Freighter ran his last hunt test of the season this past weekend.  It was his second try at a Master level test and although he retrieved all of the birds, he did not receive a qualifying score.

The test broke down like this: The first series he did great.  He pinned the triple and did well on the blind.  Second series he also did really well on.  Again a very nice job on the triple.  He has been struggling with triples in training but he did a nice job on these two.  He did fine on the walk-up and was steady for the marks, (although he did creep out and had to be re-heeled).  His line manners still need work.  I guess the anticipation of triple marks made he very excited.

Going into the third series Freighter was sitting pretty.  He was running clean meaning no handles on his marks and clean blinds.  To pass he just needed a clean third series.

Unfortunately the third series was a “big dog” test.  It was a difficult set-up and one in which the more experienced dogs usually benefit over a dog just starting out running Master level tests.  It was a water triple and a double water blind and the distances were quite long.

Freighter has his comfort level on marks and blinds.  Hubby has worked on this over the summer and Freighter has improved, but he is still in not comfortable with long distance marks and blinds.  Freighter needed a handle on one of the marks which was OK because he had not used one going into that series.  Where he really lost it was on the far blind.  He kind of went into auto cast mode and did not follow direction.  Between that and his line manners which went down hill over the course of the three series, he did not receive a qualifying score.

We had not planned on running Freighter in any Master tests this summer because we know there are still weak areas in his training.  Our goal for him this summer was his Senior title which he accomplished.  Hubby decided that since these tests were close, why not give Freighter some experience which will only benefit him going forward.

So even though Freighter did not get a ribbon, there were some positives to take away from these last two tests.  He got to the third series both tests and even finished the test yesterday.  Better than getting knocked out first series.  Unlike the last test, Freighter did not drop any birds, (he had a bit of refresher on that over the course of the week).  He was steady for all the marks and both honors, (although he will have to work on his creeping).  Making Freighter steady was a big achievement and one of the main things that we hoped to accomplish this summer.  Hubby knows where Freighter’s weak areas are and he has time to work on them before tests start up next Spring.

Hunt test season is in the books–now bring on hunting season!