2007 NATIONAL RETRIEVING TRIAL JUDGES CRITIQUE

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2007 NATIONAL RETRIEVING TRIAL JUDGES CRITIQUE

Postby Margaret Hall » Mon 03 Dec 2007 9:32 am

National Retrieving Trial Championship

26, 27 and 28 October 2007
Mt Emu Settlement Road PITTONG VICTORIA
The trial consisted of eight runs with two runs conducted on Friday, four runs conducted on Saturday with two runs to conclude the trial on the Sunday. Runs 1, 3 and 5 were judged by Noel Eltringham and runs 2, 4 and 6 were judged by Mark Davis. Runs 7 and 8 were co judged by the two judges.

Runs 1 and 2 conducted on Friday 26 October were set on undulating terrain with all birds to be retrieved from land. The field of dogs were split with dogs numbered 1 to 28 proceeding to run 1 and dogs 29 to 57 proceeding to run 2. A dog failing to complete either run was not carried forward to attempt subsequent runs

Judges Noel Eltringham (Runs 1, 3, 5, 7) and Mark Davis (Runs 2,4,6,8) have both submitted report about their respective runs.

RUN 1 - Noel Eltringham

Run 1 was a triple mark retrieve with one leg consisting of a walk up retrieve. The handler with the dog at heel proceeded diagonally down a slope where the walk up bird was cast. The bird was cast from left to right at a distance of 65 metres from the handler. The handler and dog then proceeded a further five metres forward to the firing point where two marks were to be fired at. The second mark cast was directly across the slope at a distance of 140 metres and the third mark was cast at a distance of 130 metres from left to right diagonally down the slope.

The three marks were to be retrieved from right to left with the long mark across the slope the first bird to be picked up followed by the mark at 130 metres and the last bird to be retrieved was the walk up bird. The handler could see the dogs enter the area of fall for the first two birds to be retrieved.

Of the 38 dogs presenting to attempt run 1, 23 completed the run and 15 dogs failed to complete the run. The most difficult leg in the first run proved to be the right hand mark across the slope, which was the first bird to be retrieved. Quite a lot of dogs were left to run well to the right of the first bird from where it proved difficult to handle the dog across onto the bird to be retrieved because of the extent of obstacles and in more than one case the reluctance of a dog to leave an area around a rabbit warren.

The top scoring dogs on run 1 were J. Lynch’s RT Ch Coalsgarth Tassie Fern with 46.5 points, R.&P. Tawton’s RT Ch Kadnook Tanks Aheap with 45.5 points and J.&V. Lawton’s Kadnook Sporting Chance RRD with 43.5 points.

Run 2 - MARK DAVIS - Double Mark & Blind With a Diversionary Bird

Very open terrain, short ground cover, with some undulations. Competitors left their dog in the hide shot the blind, reloaded then shot left mark at 139 mtrs, shot 2nd mark at 115 mtrs, the separation between marks was approx 70 mtrs, the blind was to the right of 2nd mark at 30mtrs with the diversionary bird a further 25mts to the right of blind. Handlers could see their dogs all the way to the blind although good control was needed.
Pick up order was blind, 2nd mark then left mark.

Marking on the run was generally very disappointing, with most dogs having to be handled on the short mark, and only a few dogs displaying reasonable memory on the longer mark. This was basically an everyday all age run, the diversionary bird being the only difference, the marks were thrown high against a clear skyline and handlers could see their dogs in the area of both marks and nearly all the way to the middle mark, they went out of sight for a period on the way to the longer mark and this is where most dogs got into trouble they worked short and did not mark the depth of fall at all, they could be helped if they appeared out of the area, the problem was lack of good control when dogs got into trouble.
Handlers were given plenty of time, but for a lot of dogs it was to no avail.
Top scoring dog on this run was Joe Vella & Blackie with 44 points. I was looking for control, marking and memory on this run.

RUN 3 - Noel Eltringham
After day 1 the field left to compete on day 2 had been reduced to 18 dogs with the fields for runs 3 and 4 being split once again. The gallery for run 3 was located high on a slope above the run and excellent viewing was available for all spectators.

