SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

September 18, 2024

UPDATE 5:00pm  Callbacks 4,6,9,11,13,14,17,18,19,20,21,25,31,32,33,34,40,42,43,44,45,47,49,50,52,55,57,58,59,65,66,68,71,74,75,76.  36 dogs back.

Dogs dropped: 1,5,12,16,22,29,30,46,54,57,62 (11 dogs)

Dog #68 starts series #7, a water triple.  Location:  210 Chadbourne Drive, North Bay, Ontario (Riddell’s).

UPDATE 3:30pm  The last running dog came off the line at 2:15.  Callbacks will be announced at 5:00pm at the Workers Party.

Daily Report brought to you by PRO PLAN, Official Dog Food Sponsor and the Official Dog Food Supplier to the National Retriever Club of Canada.

Welcome to Day four of the National Retriever Championship.  The day started with yet another awesome sunrise.  The dew is heavy in the mornings with the fall air, the temperature @ 7:00am is 13 degrees and forecast to be slightly cooler than previous days @ 26 degrees this afternoon.  The wind is negligable at 0-6kmh all day, but varying from N/NE to S/SW throughout the day.  We are at the lovely farm of Audrey and Ben Hughes for Test 6, a land triple with an honour.  The field is on a bend in the road with an Island of scrub cover and small deciduous trees in the middle of the test, treel-lined to the left, and another wall of cover on the right side.  The test is oriented N/NW with the sun coming up over the handlers right shoulder this morning.

The birds are shot #1 center L-R @195 yds and a slight in-throw with hen mallard into the heavy cover and gunners retire into a well brushed in blind ( we’ll call this the’island’ bird) , #2 L-R square throw @180yds with a hen mallard across a gap into heavy cover and gunners retire, and #3 R-L angle back along the bush line is 270 yds and is a hen phaesant.

Male test dog Jameson came to line approximately 7:45 after waiting for the sun to pop up over the horizon.  Jameson primary selected the left retired gun and went straight to it.  Next he went for the visible white coats at #3 gun station, took a wide line to the left being pushed by the small patch of cover to the right of the running mat but curved in and went directly to the hen pheasant.   He left on a good line to #2 retired ‘island’ bird but flared right and got deep and needed to be handled back to the bird.

Female test dog Cici came to line and did a good job on the go-bird (#3 gun station) on the right.  She was sent for the retired left hand mark and hunted all around but never got into the cover.  Doug handled her, but needed gunner help.  She was sent for #1 retired ‘island’ bird and also needed to be handled to the bird.

The first group of dogs running are seeing some very good work, but for others the ‘island’ bird is proving to be a big challenge.  Dogs are flaring left or right of the island and getting deep and needing to be handled in.  The test is taking 6:00 minutes.   If all goes well we should be finished by 4:00pm to attend the Workers Party!

Today, Wednesday is all about honouring the workers!  There are so many moving parts to put on any trial, never mind a National, and it could not happen without the tireless efforts of the volunteers.  Every gun shift is manned by either a club member, competitor, spouse, family member…you name it! And it’s all coordinated by the Gun Captain, Pete Dozois.  Thank you to all those who step in to help.

And then there’s the not-so-visible worker who makes a big impact, and that’s our Artist Pete Ferin.  Pete, a field trialer himself, sits quietly behind the judges and sketches to create an amazing rendering of the day’s test.  Pete lives in Ontario and trained in fine arts and has won numerous awards from established art exhibits and juried shows.  His subject matter focuses on nature, wildlife, and his love of sporting dogs.  Pete just finished doing the drawings for the Canadian Master National in PEI last month.  We are truly grateful to have such a renowned artist sharing his work with us!  Look up some of his work on his Facebook page at The Art of Peter Ferin.

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