Guildford Working Gundog Club
Open Test
Held at The Elvetham Estate on 19th August 2012
by kind permission of Sir Euan Calthorpe
Results:
Judges Gilly Nickols, John Stubbs, Alan Buckland, Clare Wood, Barry Taylor
1st. Karen Higgison. Shadybugs Desert Knight (Shady Spirit of Shadybug x Robinia Kups)
2nd Dawn Marks Hailey Deacon (Cruxton Rita x Toms Suprise)
3rd Nikki Stranks Woodlandway Skylark (Hobhearn Comet x Oak Valley Black Jack)
4th Ian Ford Tayfordswoods Gryffindor (Tayfordswoods Twist of Lemon x FTch Blackfoot Scout of Minstead)
COM Sarah Miles Lomcovak Barra of Meonvalley (Ffynongain Amy x Gamegetting Grouse of Scherzando)
COM Wendy Glue. Incas First Whip (Sherston Sarah x Eclipse Firefly)
COM Dave England Abney Ranger (Jagdens Briar of Abney x FTch Endacott Soames of Riversway)
Thank you Sheona for keeping us in as much shade as possible on a hot and humid day. A thunderstorm rumbled about but fortunately went round us. 50 runners but Sheona had organised 5 Judges for 5 Tests and kept things going so that we were finished by 2.00pm and on our way home by the hottest part of the day.
Test 1. Over a 2ft jump just in front of us for a marked retrieve. Followed by a blind through the woods on the right hand side.
Test 2. Stand facing a mark a long way across a field of long grass. Turn around and send for an easy blind on the track in the woods straight in front. When that is picked, send for the mark. Quite a test for the handler to remember the long mark let alone the dog !
Test 3. The Walk Up. In a field of long grass. 4 dogs. A long walk before turning around to a mark with gunshot. Then shorter distances forward until the turn around for the second dog and so on.
Test 4. The judge pointed out a blind sitting in the water. There was then gunshot and a mark thrown into the water to the left. The judge wanted the blind on the right first followed by the mark.
Test 5. A mark with gunshot across the field. The Test was (on paper) a straightforward mark but it was causing problems. There were 2 cross country fences in the line of the mark so the dogs run out was either to the right or the left of these fences. The dogs ability to mark correctly depended on whether the dummy fell in view to either the right or left, or in some cases, it fell directly behind these fences. Once in the area, the scent varied from little to none at all during the day. Also the dummy landed in high, rough, grass so it was often buried a bit deep and harder to scent even when the dog was on top of it. So a few variables came into play on that test and a bit of ‘’luck of the draw’’ maybe played a part as well.
Scent was a very big variable throughout the day Apart from the water, all the judges said that the conditions changed considerably throughout the judging. The Tests were all very straightforward but some dogs struggled with one particular Test as did other dogs with a different Test. I think the scoresheet reflected this with the Water Test because although the marks also ranged from 11 upwards there were a lot more 20s given than in the other Tests. The odd zero ranging up to a fair amount of 20s in each Test proved that all the Test were achievable.
Full use was made of a wonderful bit of ground to ensure that we had a wide variety of testing situations. The day ended with an outright winner and an exciting run off for 2nd, 3rd and 4th who were only 1 mark behind with 3 COMs awarded who were only 1 mark behind again. They were the ones that didn’t come unstuck too much in any of the tests. Lovely dogs. Well done the Handlers.
After the awards the Chairman of the Club thanked Sheona (who is retiring as Working Test Secretary) for her tireless contribution over the last six years in running the Working Tests and earning a reputation second to none for efficiency of organisation, minimum of fuss, smooth running and (despite the ever increasing number of entries over the years) still getting finished in good time. I expect you will miss the challenge Sheona, but enjoy your spare time !!!!! A very big ‘Thank You’ from all of us.
As always, these Tests would not be possible without the generosity of the Landowners and the willing helpers who throw dummies, steward etc. Without such a Team, these Events would not happen. Happily, the Team is made up of like-minded people who love every aspect of Gundogs and Gundog Training and Shooting. So a big thank you to you all for giving up the time you would otherwise spend enjoying the company of your own dogs and giving us such a great day out. We enjoyed it !!!