Run 3 once again consisted of retrieves from land, a blind find retrieve and a two-bird retrieve. The two-bird retrieve consisted of a mark retrieve and when the dog was returning to the handler with the first item of game a second item of game was cast so that the dog could both see and hear the fall of the second item of game.
The procedure for run 3 was for the handler to place their dog in a hide where the dog was to be left while the handler proceeded forward to fire at the blind find retrieve. After firing at the blind find retrieve which was located through a gully at a distance of 130 metres from the firing point the handler then reloaded the gun and called the dog. With the dog at the firing point the handler then fired at a mark retrieve at a distance of 135 metres and 35 metres to the right of the blind find retrieve. After locating the first mark retrieve the two bird was cast from left to right across the front of the dog on its return to land at a distance of 70 metres from the firing point. The dog then proceeded to retrieve the blind find retrieve with the two bird to be retrieved last.

Once again the first mark retrieve proved the most difficult leg on this run with some dogs ranging well deep and to the right of the bird. Handlers could see the exact fall of the first mark retrieve so had an ability to handle their dogs on to the bird to complete the retrieve if required.

All 15 dogs presenting to attempt run 3 completed the run. The top scoring dogs on run 3 were J. Lynch’s Coalsgarth Tassie fern on 47 points followed by three dogs on 44.5 points. These dogs were R.&S. Whitechurch’s RT Ch Tockatunga Slick Willie, R.&S. Whitechurch’s Nat RT Ch Adderslot Crackers Triga and R.&P. Tawton’s Kadnook Kwik Sand. Of particular interest was the lack of steadiness in the hide of two dogs that subsequently placed well in the trial.

RUN 4 - Mark Davis - Double Rise & Mark

Very different terrain to my first run, with a steep gully, heavy tussocks and a very cold Emu creek running through it the creek was about 5mtrs at its widest point. Handlers were positioned high on one side of gully, the double rise bird was thrown from about the same elevation on the other side of the creek at about 45 degrees from handler, thrown very high against a clear skyline at 142mtrs landing in very short cover, the mark was then thrown from the same side as handler from up high straight down towards the creek at 119mtrs again taking plenty of skyline.
Handlers fired two shots at the double rise, reloaded & shot mark; pick up order was double rise then mark. Handlers could see their dogs for the majority of the retrieves.

The cover and the creek proved to be a true test of the dogs with a number of dogs hitting the creek and not wanting to cross and needing to be handled over. However, I witnessed some lovely work on this run from a number of dogs, who ploughed straight into the creek and onto the area of fall without assistance and did the same on the 2nd leg of the double rise. For some reason a number of handlers panicked on the mark and handled their dogs to it even though you could see your dog all the way to the area of fall.

Highest scoring dog on this run was Ray Ashenden & prize with 32 points.
Prize actually scored 42 pts on this run but unfortunately lost 10 pts on the deduction side of the score sheet.

I was looking for dogs that knew the double rise concept and could display plenty of courage while doing it and of course show some memory on the mark. When you see handlers denying their dogs the opportunity to demonstrate their natural ability, it is no wonder Judges take the handler out of the equation at times. My highest scoring dog and a couple of others completed this run the way it was intended and it was lovely to watch.

RUN 5 - Noel Eltringham
Run 5 was conducted on Saturday afternoon. All 12 dogs remaining in the trial at this stage were to attempt run 5 first then proceed to run 6. The run was located around a big water hole and contained three in water or across water legs. The gallery once again was located either high on a slope for good viewing or at the end of the water hole from where all legs of the run could be observed.
Run 5 consisted of a blind find retrieve, a wounded bird retrieve and a long mark from water. The handler placed their dog in a hide behind a big gum tree and proceeded around the tree to fire at a blind, which was located across two lots of water at a distance of 130 metres from the handler. Immediately after firing at the blind find retrieve the wounded bird retrieve was cast to land in water 30 metres from the dog while the dog was still in the hide but in direct view of the cast bird. The wounded bird was then dragged for 25 metres. From this point a separate bird had been dragged to a point a further 40 metres from the dog. The wounded bird retrieve was located 40 metres to the left of the blind find retrieve. The handler then called the dog with the operators of the drag retiring at this time prior to the handler firing at the mark retrieve. The mark retrieve was then cast from right to left to land in water at a distance of 120 metres from the firing point and to the right of the blind find retrieve. The dog was then sent for the mark. When on the way out to the mark a diversionary double fall bird was cast from left to right to the right of the mark retrieve and to land at a distance of 80 metres from the firing point. The diversionary double fall only proved a problem for those dogs that had not taken the direct line, which included a diagonal entry into water on the way to the first mark. The order of retrieve was the mark, the blind find retrieve and then the wounded bird retrieve. To add further complexity to this run 24 decoys were placed at strategic points in the water terrain through which the dogs had to go to complete the run.

