A little more control, all things considered

If Hunt Tests had two innings, we might have something going.

Larsen's first turn out involved self-hunting and the like.  On a fly-away quail, I pulled Larsen in and got him hunting again.  We continued a hunt, with periodic shots fired and a command to sit.  Larsen honored the command, though more slowly than he should.  Finally, a chukar was flushed and Larsen ran to the far end of the field, where he leaped through the barbed wire fence and went into the drainage ditch and then returned with that quail.  I looped him up and put him away.

On the second turn, Larsen was more attentive.  I should back up and say that between turns, I ran Zelda, and gave her some grumping when she didn't pay attention to me.  Shoni and Cathy thought that was a better attitude with a dog than the mother-may-I pleading I might otherwise do with that sweet dog, who, by the way, doesn't belong to me.

So on that second turn, I was firmer with my voice commands, and Larsen responded.  He sat better to shots.  The contrived flush of a rolled-in bird brought him to a halt.  Then the unpredictable occurred.

Whether it was a partial flush, or just a wandering bird, there occurred that situation where the bird is bobbing along out in the open for everyone, including a curious spaniel, to see.  I pipped Larsen to me and made him sit as we figured out what to do.  Cathy decided she would flush the bird, Shoni would shoot it, and Larsen would retrieve.

Cathy ran at the bird and flapped her arms, but the bird simply bobbed this way and that.  By the time she flushed the bird, we were all pretty much taken with the action, but Shoni recovered enough to down the bird.  Larsen took off a tad sooner than he should have, but it was my fault with getting caught up with Cathy's antics and not keeping a firmer mental grip on the dog.  I don't fault him for that break, and it was a far better outcome than would have been the case if I'd sent him in for the flush.  I grade it as one thumb up.

The weather got grayer by the minute and by the end, it was a cold steady rain.  Cathy, Shoni, and Coralee attended.  Humphrey, Zelda, Bing, Sunny, and Rowdy got out, as did Larsen, and enjoyed every minute.