Stuttgart - It Was Good!

Posted on March 28, 2006 by J. Tackett 

Dogs: Amazing set of animals. This field was stronger than the Hutto group overall. I thought we would have 10 dogs actually have to "pick-up" in the first series, and at least 15 more with very nigh scores. The dogs saw through the bag of tricks the judges laid out there.

1st Series: A white coated triple poison with double retired guns. One mark was extremely well placed...I thought the short retired would eat-em' up. The dogs did well, and the handlers did very well too. Most handlers made flawless decisions. Rody Best, and Buzz literally obliterated the series with a 6.

2nd series: The 2nd series water blind was a fairly meaty water blind on its own account. Add in a 15 yd remote over, and we had a solid 10 on a 10 scale. I saw more than one Field Champion, and a number of Grand Champions refuse to get in the water. Once you the judges added a little confusion from the poison bird and white coated gunners across the lake...we had the makings of a party.

Handlers handled it every way imaginable. Some released on the dogs name...hoping the dog would go to the mark then attempting to handle off of it. Some tried to send on an over....very little did well with this technique...as it was cold; temps were in the 30's., and the extreme sense of urgency was not conveyed very well. The theory that seemed to work the best was an over cast with a verbal "back". When you think about it...it makes perfect sense...most dogs have been forced on "back" , so if the dogs trusted the handlers, and had strong desire to retrieve they got in the water on the initial cast. Crown Champion Richard McDonald and Sam beat the judges up with a 6.....most of the field either could not get the dogs in the water, or they were asked to "pick-up" as their point total getting into the water had put them over the edge and they were out of contention.

Water: Wind blew again, and for the first time in a number of years...some very serious swimming water was added to the SRS design. Long swims of well over 150 yards were heavy in the 2nd, and 3rd series. The temps were in the high 30's, and low 40's for most of the water series, some drizzling rain, and a little sleet helped separate the men from the boys. It took the toughest dogs to get through the series. The more I write, and think about it....I really think the 3rd was a true test of marking and definitely one of courage. It was a great time to have a crazy maniacal nut. The perfect set-up for a dog that loved to retrieve more than they cared about being cold, next time you get a little tired of that "nut" that has been pulling you to the line remember this test. It was a place for the big dogs to run.

Judges: Judges worked as well together as imaginable...obsessing over every single mark, or blind. Making sure they did everything they possibly could to ensure that every dog had a fair shot. It was great to listen to them communicate, border line arguing every point. But, what made them very different was they had had the confidence and capacity to say "you're right, I hadn't thought about it like that." Judges were truly terrific. The tests were a veritable smorgasbord of AA, MN, and Grand desires. All 3 were beautiful.

Crew: I have often been amazed by John Davis the Captain of the SRS Ship. I used to call him Crazy Johnny and joked that he could do the work of 3 men. I remember 5-6 years ago when he saw his first retriever event from behind a winger. His crew is one of the finest most well oiled machines of any kind. Each has a specific job during set-up, and move. The ability to run 100 dogs a day in any kind of weather is pretty mind boggling. Johnny has no fat on the crew and all of them literally run like a bunch of wild eyed strong safeties towards an out stretched 140 lb. wide out. It's an impressive site to watch them go. I distinctly remember Richard Dresser saying after the WRC that John's crew of 6 was better than any crew of 50 he had ever seen at any National. They have gotten better since then. They are truly the best.

4th series: The 4th was one of the most fun series I have seen in awhile. A true hunting scenario with 4 marks falling inside of 7 seconds. Long bird at about 75, short bird at about 15 yards, 20 seconds of duck calling, kicking water, and lots of excitement. The gallery was about 15 yards behind the line and jumped in with a roaring applause, after J. Paul and his dog Murphy literally killed the test. The applause was huge and was very inspiring and made you feel like you were apart of something big, and getting bigger.