Power Play...

...Or lack thereof. We've gone through two major battery packs today up here in the reporter/press box... I had these in November and they served me well but with an extra computer up here (near the line) and longer days to boot... well, suffice to say we've got two more packs on hold until we can get there to pick them up. We'll charge them as best we can tonight and have them out here to supplement our efforts tomorrow and the rest of the week.

Currently, dog #51 is running as we endeavor to rerun these no-bird teams. 

If anything exciting does occur between now and the time the test concludes (most likely with dogs remaining for the morning), you can bet I'll be back on here tonight with anything newsworthy. 

Please join me either later tonight or in the a.m., whichever comes first. :) And, thanks for tuning in.    

Horse of a different color...

...With a no-bird on the dead retired station for #56... But, now we see a flyaway on the flyer station for #57. It would appear that things aren't looking good for finishing tonight after all... 

OOPS...Bad dreams...

...a gun change a few dogs ago and now we have three no-birds in a row, on dog #'s 50, 51 and 52. A gun station's worst nightmare... and 53 is off and running. 

The New Word Is...

...That the push will be on to try to finish tonight. For a brief time (recently) it was looking potentially do-able...now it's back to the iffy stage. Just letting y'all know!

The Cottonwood Fluff Is Getting To Me...

...As it lightly drifts by on the extremely variable breeze. Hence, it coasts by one minute and swirls and sails the next...but, of course, those of you reading this are more concerned about the dog work.

With a temperature settling in around 76 degrees, there have built up a number of trails in the grassy fields around the flyer and the blind. This creates a means to flirt with danger out in the area of the last third of the line to the blind...if your dog is headed to the retired mark, of course. Some dogs that get left, whether from influences in terrain or lack of focus, then get side-tracked by the blind trails and end up deep and left with even more emphasis...     

Resuming the action...

With dog #27, after an approximate ten minute gun change...and including opportunity for handlers to approach the line. Each gun change has been right in the ten-minute range...pretty darn good for everything that's accomplished during that time. 

Another Gun Change!

Right now...and handlers are approaching the line.

Light summer wind...

...has momentarily settled in...but of course if I hit "publish post" the wind will change! We've settled into somewhat of a status quo for several dogs in a row...not to say that all the work is the same, for it is not. :) Dog number 25 is approaching the line.

 

We've Had Two Pick-Ups And Another Handle

As you may have just read a few posts ago, #10 ended up picking up on the blind. #14 also picked up on the blind after handling on the right-hand mark.

And...#16 has joined the list of handles on the right-hand bird. Currently, #17 is on line and running the blind.

A Second No-Bird For The Day...

...This one is #11...and #12, Mark Rosenblum and Norman have taken position on the mat.

Which Series...How This Works

Which Series...How This Works
Unfortunately, dog #10 has just picked up on the blind after handling on the mark.FYI, this will not show up as "dropped in the first series" but rather as the second series.

More from the Left...Another Handle

Dog #10 has just handled on the right-hand bird from deep and left...

Blind Analysis

...Well, folks, this blind is a good example on many aspects of the blind judgment, in a broad spectrum.

Is a blind just a blind just a blind?

On this particular blind, there has been some excellent work. There have been dogs well to the right and to the left and dogs that wouldn't cast readily back into the picture...there have been stylish dogs and tired dogs and in-between dogs. There have been a few dogs in the shrubbery deep of the blind and in front of the woods and a few dogs out of control.

So...is a blind just a blind...just a blind? And remember this is a land blind at a distance of 230 yards with a line behind a dead-bird retired mark... and there is some terrain in the picture of the blind.  No poison bird...no sack of dead birds...but there are variables that affect this blind...and there is a line to the blind. 

 

We're settling in...

...Well, I take that back. Famous last words. For several dogs now the wind has been WNW and probably around 7 mph, with gusts slightly higher and puffs much lower. And then it changes again...the magic word is: Variable.

Another Handle on the Right-hand Bird

...This one is #7...

FYI On Reading The Blog...

Thought I would insert helpful information on reading through the blog since there are a few changes with this current blog over last year's models. You may notice that there is not a "previous posts" link to click at the bottom right of each page.

