The water series on Saturday afternoon was quite interesting. It was in another dreaded stick pond. This stick pond was a little different from the other one because it had several areas where there were branches sticking straight up.
The test was set like this:
This is the view looking toward the line which is just behind the fallen tree. The blind was being set just to the left in this picture.
The judges made clear that the correct line to “challenge the blind” was over the fallen tree, not around it. Unfortunately that line took the dog over some pointy branches that were sticking up. I didn’t much care for that. Storm stopped when she got to them and looked to see if she should go around. Thunder probably would have tried to go over since he is taller. I worried about injury with those sticks. I would have preferred the judges set a different line because I don’t think the chance of injury is worth it.
To run the blind, the dog had to sit just behind the fallen tree. Many dogs did not want to sit in the water and Storm was no exception. She sort of stood/sat. 🙂 Once the gun was fired, many dogs jumped over the log or partially on the log. It took their handlers several attempts to get the dog back at heel so they could be lined up properly to run the blind. Storm put her front paws on the log, but came back to heel with a firm “sit”. I really wasn’t sure how she would handle being sent over the tree because we have not trained anything like that. But she had no problem and went right over. Once over the tree trunk, many dogs swam toward where the mark was falling. It was not that far from the correct line to the blind. Once they got to the middle of the pond, it was tough to get them back toward the bank where the blind was set. Storm did really well on this blind, taking a long initial line and only looking when she hit the sticks that were sticking out of the water. At that point her handler gave her an angle back and she swam around them and with a couple of overs, landed right on the blind. There was a lot of cover just behind the blind and many dogs got lost in that cover while hunting the bird. Storm was docked right at the bird so no hunting for her.
Once she had the bird, her handler moved over to receive the bird from where the marks would be run. The marks required the dog and handler to climb on a mound at the side of the fallen log. It was a bit tough to get both dog and handler on the mound because it was not large.
I was sitting under some trees and on the edge of the pond when I took these pictures so the lighting is sort of dark. However, they also made for some interesting pictures.
As for the water double, Storm did really well on it. Some dogs had trouble marking the birds because there were all the logs in the pond and they looked like the bird. Not Storm. Her marking was spot on. The toughest part of this test for her was trying to get back with the bird. Part of the pond was swimming water and part was running water. She kind of got bogged down in the muck in places and also had to navigate over submerged logs. It was a very physical test for the dogs.
In the next picture, you can just make out Storm heading off for the bird. She is behind the gun. Her handler is getting a good view of where that memory bird fell should he need to handle her to that mark.
Storm ran a nice clean land and water series. She earned her second Seasoned pass. She ran clean, but it was clear that she was pretty geeked during the test. Her heeling on lead was not great and as you can see from some of the pictures, that fanny wasn’t always on the ground. By Sunday she was flying pretty high. Her Sunday test will be the subject of Thursday’s post.
But first, tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday I will share what we did after the stick pond…
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- Seasoned Pass, But The Title Will Have To Wait (2browndawgs.com)
Go Storm!!! Do their butts have to touch the ground for it to be considered a proper sit? just curious. I love the pictures taken from under the trees – those are the fun pictures that come out a little diffrent then our normal ones 🙂 as usual I have total dog envy 🙂
No their butts don’t have to be on the ground; however, once they start moving or getting ready to move, a break usually follows. The safest is a good solid sit…fanny on the ground…no jumping or moving until they are released to retrieve.
I think Storm did an outstanding job especially considering the complications of this course. Just hearing that she had to jump over “submerged dogs” made me wonder what these judges were thinking with this course, but the worst is the danger of those protruding branches. A colleague’s dog lost his eye because he didn’t see a stick poking up from the ground in the back yard and ran right into it. I hope they choose a more humane course next time.
But, not to end on a negative note – WELL DONE STORM! CONGRATULATIONS! 😀
Yikes did I have a typo? 🙂 Many people don’t like stick ponds for the reason you state. I don’t have a real issue with them because they are a natural place to hunt and something many dogs see while hunting. My issue however, is that if there is a safer line, and since this is just fun, I would prefer the judges set the safer line when it comes to sharp sticks. The logs don’t bother me as much as the sticks.
Great job Storm!
Agree 2 Brown Dawgs, they should have set them up for a cleaner safer line since this is for fun.
Would they wear a vest if this was an actual hunt to help protect from inury?
Yes that is one benefit of a vest.
Awesome work, Storm! Those pictures are very pretty, but I can see the sticks causing more problems for the pups. Glad to hear they’re doing well!
Thanks Carly!
pretty pictures, especially the ones you took from under the trees – very surreal looking. However, it’s a swamp… I’m guessing she reeked of more than just success at the end of that day of competition! 😛
Actually Thunder smelled worse when he got out of the stick pond used by Backwater. 🙂
I think that pond looks horrible!!! I certainly understand your hesitation in having them work in it. I guess I am a little surprised that the judges would risk injury to the dog.
She did a great job!
The pond may look worse than it actually was. It is not uncommon to hunt in similar type ponds. My only issue was where the bird for the blind was placed. It was a large pond and it seems to me they could have placed the bird in a challenging place where the direct line to the bird was not over pointy sticks. The marks landed in better areas, (although getting on that mound was a bit dicey).
Hi Y’all,
That’s a pretty nasty looking pond. Glad all went well for y’all. I’ll check later in the week to learn the “rest of the story”.
Y”all come back now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Wow! That is amazing that both the handlers and the dogs could do that in those conditions! The pictures are great!
I am beyond blown away. Your dogs are just simply amazing. Very cool. This must have been so intense! I am with you, I would have worried about injury with all of those sticks. Your dogs sound like that did very well. Props to all of you! : )