Well, sorry it's taken so long, but for anyone interested:
Test writeup
Chiltern Gundog Society – Novice Test
Judges: Keith Broomfield, Rosemary Ryder, Laura Dearlove, Liz Barnes.
33 ran. We had four tests in the morning followed by a four dog walk up in the afternoon. Overall, I thought the tests were fair, although there were quite a few 0’s so perhaps quite testing !? I was surprised to be placed, as although we did well on two tests and the walk up (apart from some very ropey heelwork), we messed up on two tests and which I though would put us out of the cards, however, it seemed many struggled.
Test 3 (our first test).
A straightforward double mark in a field of high grass.
A dummy was thrown out to the right with gunshot then one to the left with gunshot. Pick the right hand dummy first. This should have been a very straightforward test, however, we managed to mess it up. As I turned Meg, pointed to the left hand side and told her to leave it, she shot forward a pace. Oh dear… I asked the judge if I should put my lead on and was told no to send her. I sent her to the right, she went straight out and picked. Went straight out to the left and picked after hunting the area briefly. The step forward cost us 5 points and we ended up with 15. (I was surprised I didn’t score a 0)
Test 2 (the one that caused the problems)
A Blind with a distraction (and then pick the distraction)
Sit up with a wide grassy track in front and high grass to the right. A gunshot to the right and a dummy is thrown into the long grass. The dog is sent for a long blind straight ahead (without shot). I told her to leave the mark and sent her for the blind. Meg is in her element here as she goes out straight and fast. She went straight out and picked it. Then sent for the mark in the long grass. Again, she went straight out and picked it. We were docked 1 point for telling her to leave (I didn’t realise they took off points for that so learnt something) and we scored 19. Looking at the scores it proved the test that caused the problems. I understand most dogs were stopping short and hunting and tempted to swing back to the mark.
Test 3 (the one that caused us a problem)
Straightforward mark followed by blind in the same area.
This was in a clearing in the wood where the grass was high. Meg didn’t mark the first dummy thrown (with shot) and I had to handle her onto it. She then went over the blind several times and again I had to handle her onto it. One of the difficulties was seeing where your dog was in the long grass, however, she did eventually pick it and we scored 15.
Test 4.
Double Blind in woods.
Sit up at the end of a path in the woods. The blind was at the end of the path but there were several obstacles put on the path to encourage the dog off the path. The main one was a pile of sticks across the path. There must have been others as my ‘straight as a die running’ Meg, swerved twice on both blinds in exactly the same place, but I couldn’t see anything in the way from where I was standing. I did ask the judge if there were other obstacles further along and she just nodded giving me a half smile. What caused her to swerve I still don’t know, but she went straight out, undeterred and picked both blinds. We scored 20.
Four dog Walk up.
Again, in long grass which made marking difficult (particularly for a one group where the field reached a brow and it was almost impossible to mark). Luckily for my group the ground had gone over the brow and Meg was able to mark inspite of the long grass and went straight out and picked it. However, our heelwork left a lot to be desired and we scored 18.
Last edited by jem_d on Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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