Day 8 – Flight D – Test 5 – Wood Duck Pond-Land/Water – Saturday, October 24

Flight D: Martin Bell and Bruce Bachert
Wood Duck Pond-Land/Water – Land/Water Triple, Double Blind, Walk-up

This test is a Land/Water Triple with a double blind and a walk-up. Walking to the line, bird number one came out of a winger and landed in the water 34 yards to the handler's left. Once on the line, bird number two was thrown to the right, landing 55 yards from the handler, landing on his right hand side. Bird three was a duck flyer, landing 95 yards in front of the mat. The dogs picked up the flyer, then ran a land blind parallel to the shore 135 yards from the mat. Then the handler would pick up bird number two and then bird number one, the water bird. These series was completed when the dog ran a 64 yard water blind, staying just off the left hand side of a long peninsula.

We arrived at this test at noon and watched six dogs run. While running the land blind, it appeared that the dogs were having difficulty seeing the handler's casts in the dark shadows cast by the trees. Of all the dogs that we saw, they did a good job on the marks.

Day 8 – Flight C – Test 5 – Mallard Pond-Water – Saturday, October 24

Flight C: Carol Hynes and Tellus Calhoun

Mallard Pond-Water – Water Triple, Water Blind, 

Diversion Shot

Flight C moved to their fifth test with 64 dogs having lost 17 dogs from their fourth series. 

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.
As we arrived at this fifth test for Flight C, the Test Dogs were just finishing up and the first few running dogs were lining up in the holding blinds. Of the group of dogs that we watched they appeared to have difficulty marking the middle bird, but the wind aided them in finding the bird. 

Day 8 – Flight A – Test 5 – Goose Pond-Land/Water – Saturday, October 24

Flight A: Judges Robert Rascoe and Tom McMorrow 

Goose Pond-Land/Water – Land/Water Triple, Double Blind, Walk-up

Flight A moved to their fourth test having lost 20 dogs from their fourth series. 

This test is a Land/Water Triple with a land blind, water blind and walk-up. The handler stands on a mat on the right shore of Goose Pond. They look across a road and up a hill with checkered cover. The pond on the handler's left has heavy, dead-grass colored cover and is thick around the edge and extends way out into the water. The walk-up comes from behind a tree on the right, thrown to the left, landing 36 yards from the line. Bird number two is a flyer with the gun station up the hill in front of the line, shot to the left, landing in heavy cover 130 yards from the line. Bird three comes out of a blind on the shore of the pond. It is thrown to the left, landing out in the water in the cover at 54 yards. The water blind is under the arc of bird number three on the shore at 78 yards. The land blind is across the road and up the hill, between birds one and two at the base of a bush 127 yards from the line. This is an interrupted test.

We arrived mid-afternoon to discover that the second bird down, the flyer, is the money bird. A few of the dogs squared gun station #3, which meant that they in turn squared the road, which pushed them up the hill toward the land blind. This domino effect created the need for several teams to handle on the flyer.

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