  The line to the 3rd and 4th bird was up over the side cut.

The order that handlers and dogs made the retrieves varied.  A few handlers tried with success to select the short bird (#3) first.  Most however picked-up the last bird thrown first.  A good number of dogs could not be persuaded to pick-up the short one 2nd and either drove long ot the retired or picked-up the left hand (#2) bird.

There were 5 dogs that had to be handled in order to make the retrieves.  The last dog ran at about 5:30 p.m.  30 dogs were called back to the 7th series.  Dog #9, 12, 24, 37, 49, 52, 76 and 79 were not called back. Starting dog is to be #6.  The 7th series is to be a water blind at Weir Lake (north end).

A special ‘hello’ today to Daniel Shnitka and Birgit Juergensen of Victoria who weren’t able to make the trial.