The AKC opened the Spaniel Hunt Test (now called the Upland Hunt Test) to curly-coated and flat-coated retrievers in 2012.  Goldens and Labs were permitted in 2013.

The change is driven by the numbers.  In 2012, Spaniels accounted for about 2,800 (2%) of all AKC Hunt Test entries.  Retrievers accounted for about 70,000 (53%) of the AKC's entries (in Retriever tests) and pointers about 60,000 (45%).

Joe D. argues that the AKC's retriever have become overrun with trial washouts.  The trialing world is quite competitive, and those that leave trialing for the AKC tests have distorted the original purpose of the AKC test, which is to provide a venue for the ordinary hunter to prove in his or her dog as a hunting companion.  Even a small percentage of retrievers leaving the retrieving tests in favor of the upland tests can distort the nature of the Upland/Spaniel test and turn it into a new type of retriever test (with a focus on long water work and complex hunt deads).  Retriever judges in the upland test would cause great changes as well.

 Source: AKC Springer Hunt Test Judging Seminar, June 2, 2012.

Memories from our first Master leg

Heading to the water blind after success in the field and on the hunt-dead.

Boy was that hard (part 2, the water)

Ah, the water.

I sent Larsen for the blind.  He tentatively entered the muck, and circled.  I pushed him as hard as I could: "back!" "back!".  Larsen went into the water, verred to the end of the pond, nosed around, and popped a volunteer chukar.  All this time, I had been hacking at the whistle and yelling "back!".

He played with the bird, and brought it back.

We were sent to the back of the line to re-try the blind.

Upon our return, there was more hacking, and more "backing".  Very annoying to both of us.  Larsen ran off some tweety birds, then returned to the peninsula at top speed to pick up his bird.  Back he came, with a pretty messy retrieve.

Upon the water mark, he went out, then did not return directly to me.  He went to the nearby peninsula to take the land route back.  He went over to the area where he had rousted the volunteer, looking for another, then went into the water, swam to an island of grass, nosed around, picked up his bird, went ashore put his paw on the bird, plucked, then picked it up, and returned it to me for yet another fumbling handoff.

By this time man and beast were at the ends of their respective ropes.  I had hacked myself out, and he had peed in the grass to display his displeasure with my actions.  It was a battle of wills with two tired and irritated participants.  Larsen and I earned that ribbon in the sense of knowing now that we must return to the fun and camaraderie of the hunt.  

Boy, was that hard

Larsen and I got a fourth Master Hunter leg at the Boykin Spaniel test in Cheraw, SC on Sunday.  The test was very hard for us and taught us some lessons.   On land, I erred by hacking Larsen away from birds on the periphery, past the gunners.  I was under the impression that the dog was to hunt (basically) gun-to-gun.

Susan W., one of the judges told me that she said birds were planted beyond the guns.  I was not listening.  "I know," she said.  I was instead trying to tune out the noise judges sometimes make and focus entirely on my dog.  I guess I missed something.

Larsen obeyed my calls and did not flush those birds, but because of mistake #1, I was hacking him a lot.

Larsen sat on a sucker bird.  He bounced, but he sat.  This had been our first sucker bird in a long time and there was no telling what he might do, but he sat, and returned after my "leave it" command.

Larsen had a patented long retrieve.  I did not pip once.  He was sent for a fallen bird 60+ yards out.  He took off, did a big circle on one side (wrong wind side) of the bird, then trotted to the other side and did a big circle, identified the scent, and made the retrieve.  The handoff to me was a little sloppy, but it got the job done.

On hunt-dead, Larsen first went to the basket of birds.  He returned to me upon my pip, and shifted into a joyful full-out run on my "back" command.  He missed the bird, so I sat him.  As he sat (about 30 yards out), he looked over his shoulder, obviously scenting the bird about 20 yards behind him.  I simply let him go, and he went directly to the bird and brought it back.

Water work was coming up.

Master Hunter leg

On Sunday, Larsen and I earned our first Master Hunter leg.  I've seen some photos that prove that our land work wasn't pretty, but in the end, Larsen sat for the birds - - a fly-off, and a retrieve - - and I stayed out of the way, and that was that.

Larsen had some trouble finding the bird on the hunt dead.  It may have been in a hole, since he seemed to pass over it a few times.  On the water blind, it took some coaxing to get him focused on the far shore, but once he made up his mind, he found the bird and brought it back.  On the water retrieve, he swam right to the bird, but decided to take the land route back.  Aki's photo shows him rounding third and heading for home, bird in mouth, and a soft look in his eyes.  He knew he was at work and loved every minute.

