National critiques ex judges

[Maureen Cooper]

Hi all, Jason has been unable to find time to do these so I offered to do them, better late than never!

Joe Vella's comments:

In preparation for the 2005 National and the NSW State Ret.Champs. both Joe Law and I visited the trial site on several occasions with the aim of selecting the different areas where the National runs would be conducted. Once Joe and I had settled on the areas where Days 1, 2 and 3 would be held, we then agreed that the eventual winner and placegetters of the National would have to be tested on runs that are of a good All Age standard. History and experience tell us that there would be dogs that would be elimated for one reason or another on Day 1. We wanted to give all dogs the chance to shine and to be there at the end of Day 1 even if some of them were unable to perform as well as they could have done.

RUN 1
Unfortunately, my first run proved somewhat difficult for some and we lost 12 dogs on this run. In my instructions to the handlers I explained that I was looking for dogs to mark well and to be kept in the corridor to the blind, in sight at all times to the blind. Some dogs did nicely and others did not fare so well. Handling to the blind at times was excessive.

RUN 3
I started off with 22 dogs. The aim of the run was to assess the dog's marking and selection ability. I indicated to the handlers that even though light coloured birds were being used, I considered that the marks, due to the contour of the land, would not be as clear as normally desired due to the birds not breaking the skyline, but I was nevertheless of the belief that the dogs would see them.

I had 2 dogs that made this run look easy, yet other dogs had trouble with some of them eliminating themselves when they did not select correctly and ended up retrieving the wrong bird. Some dogs needed a lot of commands to pick up these birds which was not what judges look for on marks and we lost 6 dogs on this run.

RUN 5
On this run, the dogs had to retrieve 3 birds and to negotiate water to do so. During the running of this test, the weather turned nasty, getting really dark and raining quite heavily. I made the decision to suspend the run for a short period due to the weather as I felt it was not fair for the few dogs left to run.
This test was set up in order to assess the dog's ability to continue on a mark when another bird is released on the way out and also as a memory test of the second mark after a blind retrieve. Most dogs had to be handled on both the mark and double fall legs and some did have a hard time retrieving the blind leg. On individual legs of this run, I did witness some good marking and blind work from certain dogs. We started with 22 dogs on the second day and finished the day with 9 dogs moving into Day 3, the final day of competition.

RUN 7
Joe and I decided that we would co-judge 2 runs on this the final day I would pick the first run of the day, instructing the handlers; Joe would pick the last run and instruct the handlers as to what we would be assessing.

My instructions for Run 7 were that I wanted the dogs to negotiate a line through water to the first blind, have a mark picked up with minimum of fuss and finally, that the dogs had to be kept on line to fallen trees where the blind was placed. The exact position of the bird was not shown to the handlers. Unfortunately we lost one dog on this run. Some dogs did not handle the blinds as well as expected but still managed to fare well enough to progress to the final run of the 2005 National.

To me it was an honour to be given the opportunity to co-judge the 2005 National and to form an opinion by watching the best retrieving dogs in the country.

Congratulations to all the placegetters, especially the winning combination of Mark Davis and Swampy.

Joe Law's comments:

It was a pleasure and an honour for me to be chosen for this judging task and to be able to work with such a dedicated team of stewards and helpers that made up th National Committee. Together with Joe Vella and Jason Ferris, considerable time was spent prior to the trial in surveying suitable areas for the testing of dogs which also allowed for good access, parking of vehicles, comfortable hideareas for the dogs and adequate viewing areas for spectators.

RUN 2.
This was my first run and it was designed to test the dogs over a broad area of skills such as steadiness to shot, memory of a relatively easy and short mark as well as their ability to take and hold a line for a reasonable distance and whether they would handle well on both land and water. There were also some plastic duck decoys to provide some distraction. While all but two of the dogs presented completed the tests, my scores resulted in quite a wide spread.

RUN 4
This run was designed to see how much self-hunt was in these dogs and whether they would persevere with working a steep climb in order to complete a double-rise while still retaining a memory for another short mark approximately 50 metres from the firing point. I was disappointed with the work of many dogs on this tests and the heavy handling resulted in many lower scores than I had expected.

RUN 6
The blind required the dogs to take and hold a difficult line and follow this up with memory for 2 marks which were virtually in line. All the dogs that presented for this run completed these tests, several with distinction. At this stage it seemed that the cream was rising to the top.

RUN 7
This was co-judged with Joe Vella and while it was clearly a tough handling test, I was disappointed with the number of disobeyed commands while at the same time. being impressed with the perseverance of both dogs and their handlers in staying with the task.

RUN 8
This was designed to test how the dogs would face a large expanse of water with the bird landing at a lengthy distance and drifting away with both the breeze and the current. A shorter blind, with the line broken by land and water patches, and a memory mark over the dog's horizon completed the tests and the trial. There was some excellent work done on this run and the dogs that ran true lines to the birds were able to score well and were impressive to watch.

In concluding, I would like to express my appreciation of the manner in which the competitors presented both themselves and their dogs for this National competition. Congratulations to the winner, placegetters and to those that made it to the end. For those who did not share in the same good fortune, I hope they were able to appreciate and value this experience and are moved towards wanting to compete again in future National Championships. Thank you to all for your efforts.

END

I hope I have proof read this accurately as I have gone along as it has taken nearly 2 hours and I am no typist and have been always looking at the keyboard!

Maureen

[Jason Ferris]

Thanks for re-typing and posting these Maureen. Sorry I hadn't had a chance to do it myself.

Things are finally settling down for Kate and I now - having moved house, sold our houses in town, finishing a very busy few months at work, along with all of the work of raising a baby. Hopefully now I will get a chance to train my dogs!

Cheers, Jason.