Day 4 – Flight E – Test 2 – Mallard Pond-Water – Tuesday, October 20

Flight E: Kay Scott and John Kinnard

Mallard Pond-Water – Water Triple, Water Blind, 

Diversion Shot

Flight E moved to their second test – they lost 66 dogs from their first series. 

Test two for Flight E is Mallard Pond, a Water Triple with a water blind and a diversion shot. The handler stood on the line looking across a narrow stick pond. Bird number one is directly across the pond, thrown to the right, up the hill, landing 91 yards from the line. The second bird is across the pond right of bird number one. This bird is thrown to the left, down a hill, landing close to the shore at 54 yards. Bird three is on the same side of the pond as the line. This bird is thrown to the right in the water landing at 30 yards. The water blind is under the arc of bird number three located 85 yards from the line. The dogs have a 40 yard entry, then must be kept parallel to the shore for the next 45 yards. When the handler comes to the line, he must blow a duck call to start the test. Dogs retrieved bird number three, the water bird, first. On the way back with the waterbird, a diversion is shot. The handler must then retrieve the water blind. When that is complete, he is free to pick-up the next two birds in any order he chooses.

When visiting this test, we watched seven dogs. We saw one very nice job, three handles and three pick-ups. Judge's instructions indicated that if the water blind was unsatisfactory, the contestant would be tapped on the shoulder and not allowed to pick-up the last two birds.

Sean Hager describes the Mallard Pond-Water test