Day Four of the Master National

Day Four of the Master National started out cool and clear, but the temperatures warmed up by the bright sun. By noon, we were a little over eighty degrees. Our first visit today was to Flight B who continued to run "Give Me A Brake." The work on the long bird had not changed since yesterday. It is still the one giving both dogs and handlers the greatest problems. In one stretch this morning, three out of five dogs handled on that bird.

Flight A continued on "Oops I Did It Again." This tough test completed mid-afternoon with 91 dogs called back. The sun was getting hot and handlers were glad that this was a water test. 

Flight C was back at "Censored" ... when we arrived, it was just after lunchtime. The Gallery at this test sits on the side of the hill and has a wonderful view of every bird. The problem that came up today was that there was no shade in this particular setting, so umbrellas were at a premium.

We found Flight D this afternoon completing their test at "Eagle's Nest." It was announced that because of the Workers' Party, this flight would not move to a new test location when this one was completed. Once again, this is a water test. The dogs stayed cool and the gallery was able to find much appreciated shade.

Flight D -- Eagle's Nest

Flight D went to the Eagle's Nest for their second series. It was reported that during set-up, an eagle visited the site and was very interested in the ducks that they were using. This test is a water triple with a water blind. The mat sits on the bank of a small inlet facing a body of water. All retrieves in this test require the dog to first enter this channel before popping out on a point of land. Across the larger body of water in front of the mat, bird number one is behind a very large brushed blind that also included a camera man, Mark Atwater, taking action shots. This bird is thrown to the right behind a heavy row of bushes. Directly behind the large front blind was located the brushed blind for bird number two below a stand of trees. This bird is thrown to the left. The third bird was to the handler's right and the bird was thrown to the left back towards the water landing on the bank. When these birds were retrieved, the handler faced a down-the-shore blind with a dry pop en route to this blind. He must first enter the small channel in front of him back out onto the peninsula and then swam parallel to the shore to the opposite side of the pond to retrieve the bird.