Picnic Trial

Rebel Ridge Farms

SERIES A. Land series: four singles and two blinds

First, mark #1, a single on the left, was thrown left to right at 30 yards and retrieved. Next, mark #2, a single at center left, with the line 15 degrees to the right of the line to mark #1, was thrown left to right at 100 yards and retrieved. Next mark #3, a single on the right, was thrown by a winger right to left at 130 yards. After the dog saw mark #3 thrown, the dog ran blind B1 at 70 yards, on a line 15° to the right of the line to mark #3, then the dog retrieved mark #3. Next mark #4, a single at center right, was thrown right to left at 150 yards and retrieved. Finally, the dog ran blind B2 at 180 yards, on a line 15° to the left of the line to mark #4.

All marks were pheasants, all blinds were dummies, and many decoys of various types were deployed on the field so that the lines on all retrieves included running thru or past a group of decoys.

All throwers threw from blinds and remained retired. The thrower, winger, and blind for #3 were inside the tree line on the right and were never visible.

The field had many elevation changes. For example, the line to blind B1 was on an angle up a steep hill the last 30 yards, with the blind 2/3 of the way to the top of the hill. If a dog were to run the blind too far to the right, it would be possible to crest the hill and go out of sight. As another example, the line to blind B2 included a trench on a downward angle to the right 20 yards before the blind. One low-lying area near the line to mark #4 apparently included knee-deep standing water, since Laddie came back wet from one of his detours in that area.

The field also included a large, boomerang-shaped area of high cover in a depression, which the dog had to traverse for mark #2 and #4 and for blind B2. In addition, the field had a large tree to the right of blind B2, and a line of widely spaced trees and underbrush that ran between the lines to mark #3 and blind B1.

Blind B2 was described by the group leader as a "Qualifying blind" because of its length and difficulty.

Notes on Series A. What I described above was how my dogs ran Series A. Other trainers used the available marks and blinds in other ways, most of the dogs not running the blinds at all. The sequence I decided on lacked a couple of the challenges some of the other dogs were given — multiples, bulldogs — but contained the difficult element of having mark #3 delayed by blind B1, which none of the other dogs had, and running the difficult blind B2 immediately after the nearby mark #4. In addition, my dogs had to drive past the short old fall for mark #1 to run the longer mark #2, a sequence one of the other trainers suggested we not try if my dogs weren't trained for it.

Lumi: Lumi had some head-swinging, and needed the thrower to wave before throwing mark #2. Aside from that, she had excellent marks, including #3 after the delay to run blind B1. Because of suction from the trees on the right, an elevation change that blocked the dog's line of sight during the outrun, a large fallen tree near the fall, and the fact that the thrower and equipment were hidden inside the tree line, mark #3 was difficult enough that several of the dogs had difficulty with it even running it as a single immediately after it was thrown. In addition to her excellent marking, Lumi had excellent returns on straight lines, including through the large patch of high cover for three of the retrieves, and excellent pick-ups on all the retrieves except mark #4, where she responded when I called out "quit playing". Lumi was responsive on all WSs and all casts, and showed no inclination to break while marking or honoring. When honoring, she had to honor three no-birds for a dog who was being disciplined for barking at the line.

Laddie: Laddie had great marks, including #3 described for Lumi above. He also handled well on the blinds. Hee had terrible returns, including a swim on mark #4, but solid deliveries once he completed his returns. He also had good pick-ups except on mark #4, where his pick-up was way too slow. He showed no inclination to break while marking or honoring.

SERIES B. Land series: triple and two blinds

First, mark #1 on the left was thrown right to left into high cover at 120 yards. Next, mark #2 in the center was thrown left to right into a section of woods and underbrush at 80 yards. Finally, mark #3 on the right was thrown right to left into high cover in front of a section of woods at 60 yards. After the dog picked up the three marks, the dog ran blind B1 at 50 yards on a line to the right of mark #3, and then blind B2 at 120 yards on a line slightly to the right of the line to mark #2. I requested that the throwers stay visible while the dog was running the series. All marks and blind B1 were pheasants, while blind B2 was a dummy.

The lines to every retrieve were difficult. The line to mark #3, the go-bird, flared around an area containing a fallen tree and other obstructions. The line to mark #2, the first memory-bird, was thru a section of woods and underbrush, with the fall behind a shrub and not visible from the SL. The line to mark #1, the last memory-bird, went into a large patch of cover, and also ran along side a pond. The line to blind B1 skirted the same obstruction as the line to mark #1, then ended just inside an area of thick, brushy cover so that the dog had to be sent to the left of the cover, then cast right to enter it, with a stream running to the right of the line to blind B1. The line to blind B2 required the dog to run thru the same section of woods and underbrush that mark #2 had been thrown into, then uphill to complete the outrun to the blind.

As with Series A, I've described how my dogs ran Series B. Other trainers ran the same marks and blinds in other ways. As with Series A, many of the dogs did not run the blinds for Series B, and some were run on blind B1 but not blind B2.

Lumi: I was prepared to send Lumi early for head-swinging while the triple was being thrown, but she showed excellent focus on each throw and I didn't need to do so. She ran mark #3, the go-bird well, then self-selected mark #3 and ran it well. She seemed to have forgotten mark #2, the center mark in the woods, when she returned from mark #3, but I had thrower #2 wave his arms and then sent Lumi, and she ran with good purpose and accuracy, apparently remembering the mark. Her performance on the blinds seemed good to me, but when I asked the group leader about blind B2, she said that you'd never see a blind that difficult in a Senior test, and that Lumi "would have failed" if she'd run it that way for a Master test because I let her run too wide a corridor. I'll start working on that issue in our practices.

Laddie: Laddie marked well on all three of the marks. He seemed confused on his second send-out whether to pick up mark #2 in the center or mark #1 to the left, but settled on mark #2, which had been my intent when I lined him up, without ever starting a hunt in the area of mark #1. Laddie was again terrible on his returns, needing repeated calls to bring him back on every retrieve. Because he'd had that difficulty in Series A and I wanted to build some positive reinforcement for his returns in Series B, I followed him out about twenty yards on each retrieve, called him repeatedly as needed, then raced him back to the SL. In addition to other detours, he went swimming in the creek during his return from blind B1 and seemed inclined to swim in the pond on his return from B2 as well.