Three important takeaways from Joe's seminar, and one important pointer from Susan:

1. I healed Larsen to the line with the english lead up high on his head.  I noticed that he did not tug or fool around;
2. On his fly-away, Larsen challenged me twice (as Joe said he would) to break off the hunt and dash for the bird.  I was ready, and pipped him back to the task at hand just as those wayward thoughts formed in his head;
3. I forced myself to focus and not daydream.  When Larsen got birdy, I moved right up on him and was positioned to give him a pip.
4. On the water, I did not let Larsen veer even a degree from straight to the opposite shore.  Susan had warned me that Larsen, like his mom Mazie, would start to circle or swim somewhere pointless if given even a slight deviation.  

Yes and No

Zelda and I had good success at the ESS Hunt Test in Bowman, Georgia, but not so at the Bokin Spaniel Test this past weekend in Batesville, SC.

We hunted a thorny, close area on Saturday at the Boykin test.  The field provided a good test of a clumber spaniel's steady, nose-oriented hunting style.  Zelda was steady to her birds, but had the misfortune to flush a sucker bird - - a 20-foot flier that landed on a line between me and the dog.  As Zelda sat, I hesitated to send her for the bird or even call her back because I did not want to be flunked due to "encouragement."   In the few seconds this goes through your head, Zelda resolved the condition by pouncing after the bird.  The bird flushed, Zelda sat, and then was sent for a nice retrieve.  After deliberation the judges determined that the self-dismissal was a break.

On Sunday, Zelda flushed three birds that flew in directions that precluded a shot.  She was steady on each and was passed on her land effort.  We did not fair well on the water blind, which was set at a very obtuse angle of about 140 degrees.  This primed the dog for bank-running.  Worse still, was that a bucket of birds was positioned on the bank (180 degrees) about 20 yards from the dog.  Confused, Zelda entered the water but would come ashore.  She finally ambled to the bird bucket and fetched a bird for me.  Amusing, but not what was wanted, so we were dismissed.

At both the Boykin test and the prior-week's ESS test, Zelda hunted with me.  Coming around to my whistles and hand signals.  A genuine hunting experience.  My improved skills are reducing the volume of bees buzzing about my head as I manage the dog in the field.  I am now eager to try my improving capabilities on Larsen, and hope to have him in the field this coming weekend.

Appalachee Plantation

Our WSSCA Hunt Test last November used the chukars from Appalachee Plantation.  The birds were strong flyers.  Few were trapped.  It took a hard hit to bring them down.    The birds were delivered on time and in usable crates.  Todd Howell of AP allowed us to keep the crates for a few weeks until we were able to swing by the storage area again to fetch them and return them.

Twenty something

I ran the sweet and biddable Zelda at the Cocker Spaniel Hunt Test and earned her twentieth Master leg and my first.  I don't know if we qualified for an Advanced Master leg, but I intend to find out.

In the field, Zelda bounded downfield following a well-worn path.  I called her back and when she got about 3 yards away, I cast her to my left, downwind, so that when I pipped her to a turn, her nose picked up the scent in the crossing wind.  She established a nice pattern and flushed a fly-away.  I was asked to pip her back and I did so.  They tossed a bird for her, and, of course, she was stead, and the princess brought the bird back.

On the hunt dead, Zelda went far into the wind (again, to my right).  Another dog had explored this end of the field so there may have been scent there.  I let Zelda get way too far off and in an latch ditch effort I hit the whistle long and loud and yelled at her to sit.  With exaggerated semephoric signalling, I gave her the "over" command, and got her facing the bird, though upwind from it.  Zelda trotted along the treeline and found the bird and brought it back with her slow, royal retrieve.

On the water blind, Cathy told me to be sure that Zelda had no opportunity to run the bank.  I was ready to really push her out, but Zelda went into the lake with no undue encouragement, hit the opposite bank just downwind from bird and so found it immediately and swam back.

The water retrieve was equally uneventful as the dog swam out, grabbed the bird, and swam back without any fooling with the semi-submerged log or other distractions.

I loved how Zelda worked for me.  That's my girl!

Frank and Zelda show off their Master Hunter rosette at the Cocker Spaniel Hunt Test December 8, 2013.

Pickup dog

The hunt test proceeded as anticipated, but not as hoped for in that Larsen showed no signs of slowing on the flush.  I'm facing a decision.  Shall I continue to try to get the dog study to the flush, or simply let him be a Senior Hunter and have fun and success in the field?

On the positive side, Larsen was tasked with being pick-up dog.  This is the trusty dog that swims the pond to gather in the bird that another dog has refused to retrieve.  It is a left-handed compliment since the pickup dog is one no longer in contention, but it is a compliment nonetheless because you want a steady dog that fetches birds expeditiously and without drama.

ESS Hunt Test

We'd hoped to steal a march and sneak out of St. Louis with a hunt test leg, but a broke dog is all we have to show for our dreams.  Larsen chased a running cock pheasant and didn't stop when he put the bird to flight, and our morning was over.

