Hunt Test (Lumi's Junior Hunter Title)

Today we travelled to Remington, VA, so that Lumi could take the Junior-level test at the Rappahannock River Retriever Club 2008 Spring Hunt Test. Summary:

• Series A. Land series
• Series B. Water series

Series A. The land series was set up in an agricultural field as follows:

1. 50-yard mark (duck) thrown into a large patch of high, wet cover with a diagonal entry less than 10 yards from the fall, so that the dog ran thru low cover most of the way to the mark and then encountered the diagonal entry
2. 70-yard mark (duck) thrown into a smaller patch of high, wet cover, past a ring of decoys on the left 50 yards from the SL

#2 was 90° to the left of #1.

Of the 31 entries, all of whom ran, 20 passed this test. Most of the drops came on #1, when the unsuccessful dog would follow the line of the entry into the high cover too far before entering and then begin a wide-ranging hunt, sometimes eventually switching to the other Gun, the decoys, or the woods even further to the left.

Several dogs also failed the test on #2, generally because they were diverted to the odd circle of decoys, pulling them off the line to the fall, and were then unable to find the mark.

Apparently because of the wet conditions and the falls occurring in high cover, the scent from the ducks was too widely dispersed to enable some of the dogs to find the birds by scent.

With Lumi's marking ability, experience with high cover, and experience with diversions including decoys, she had no difficulty with this series.

Series B. The judges called the water series a "wood duck hunt". The series was set up in densely wooded stickpond, with the two marks arranged as follows:

1. 20-yard mark (duck), thrown right-to-left from shore by a winger, into a circle of dead trees at a 45° angle toward the right from the SL
2. 40-yard mark (duck), hand thrown left-to-right, in front of a wood pile at the back edge of the pond, at a 45° toward the left from the SL, the line to the fall edged with trees on both sides and a large, dead log, mostly submerged, floating freely in the path

The appearance of this course worried several of the handlers that a dog might be spooked or even injured by underwater debris, but the judges assured us that this series was safe, and easier than the land series. They turned out to be correct, with 19 of the 20 dogs passing, only the last dog getting offline to the left on the last mark and then being separated from the mark by a maze of floating debris and unable to complete the retrieve.

Lumi diverted to the right on #1 and entered the circle of trees thru a wider space than from in front. On #2, she skirted the floating log rather than swimming over it. Although the retrieves therefore weren't perfect, they were more than adequate to pass the series and complete the test.

This was Lumi's fourth Junior ribbon, completing the requirements for her Junior Hunter title. Lumi's name is now:

Lumiere-du-Soleil JH WC