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Remote work in the test.... from the August - September 1999 Judges Corner by Tim Gibson
This
situation occurred at one of our Seasoned hunt tests this past spring and was
sent to me by someone who describes himself as a “beginning
handler/trainer”. His test description was lengthy but very complete, and he
even included a nice drawing of the test. The
handler had several legitimate questions concerning the test set up.
While his dog failed, he advises me that he sent this to me not as much
to criticize the test, as to learn from the experience.
While I have no reason to doubt that this is not exactly what happened,
I’m using the scenario not to cast aspirations on any judges or club, but so
we all might learn something from it. I
sent the scenario to the field reps for their comments.
It is rather complex, so please bear with me as I explain it as concisely
as I can. Scenario:
The Seasoned water test was set up on a shallow pond that had some
flooded timber in it. The dog was
required to sit on a point of dry ground, about 8 feet left of the handler who
was standing in knee-deep water. A
winger (throwing the second mark) was set up on the shoreline only about 12 feet
to the right of the handler. Thirty
yards to the right, and about 10 yards forward of the retrieving line was a
winger hidden in some trees throwing the first mark.
The first mark landed slightly right, and about 25 yards in front of the
handler. The second mark was thrown
toward the left, passing slightly in front of the handler and landing 10 yards
to the left of the dog. The handler
was required to shoot once at the first bird, and twice at the second mark.
The handler tells me he could not see the first bird in flight, nor could
he see it hit the water. He fired
at the sound of the winger launch. The
judges advised the handlers that while they may not be able to see this duck,
“we guarantee your dog will”. The
blind was straight out between the marks, at 40 yards.
About half way to the blind, the far shoreline came out into the water.
The remaining distance to the blind was parallel to the shore.
The blind was run after the marks were picked up.
A diversion completed the test on the return from the blind.
It was thrown from the winger throwing the second mark.
The dog in question was steady through the first throw and shot, and
still steady during the second throw and shot while the bird was passing in
front. The dog broke on the third
shot just as the second duck hit the water. Questions:
The handler asked, “While the rulebook states that the Seasoned dog
may be placed a reasonable distance from the handler, what is “reasonable”?
Further, he does not understand why he was required to fire three shots
at two ducks. Also, he asked if it
was realistic to be required to shoot at a bird he could not see.
Finally, he asked, “Is this a reasonable Seasoned level test”? Answer:
When it was sent to me, I had to read this scenario twice.
First, to get a good mental picture of the test, and second to believe I
was actually reading about a Seasoned test.
Usually when a scenario is submitted to me via e-mail, I will acknowledge
that I have received it, and thank the individual who sent it to me with a short
reply via return e-mail. In this
situation, I contacted the handler because I had a few questions.
My first thoughts considering this situation were that these judges went
to extraordinary lengths to make this a difficult Seasoned test.
Then I had another thought. I
asked the handler if this did not occur on the second day of a two-day hunt, and
if so, was this test site possibly used on the first day.
His reply confirmed my suspicions. He
stated that the scenario in question was on the second day (Sunday) of the
club’s hunt. Further, it was his
understanding that the judges set the test up on a site that was used for
Finished on Saturday. One judge
even stated in the handlers meeting something to the effect: “this is
yesterdays Finished water test, so if you pass this, you can be proud that
you’ve accomplished something”. Well
I guess so! The judges set the test
up on late Saturday afternoon. They
simply “shortened” Saturday’s Finished blind, and moved the dog a few feet
closer to the handler. The marks
were essentially the same as the day before.
Before I get into the specifics of my answer to the handler’s
questions, let me take a moment to “editorialize” a little.
Most clubs do a tremendous job with their two-day events.
However, at some hunts, we are seeing evidence that a little additional
time and effort should be put into maintaining the quality of the second day’s
event. Granted, it is very
hard to set up two days worth of hunt tests on Friday afternoon.
Clubs might need to consider starting earlier on Friday.
Many times it’s difficult to maintain the enthusiasm level and effort
on the second day when everyone is a little tired.
This is less evident where two clubs go together to share a hunt test
weekend, and there is more manpower and equipment to cover the job.
However, when a club commits to a two-day event, the planning,
organization, and effort must be extraordinary.
Now that I’ve said that, let me get to the answers to the handler’s
questions.
The field reps had a lot to say about this test.
There was nothing inherently illegal about the test, but in general, they
all considered it too difficult for Seasoned and a very poor test (the judges
all but admitted such by stating it was yesterday’s Finished test).
Let’s look at each part of the test and I’ll try to explain why.
First, there is no doubt this was a breaking test, especially with the
remote sit added in. Remote work,
while technically within the rules, is extremely rare at the Seasoned level.
I personally believe our rulebook uses the statement “the Seasoned
Hunting Retriever may be placed a reasonable distance from the Handler”
(page 27) to allow the dog to work outside a duck blind, or from a tree stand
when the handler may be standing by the next tree over. In this scenario, I
couldn’t see any purpose to having the handler standing away from the dog in
knee-deep water, and I think it was “unreasonable”.
Further, it’s difficult enough for a Seasoned dog to be steady with a
bird thrown 10 yards from it in the water.
Add the fact that the dog was sitting 8 feet away from the handler (with
the duck landing on the opposite side of the dog from the handler) and you have
a scenario that would test the steadiness of a Finished dog.
Does anyone think a Seasoned dog should be as steady as a Finished level
dog? Multiple
shots at a bird have always been an accepted practice at our hunts and can be
realistic. In this test however,
the extra shot, along with the remote sit, appeared “tricky”.
With a dog working remote, communication between the dog and handler is
always difficult. When a handler
fires a single shot at the arc of a thrown bird, that handler usually at least
has time to remind the dog to “stay” before the bird hits the water.
Having to get the third shot off in this test eliminated that opportunity
for the handlers. Most
troubling is the fact that the judges felt it was acceptable for the handlers to
not see the first mark they were shooting at.
How realistic is it to shoot at a bird and kill it when you can’t see
it. Many times if a handler is
looking at the dog, or having a problem shooting the gun, etc., (you can name
any number of reasons), they may not see a mark, but the opportunity to
see the bird clearly should be there for both the dog and the handler!
If the handlers could not even see the bird hit the water, how could they
handle their dogs to it if they needed to?
I can’t explain why the judges did this, other than they did not take
time to correctly position the dog, handler, or the first mark winger. Finally, we teach in the Judges/Handlers Seminar that the Seasoned blind should be run in the absence of distraction. If the blind must be run between the marks, run it first. This at least gives the Seasoned dog a chance to run the blind without thinking about where it just picked up two marks. Also, the rulebook states that the blind should be “through easy cover and relatively open water” (Seasoned Guidelines, rulebook page 28). Running the blind parallel to the bank made it especially challenging, and offered the dog another opportunity to get into trouble on the test. If it was described accurately, I would put this blind into the category of a “40 yard Finished blind”, which (in the judging seminar) we caution against setting up in a Seasoned test. With a little thought, common sense, and effort, the judges could have done a lot better job.
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The Judges Corner - copyright
2006 All Rights Reserved Last modified: February 18, 2008 |