Larsen had been attentive to the whistle, which was pretty heavy in order to keep Larsen close at hand.  But when he caught scent of the running bird, and turned away from me to track it down, I knew that a sit whistle was chancy at best, and unhappily I was right.

We saw Debi, Kathy P., Deb B. and Jim as well as Tim and Cathy at the event.  A beautiful fall weekend in southern Missouri near St. Louis.

Larsen seems so very close to being steady.  I know that his breaking, and retrieving a shot pheasant is a set-back, but it still seems he is close.  Am I fooling myself?

WSSCA Hunt Test

The 2013 Welsh Springer Spaniel Hunt Test is November 16-17 in Clark's Hill, South Carolina.  This is a new venue, although many of us have had the opportunity to run a dog in practice or walk the land.  There is a limit of 35 dogs.  We will get a block of rooms at the La Quinta Hotel in Augusta, Ga at I-20 exit 199 (Washington Ave).  The field is about 20 miles north of the interchange.

The WSSCA HT premium can be found at the WSSCA website.

Bibi, MH (Ryder, SH)

Word in from Mazomanie is that Bibi finished her Master Hunter, and in style.

The back story is that Bibi should not have been in the field at all.  About two years ago, she was near death as a result of a bacterial infection.  Frank and Deb nursed her back to some life, but she was house and crate bound for fear of re-infection.  At some point, a year or so in, Frank thought that a little field work might do her some good, and that the risk of re-infection was simply something that they would have to gamble on.

Happily, the cocker picked up where she left off with a biddable joy in the field.  She earned her fifth leg on Saturday at the Mazomanie Cocker Fancier's Club test and became one on a very short list of American bench bred cockers to accomplish this feat.

Bibi is in the middle of the photo below.  Her daughter, Ryder (on the right) earned his Senior Hunter title in the same event.

A family of hunting-titled cockers: CH.Murphy,SH; Bibi,MH and their daughter CH.Ryder,SH

Flat Coated Retriever Trial

Larsen and I made our way to the Starrsville Plantation in Covington, Ga where the Flat Coated Retriever National Specialty was having its hunt test, where friends Tim P., Bill, T., Frank M. and Al, and possibly Roger H were shooting (I never ran into Roger).

Flat-coated retrievers are smaller and less bulky than Labs.  Some at Starrsville Plantation think that the breed may have some Irish/Red setter genes, and that is a reasonable guess, given the lither frame of the flat coat.  The dogs generally have glossy black coats, although I saw one or two liver (brown) dogs, and one owner said that yellow seems to be a rare, but occasional recessive.

The retriever test is different than the Spaniel (upland) test.  I watched the action in the Junior test.  The dog had to retrieve two ducks.  The first was sprung from a hideout 60 or so yards away and a blank shot was fired.  For the second, the (live) duck was launched off the dog and handler's left shoulder (launcher and gunners were maybe 20 yards to the side) and the bird shot as it flapped up in the sky.

Both retrieves essentially were hunt deads and your dog was asked to be steady at the line with you standing over the dog.  I did not notice whether the junior dogs were gently restrained, but I think not.  I believe they were steady.  The dogs were then released.  They were not given oral, semiphoric, or whistle commands.  I am not sure if there were words of encouragement, as I stood a bit behind the action.  I had been closer with the gallery, but moved off when Larsen made a little whine of envy.

I believe that our well-trained spaniels could do those hunt deads, although there would be some adjustment with what I perceived to be the disallowance of whistling and the like.

Larsen and I visited the Master Hunter water work, but there was a lunch break in the action so we made our way home.

Starrsville Plantation looked like a homey farm.  There was a small cemetary with stones dated as late as 1902.  The little bit of the property that Larsen and I toured looked promising for a spaniel test.  Starrsville itself appears to be a defunct one-time railroad station.  Now it is just an exurb of Atlanta.

Larsen at an orchard gate at the Starrsville Plantation in Covington, Ga.

The souls of the faithful rest easily among the pines.

Barn from a bygone day near the one-time Starrsville train depot.

Spring lilacs drape the rusted tracks near the shuttered Starrsville train depot.

Water retrieve

A hunting spaniel is a versatile dog.  This includes retrieving from water.  A hunting spaniel is not necessarily a duck dog (although the Boykin aficionados would disagree), but any hunting spaniel should have a smart retrieve of a bird that might be downed in a pond, river, inlet, or other such body of water.

On the water retrieve, the handler lines up his dog with the downed bird.  A blade-like hand will help guide the dog's head toward the target.  A junior dog, like Rider, below, can be gently restrained at the water to prevent him from leaving early.  When the handler is ready to release the dog, he says "back" or the dog's name, and pushes his hand forward to guide those important first steps into the water.

Frank sets up Rider for a water retrieve.

