Good dogs and handlers make mistakes. Nowhere is this more obvious than at a retriever Field Trial.  Small errors committed by either dog or handler separate the top four finishers earning place ribbons from the balance of the field who go home empty-handed. Same rule can apply to hunt tests. It’s not unusual to see a Hunt Test with only one-third of the dogs passing. Seasoned hunt test dogs and handlers make mistakes too.

The sunrise had just peaked up over the horizon for our morning training session. The last mark down/go bird was long and she pinned it. It was one of those moments when you start thinking, “yeah, she’s on fire this morning.” Regrettably, I was about to smother out the flame.

As she sat down to pick up the short memory bird on my left side. I tapped my left leg, rotated my stance slightly clockwise and gave her the command “here” to realign her spine, head and eyes from a position of 12 to 2 O’clock. She reluctantly complied on the second request. I cast her off from my side with her call name with a quiet tone to remind her it’s a short mark.

She promptly ran out about the same depth as the fall, hunted a little circle, gave up and sat her fanny down. Ugh, she “popped” on me!   I crossed my arms and barked at her, “hunt’em up!”  This is a mark not a blind, nor did I whistle you to stop.  Out into the field I walked fussing at her all the while to hunt it up.  She found the bumper in the dense cover and returned. I was still upset and oblivious to my error.  We are going to re-run this set up!

She sat perfectly still as we watched the short memory mark hit the ground together. Oops!  Immediately realized I’d lined her up incorrectly on the previous mark.  Big mistake to pull her position from 12 to 2 O’clock. She was right all along. I pulled her off the direct line to the mark.  My fidgeting with her at the line was probably interpreted as leave the mark alone, it’s now a poison bird to be picked up after a blind.  Strong possibility I created confusion as to whether or not it was a mark of blind in her mind.

Normally, good marking dogs don’t need to be lined up. Best to leave them to their own resources. The proper job of the handler is usually to watch the dog’s line manners while the bird is in the air during training sessions.  There are instances however, when it is beneficial to help them focus on the correct path to the mark in an effort to keep them out of trouble. Long tight water entries where the dog is expected to get in the water and eraser marks that tend to wipe out the dog’s memory are just a few examples. Bottom line…. if you line them up on a mark you better be right!!!

We work hard together as a human/dog team to develop communication tools. Watching each other’s body movements constantly searching for cues. I didn’t listen to her or trust her normally keen marking judgment in our training session. Care to guess how far we would get in an actual test with that type of dialog?

We spent the next day’s training session on marking fundamentals. Goal of our session was for me to watch line manners and leave the driving to her.   She pinned every mark without my two cents.   Mark my word…. the only handler/dog team that doesn’t make mistakes is the team sitting on the couch at home.

After months of hot summer time training it was time to take the stage again in the Master B flight of the Sooner Retriever hunt test.  Note: Click on images to enlarge.  The first series setup included several environmental factors and training concepts typical of a master national level hunt test. A perfect test to gauge our training progress before heading out east.

Angel nailed the flyer/go bird, M3.  Sent her to the right bird in the ditch next, M2. She returned quickly and lined up perfectly for the short memory bird on the left, M1.  She took a nice initial line on the left blind, B1; however, she faded with the wind blowing left to right a tad but managed to correct herself. I stopped her in front of the bird for a final cast or two. The blind was laying in brush right in front of a ridge with a drop off behind it.

The long water entry blind (B2) was pretty much a make or break retrieve for the test. Screw it up and you have a long ride home without a ribbon. She took a good initial line and got a little “fatter” as she crossed the ditch and headed into weedy marsh area before the water. It took a few more casts to get her down the shore line blind because she wanted to stay “fat in the water” or away from the shore. Overall an acceptable job on a difficult blind.

Whew…. nice first series! Time to relax and catch lunch. My feeling good about the day took a dramatic turn when Carla told me she felt a hard lump on Angel’s back. A friend pointed out to us swelling down her elbow too. Could it be a snake or scorpion bite??? Off to the 24-hour emergency clinic in OKC.

The vet diagnosed the large lump the located above her right shoulder blade as a hematoma. There was mild infection in the swollen area but the lab test indicated it hadn’t spread to the body. Good news no cancer or poisonous snake/critter bites.  Vet recommended we drain the fluid out and put her on antibiotics. It was past 9PM went we arrived back at the hotel with a very groggy dog. A small hole was left open to allow it to continue to drain overnight. It’s still a mystery what the caused it to grow so large within hours.  I recalled her trying to jump up into the back of the van, the wind catching the door and blowing it shut just a little as she tried to leap upwards earlier in the week.  It all took place in a split second out of the corner of my eye.  It had to hurt!  Checked her over and didn’t feel anything at that time. Nor did we feel anything when petting her on the ride up to Oklahoma just 12 hours earlier.

By late Sunday morning she was ready to run the second series.  I had my vet’s letter authorizing her being able to return to “work” just in case there was any question.  No question at all about her desire to retrieve as we headed to the line.  No change in her gait or indication of pain, just a visible hunchback lump. Angel is a gamer always ready to rock and roll when it comes to tests…. showtime!

The second series……triple land combo with long blind under the arc.

She did solid job on the second series of flight B.   We headed back to town for lunch.  The chicken tenders were warm on the way back to the test site when suddenly the engine bellowed out with a loud rat-tat-tat like someone drilled a hole in the muffler up near the engine.