We are just back from our test, shattered and drained!
I had a lovely day, very well organised and thankfully the weather was perfect!
Results:
Novice Dog Novice Handler
1st Apricot Ash at Shottesbrook - Steve Fitches
2nd Echobrook Fern of Hanechdene - Richard Mash
3rd Camion Cassata - Brian Barr
4th Jumpy Jessie - Alison Cook
COM Norlands Prince - Liz Smith
COM Countryways Shooting Star - Jessica Webster
I don't have the results for the Special Puppy, but Neil may have - Neil, how did you get on in the end?
Write up for the tests if anyone is interested..
Test 1 Steadyness exercise
We had to walk to heel a certain distance, then a dummy was thrown right in front of the dog out to the left, then there was shot, and a dummy thrown ahead. We had to leave dog, collect 1st dummy, then return and send for the 2nd dummy. Chester didn't mark the 2nd dummy, so as soon as he went off track, I stopped him, and directed him out to the right, where he picked and returned, scoring 18
Test 2 Blind
Straight forward blind ahead, with no shot. It was just to the left of a tree, with brambles etc at the base. Chester ran straight out, but veered a little to the right, and found the dummy thrower, and subsequently needed quite a bit of handling onto the dummy, eventually he picked and returned, scoring 16 (which I thought was very generous considering all the handling I had to do!)
Test 3 Mark in cover
Straight forward mark into cover with shot, the mark was thrown at an angle from us across a wide grass track into thick cover on the right. Chester marked very well, picked and returned scoring 20
Test 4 Mark on Water
Mark onto water with shot, Chester went straight out, picked and returned without shaking, however, I later was told that he squeaked whilst waiting to be sent, so we scored 18
Test 5 Mark in woods, over a stream
Sat facing a stream, ashort distance away, and the mark was thrown a distance beyond in the woods, Chester went straight out, down through into the stream, up into thw woods, picked and returned scoring 20
Test 6 Walk up
A very nice 2 dog walk up, which I was second to go. Sat steady, heel work a little perculiar to say the least! The way I described it, was like a racehorse being let out of the stalls! He didn't leave my thigh, but it was a little odd to watch! Cantering on the spot! He sat steady whilst the other dog retreived, and he marked his very well and delivered nicely, but again, we were later told that the judge heard him squeek, so we scored 16.
All in all we scored 108 out of 120. I am a little shocked at the noise thing, as it has never been a problem before, so fingers crossed I can nip it in the bud before it becomes a permanant thing! I got lots of advice and tips from various people, so will be working on that
Its something that will have to be stopped immediatley, before it sets in, and can't be fixed! So a little down about that, but am hoping my trainer will help me sort it out this week. All in all, had a great day, and very pleased with how Chester went.
Well done to all those placed, there were some really good dogs there today!
I had a lovely day, very well organised and thankfully the weather was perfect!
Results:
Novice Dog Novice Handler
1st Apricot Ash at Shottesbrook - Steve Fitches
2nd Echobrook Fern of Hanechdene - Richard Mash
3rd Camion Cassata - Brian Barr
4th Jumpy Jessie - Alison Cook
COM Norlands Prince - Liz Smith
COM Countryways Shooting Star - Jessica Webster
I don't have the results for the Special Puppy, but Neil may have - Neil, how did you get on in the end?
Write up for the tests if anyone is interested..
Test 1 Steadyness exercise
We had to walk to heel a certain distance, then a dummy was thrown right in front of the dog out to the left, then there was shot, and a dummy thrown ahead. We had to leave dog, collect 1st dummy, then return and send for the 2nd dummy. Chester didn't mark the 2nd dummy, so as soon as he went off track, I stopped him, and directed him out to the right, where he picked and returned, scoring 18
Test 2 Blind
Straight forward blind ahead, with no shot. It was just to the left of a tree, with brambles etc at the base. Chester ran straight out, but veered a little to the right, and found the dummy thrower, and subsequently needed quite a bit of handling onto the dummy, eventually he picked and returned, scoring 16 (which I thought was very generous considering all the handling I had to do!)
Test 3 Mark in cover
Straight forward mark into cover with shot, the mark was thrown at an angle from us across a wide grass track into thick cover on the right. Chester marked very well, picked and returned scoring 20
Test 4 Mark on Water
Mark onto water with shot, Chester went straight out, picked and returned without shaking, however, I later was told that he squeaked whilst waiting to be sent, so we scored 18
Test 5 Mark in woods, over a stream
Sat facing a stream, ashort distance away, and the mark was thrown a distance beyond in the woods, Chester went straight out, down through into the stream, up into thw woods, picked and returned scoring 20
Test 6 Walk up
A very nice 2 dog walk up, which I was second to go. Sat steady, heel work a little perculiar to say the least! The way I described it, was like a racehorse being let out of the stalls! He didn't leave my thigh, but it was a little odd to watch! Cantering on the spot! He sat steady whilst the other dog retreived, and he marked his very well and delivered nicely, but again, we were later told that the judge heard him squeek, so we scored 16.
All in all we scored 108 out of 120. I am a little shocked at the noise thing, as it has never been a problem before, so fingers crossed I can nip it in the bud before it becomes a permanant thing! I got lots of advice and tips from various people, so will be working on that
Its something that will have to be stopped immediatley, before it sets in, and can't be fixed! So a little down about that, but am hoping my trainer will help me sort it out this week. All in all, had a great day, and very pleased with how Chester went.Well done to all those placed, there were some really good dogs there today!