Of the 12 dogs presenting to attempt run 5, 2 dogs failed to complete the run. Once again it was the first mark retrieve including the complexity of obstacles and the additional distraction of the decoys that caused most of the problems on this run.
The top scoring dogs on run 5 were R.&S. Whitechurch’s Nat RT Ch Adderslot Crackers Triga on 45 points and on 44.5 points J. Vella’s Gr RT Ch Kamaejae All Black and R.&S. Whitechurch’s RT Ch Tockatunga Slick Willie.

RUN 6 - Mark Davis - Double Mark & Blind

Again different terrain from my first 2 runs, Noel and I were spoilt with the country available to use on these magnificent properties. For run 6 I used a section of the creek with quite low banks each side of the creek, approx 2 mtrs high, and the water level in this section was quite shallow and the ground cover varied from light to heavy.

Handlers walked along the bottom of creek to a point were they shot a short mark 55mtrs along the left hand side of creek; they left their dogs at this point and proceeded to control area behind a large gum tree, shot blind then reloaded, and called their dog to shoot another mark 48mtrs down the right hand side of creek. The blind was located down the middle of the creek at 127mtrs. The pick up order was blind, left mark, then right mark..
Good control was needed on the blind to stop dogs being lost either left or right onto marks, the overall dog work on this run was tremendous, some beautiful lines to the blind, excellent memory on the marks, resulting in 5 dogs scoring in the 40’s.

The highest scoring dog was Joe Vella’s Blackie with 44.5 points.
On this run I was testing the dogs again for control and their ability to mark the fall of short marks.


NOEL & Mark CO JUDGED RUN 7 & 8 Nine dogs were left to attempt the two runs on day three of the 2007 National Retrieving Trial Championship.
RUN 7 - set by Noel Eltingham

Run 7 consisted of a double mark and a blind find retrieve. A draw was held to determine the first dog to attempt run 7, and then subsequent dogs were run in numerical order. A feature of this run was the difficulty of the terrain directly in front of the dog on the way to each leg of the retrieve. On all legs of the run dogs had to traverse a short length of water some of which was swimming water and heavy cover.

The dogs were initially left in a hide between two large rocks while the handler fired at a blind which was located across the small creek at a distance of 145 metres directly up a rise. The handler reloaded and called their dog. The handler then fired at a mark retrieve located at 85 metres and cast from right to left and at a distance of 25 metres from the line of the blind retrieve. The handler then turned to the right to fire at a mark that was cast from left to right and landing over a small rise and into a splash of water at a distance of 130 metres. The right mark was located 40 degrees to the right of the blind find retrieve. The order of retrieve was the blind find retrieve, the left hand mark and the right hand mark.

All remaining nine dogs left in the trial completed run 9. The top scoring dogs on this run were R.&S. Whitechurch’s Nat RT Ch Adderslot Crackers Triga, R.&S. Whitechurch’s RT Ch Tockatunga Slick Willie and G. Tawton’s Gr RT Ch Kadnoook Pride Ov Cork.

RUN 8 - set by Mark Davis - Double Fall & Blind

Similar terrain to run 6, shallow creek with various types of ground cover.
Handlers again left their dogs in the hide, proceeded to firing point and shot at blind, reloaded then shot mark, immediately sent dog for mark which was visible almost from thrower to the ground and located diagonally across creek at 145mtrs. As soon as the dog crossed the creek the double fall was thrown, dogs were assisted in the marking of this bird by the game steward blowing a duck caller, this bird was approx 65mtrs from handler and landed parallel with creek on the same side as the mark, dogs then proceeded to pick up long mark, then the blind which was located on same side as handler parallel to creek at 135mtrs.

Control was needed to prevent dogs slipping across creek and picking up double fall bird, which was retrieved last. The highest scoring dog on this run was Russell Whitechurch with Sid on 46 pts

I was looking for dogs to remember the double fall, show good marking ability on the mark with the distraction of the double fall and to take a good line to the blind. The remaining dogs met all three requirements in wonderful style, as you would expect from these brilliant dogs that had made it to the last run of the 2007 National Championship.
Cheers, Mark Davis and Noel Eltringham
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Margaret Hall
 
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