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Derby Placements - (L-R)
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Rsv JAM #10
photos by Kerri Tartarka
Seventeen young, eager Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and their handlers
and/or owners were judged in the derby stake of the Field Trial
Specialty. The judges, Frank Kearney and Kathy Yates, were
experienced field trialers and set fair tests for the field. They
set all the tests at the Wood Duck Pond area of H. Cooper Black,
Jr.Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area.
The
first test was a single flyer duck shot in the middle of the field
adjoining the pond at approx.. 80 yards. The dogs stretched their
legs and enjoyed running to the area of the fall. There were many
pins and some close hunts. All the dogs were called back to the
second series which was a reasonable double in the pond. Near the
middle of the pond, two spits of land run from either side of the
pond with a distance of water in the middle. One gunner was placed
on each spit and the dead ducks were thrown on land at the end of
each spit in a converging pattern. The right hand bird was roughly
80 yards and the left hand bird was about 120 with a land entry of
20 yards. The dogs produced various jobs. Those who had mastered
shore breaking swam straight out to each bird, made the retrieve and
came back in the water. The younger and/or less experienced dogs
could not resist the temptation and swam to some portion of the
spits on either right or left, beaching early and running around the
spit to get the bird. 14 dogs were called back to the next series
the following day on the other side of the Wood Duck Pond.
The
third series was another land double on the shore of the pond. The
memory bird on the left was around 150 yards and the short go bird
was about 80 yards. The distance between the go bird and line to
the memory bird was somewhat close and a few dogs did have
difficulty taking the line to the memory bird after picking up the
go bird. The fourth series was a long single across the pond some
175 yards with a land entry of around 40 yards. Here again, the
experienced dogs took water to the spit, across the spit, back in
the water and all the way to the other side of the pond where the
bird was thrown on the far shore. The less accomplished dogs
yielded to temptation and ran around the spit and the pond to the
far shore, usually with some hunting in the area of the fall. In
the end, 10 dogs picked up all the birds in varying degrees of
ability.
Submitted by Pat Puwal
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