Series One - Land Series

August 19, 2019

Report composed by Bill Marshall and Linda Zakowski

Overcast sky, 10 degrees, no wind to start increasing to slight wind from SE. At 8 am Bill Marshall-Chair welcomed all competitors and introduced the judges, Steve Hutt, Shelly Blom and Dewayne Hay. The microphone was then turned over to David McFayden who gave out some housekeeping and rules of the day. He then introduced the 2 honorary test dogs. These were male dog MOTCH, GMHR Willowrose This Time Phoenix, WCX, AmUD(Phoenix), 13 years old, owned & handled by Kathie Stoner. Next up was female dog URC, UH, NMH, GMH, Goldnguns Goin A Blue Streak, QFTR, WCX, CDX(Streak), also 13 years old and owned & handled by Louise Roberts. They each did an outstanding job on their single marks!

Next up judge Dewayne Hay explained the scenario. The test would begin with handlers carrying a gun for a walk-up starting with the dogs coming out of a holding blind with lots of honking. When the honking stopped the handlers were to sit their dog. The 1st bird from the left was thrown left to right(71 yds), the middle bird thrown right to left throw(81 yds), and 3rd, go bird right to left(86 yds). All stations were well hidden by the bushes/trees, birds were all winger thrown landing in moderate colour. On way back from last retrieve a dry shot indicating a blind came from the middle station. Dog went back into holding blind while blind(97 yds) was planted between 1st & 2nd marks. Once planted the handler/dog teams were on their own. After completing the blind, dog was moved into stationary honour position.

Test dog male 2xNMH GMH AJ Top LeRoy’s Few Acres of Snow QFTR(Roy) handled by Jeff Morari. He did a very nice job of the marks and blind! Next up was female test dog Cedarbrae’s C’s The Day SH(Joey) handled by Jim Girvin. Had a couple of handles on the left hand bird but otherwise did a commendable job. Field had many decoyus of all descriptions.

31 dogs to run with the first dog being No. 20, GMH OTCH, Zaniri’s Full Tilt, RA, WCS, UD(Hrudey) handled by Susan Highton, which ran at 9 am.

Some dogs took retrieves in order, some out of order(3, 1, 2). Some had to be handled out of the blind area as there was temptation for dogs to square hill and run to the top which put them in trouble. Generally the blinds were good, but some dogs had trouble with the factors of the road, sidehill, strips of cover and decoys. Overall there were many very good performances! All dogs were run by 12.30 thanks to good set-ups and mechanics.

Dogs not called back were #5 and #14.

Tonight was ACHRA’s famous pig roast. A story for everyone. Because it was a 200 lb pig, the barbecue was lit in pouring rain at 2.30 am, behind Jubilee Hall our dining/headquarters. At 3.30am 4 RCMP vehicles and 8 officers appeared, having been told the hall and the church were on fire! They realized what we were doing and we continued roasting the pig. It was another delicious meal truly enjoyed by all and the night finished off with a few more draws for merchandise.

Tomorrow the convoy will depart 7.30 for Day 2 water series on ACHRA’s property. It will be a water triple, blind and diversion starting with dog 28.