Judges Gilly Nickols, John Stubbs, Alan Buckland, Clare Wood, Barry Taylor
1st. Karen Higgison. Shadybugs Desert Knight (Shady Spirit of Shadybug x Robinia Kups)
2nd Dawn Marks Hailey Deacon (Cruxton Rita x Toms Suprise)
3rd Nikki Stranks Woodlandway Skylark (Hobhearn Comet x Oak Valley Black Jack)
4th Ian Ford Tayfordswoods Gryffindor (Tayfordswoods Twist of Lemon x FTch Blackfoot Scout of Minstead)
COM Sarah Miles Lomcovak Barra of Meonvalley (Ffynongain Amy x Gamegetting Grouse of Scherzando)
COM Wendy Glue. Incas First Whip (Sherston Sarah x Eclipse Firefly)
COM Dave England Abney Ranger (Jagdens Briar of Abney x FTch Endacott Soames of Riversway)
Thank you Sheona for keeping us in as much shade as possible on a hot and humid day. A thunderstorm rumbled about but fortunately went round us. 50 runners but Sheona had organised 5 Judges for 5 Tests and kept things going so that we were finished by 2.00pm and on our way home by the hottest part of the day.
Test 1. Over a 2ft jump just in front of us for a marked retrieve. Followed by a blind through the woods on the right hand side.
Test 2. Stand facing a mark a long way across a field of long grass. Turn around and send for an easy blind on the track in the woods straight in front. When that is picked, send for the mark. Quite a test for the handler to remember the long mark let alone the dog !
Test 3. The Walk Up. In a field of long grass. 4 dogs. A long walk before turning around to a mark with gunshot. Then shorter distances forward until the turn around for the second dog and so on.
Test 4. The judge pointed out a blind sitting in the water. There was then gunshot and a mark thrown into the water to the left. The judge wanted the blind on the right first followed by the mark.
Test 5. A mark with gunshot across the field. The Test was (on paper) a straightforward mark but it was causing problems. There were 2 cross country fences in the line of the mark so the dogs run out was either to the right or the left of these fences. The dogs ability to mark correctly depended on whether the dummy fell in view to either the right or left, or in some cases, it fell directly behind these fences. Once in the area, the scent varied from little to none at all during the day. Also the dummy landed in high, rough, grass so it was often buried a bit deep and harder to scent even when the dog was on top of it. So a few variables came into play on that test and a bit of ‘’luck of the draw’’ maybe played a part as well.
Scent was a very big variable throughout the day Apart from the water, all the judges said that the conditions changed considerably throughout the judging. The Tests were all very straightforward but some dogs struggled with one particular Test as did other dogs with a different Test. I think the scoresheet reflected this with the Water Test because although the marks also ranged from 11 upwards there were a lot more 20s given than in the other Tests. The odd zero ranging up to a fair amount of 20s in each Test proved that all the Test were achievable.
Full use was made of a wonderful bit of ground to ensure that we had a wide variety of testing situations. The day ended with an outright winner and an exciting run off for 2nd, 3rd and 4th who were only 1 mark behind with 3 COMs awarded who were only 1 mark behind again. They were the ones that didn’t come unstuck too much in any of the tests. Lovely dogs. Well done the Handlers.
After the awards the Chairman of the Club thanked Sheona (who is retiring as Working Test Secretary) for her tireless contribution over the last six years in running the Working Tests and earning a reputation second to none for efficiency of organisation, minimum of fuss, smooth running and (despite the ever increasing number of entries over the years) still getting finished in good time. I expect you will miss the challenge Sheona, but enjoy your spare time !!!!! A very big ‘Thank You’ from all of us.
As always, these Tests would not be possible without the generosity of the Landowners and the willing helpers who throw dummies, steward etc. Without such a Team, these Events would not happen. Happily, the Team is made up of like-minded people who love every aspect of Gundogs and Gundog Training and Shooting. So a big thank you to you all for giving up the time you would otherwise spend enjoying the company of your own dogs and giving us such a great day out. We enjoyed it !!!