Each page, as set up now, contains seven posts. To view all posts for a day, please go to the right of the blog and click on the appropriate day under archives. Every post from the day will appear there. In this manner you can view throughout the week's proceedings, by day.

Hope this helps! 

We've turned the corner...

...in a manner of speaking, as Southern Gentleman Steve O'Connell heads for the line with #1 by his side.

Auggie Has Handled...

...From left of the retired bird. The dogs that are handling are doing so from all directions around the bird thus far...

Another Handle...Some Would Say...

...That this is not a good time to run. Dog #115 is currently handling on that retired bird. 

Third Handle Of The Day...

...Is Dog #114...

...and we have another handle...

...Dog number 112 just handled on the retired mark from well to the right of the bird.

...Speak Of The Devil...

...the jinx appears when mentioning the gun change. We just had our first no-bird of the day on dog #108.

For those readers that haven't caught it on the Daily Report, no-bird policy for this National is to wait 6 dogs. On the occasion of a second no-bird the dog waits 6 again, and if there is yet another no-bird the dog will go to the end of the running order.

...Marching Orders

...A timely gun change has things back and running again...

Speaking of marching orders, the handlers have some. Once dog and handler arrive on the mat from the holding blind, they have 15 seconds to prepare for the guns.

An Update Before I Go...

...The century mark (100) also became the first dog of the day to handle on the retired mark. 

Technical Difficulties...

...My camera and my wireless device are having a power struggle, so I'll be offline momentarily in efforts to resolve the issue. Am trying to get some photos up!

Be back soon...

Triple Digits...

...No, not the temperature, which is a cool and breezy 65 right now. Rather, dog #100 is on line as we "speak"...

As Luck Would Have It...

...Many dogs have been in position to wind the blind...

...and now, however, the wind is swirling again, currently east, northeast, oops...northwest. :) 

In The Form Of A Pleasant Breeze...

...the wind has already done a merry 360 degree turn throughout the early running dogs of this opening combined series. It's currently puffing out of the northwest.

Depth Perception...

...is a funny thing and sure does become a part of successful performance in field trials. Sometimes even when a handler is completely on top of this factor, a dog can get deep and out of sight momentarily, as has happened once thus far this morning. With the blind in front of the shrubs and treeline, it's bound to happen again throughout the day...

Chock Full of Character

The chosen site for this first test is--at first glance--a rolling grassy field dotted with bushes and shrubs and rimmed on three sides by trees. It is a land double with a flyer hen pheasant on the left at 115 yards shot to the right and a swing deeper and to the right for the second station at 168 yards, thrown right. The line is located on a "flat" that "plays out" and once it does, the dog drops dramatically toward a marshland with a ribbon of channel on the near side (closer to the running line) in the field...the ribbon of water winds throughout the entire test and affects all three birds, while the marshy area plays into the retired bird and also the blind. With both the flyer and the right-hand retired bird thrown to the right, this means that the flyer is high and dry while the retired mark is thrown into the middle of the marsh...and many dogs will be thrown off course by the terrain they encounter once they drop off the flat. 

Deep to the left of the right hand bird at 230 yards, the blind is planted in front of the tree line. It is planted as soon as the dog picks up the marks and is coming back with his/her second bird...and the dog is sent for the blind from the same mat as the marks. Once the dog reaches the lip of the flat and is about to descend into the marsh, the handler may move up to handle on this blind.       

SHARP!

At 8 a.m. sharp the guns went off for this National's first team, lucky #87, FC-AFC Chippewa Wilson and owner/handler, Barbara Furlano. 

Good luck to everyone!  

Welcome To Day One!

Hello Everyone!

It's a brilliantly sunny Minnesota Iron Range morning and the first Test Dog team of Lorraine Sarek and her Chesapeake female named AFC Flatland's Fannie Brice stepped to the line at 7:38 a.m. to take on the test of a double mark and a land blind. 

Lake Country's Sunshine, "Sunny", handled by Gary McIlwain, a yellow (how'd you guess) Labrador male, followed directly after Lorraine's performance...and is currently running now.

More to come...