Here comes the successful dog.

Weekend results

Backward we go.

Tim reported that Larsen had a good, steady week at Tim's farm.  However, when I ran Larsen, the dog readily broke.  What this tells me is that handler error is at the base of this.

On Saturday, Larsen flushed a low bird, and in my anxiety, I blew the whistle hard enough that only the sound of air came through.  Larsen glanced my way, but hearing no whistle, continued on his merry way.

Sunday's events were far worse, but fixable.  Larsen stopped quartering to relieve himself.  I called him in by his name,and he went out and continued to hunt, which I did not stop.  Larsen found and flushed a bird, which went up for a nice shot by Shoni, but he never hesitated or sat.  Now why was that?

Judge Venee suggested that Larsen's name in the field is his instruction to get out.  I use his name when I want him to fetch something.  His instruction to come in is "here" or, better, trilling the whistle.  Tim told me that whenever something unusual happens in the field, I should pip Larsen to a sit, call him in, and recast him in order to keep that contact.  As it was, my dismissal (using his name) broke the contact we had, let him self-hunt, and then allowed him to break to the bird.

Sandy and Hampton

Sandy earned her first Hunt Test rosette, and it was for a masterful job guiding her dog Hampton in the Boykin Spaniel Club & Breeders Association of America Hunt Test on Saturday, March 2, in Mountville, SC.

Sandy was in a different group than Larsen and me, so we missed the field work, but all observers said that it was very nice.  Hampton's Hunt Dead was perfect, as were his water blind and water retrieve.

Sandy has been working hard to bring herself from ground zero to master dog handler level, and on Saturday she reached that rarified level.  All were exceedingly pleased to see that work pay off.

Sandy happily shows off the new ribbon, while Hampton takes it all in stride.

Judges Venee and Lois share in Sandy's joy. 

Graham

In slapstick comedies involving the military, there is always a General that is ridiculously bedecked with ribbons and medals of dubious merit.  On the overwhelming effect of his own rosette and medal count, Graham could play that General, except that Graham is a dog, and more importantly, his medals and ribbons are for genuine accomplishments.  

Graham is everything you'd want in a hunting spaniel: bold, intelligent, biddable.  Marilyn and Graham make it all look easy, but the fact is that you have a great dog coupled with a handler that knew precisely how to bring out and direct those abilities.

In addition,  Marilyn observes other people and their dogs and generously offers welcome advice that is actually tailored to the situation, and not how you'd do it if you happend to be Marilyn and if your dog happened to be Graham.  Marilyn also plants birds, Marshalls (at our WSSCA Hunt Test as well as at her own), judges, and would probably make lunch for everyone if the ESS Rescue Team would let her.

Marilyn and Graham enjoy a time-out at the ESS Hunt Test.

Humphrey

Cathy V. can't pick favorites, but I can.  Humphrey is my wingman.  Humpers is the dog that blazed the path that I'm on with Larsen.  I saw Cathy's (and Humphrey's) frustrations first hand as she taught the dog to be steady to wing and shot.  It's a trail I'm on now, and when I'm down, I can think about how Cathy and Humphrey perservered.

Humphrey is a thinking dog.  He wants to please Cathy, sure, but if he can do it by improving on her instruction, he'll go for his own bright idea every time.  Sometimes he earned a good yelling at.  During his training, he'd get upset and crunch those birds - - not out of spite or meanness, since those are completely foreign concepts to Humphrey - - but out of insecurity and confusion.  Now that he knows what he has to do, he treats the birds as gently as babes.

The biggest transformation was in his confident, powerful, rolling gait in the field.  The dog has the best nose around.  He knows what to do, and it shows in his confident step.

Cathy carefully monitors his ailing hip, and each day afield is blessing for her and that special dog.

Cathy and Humphrey move toward the line.  

Humphrey hangs with the gallery at the ESS AKC Hunt Test (2/24/2013).

Zelda

Possibly seeking new challenges, Cathy V. allowed me to un-train Advanced Master Hunter Zelda at the Sunday Hunt Test.

The point of the exercise was to allow me to run an accomplished dog under the pressure of a genuine Hunt Test to see how my reactions, body language, and commands stacked up.  Unhappily, the stack was a house of cards, as Zelda quickly learned that I was there for little more than company as she joyfully hunted the field on her own.

Afterward, Cathy (and Aki, and just about everyone else who could speak to me with breaking into laughter) said that my commands were far too soft and mother-may-I for the dog.  What's funny is that I would have no problem at all using a snarling voice, which I reserve for special occasions with Larsen, except that Zelda not only was someone else's dog, but I see her as a little white pillow, and not the true hunting dog that lies within that Bo-Peep coat.

This is going to be easy!

Ready?

Frank entertains Zelda with a medley of tunes on his whistle.

Fly-away bird and time for water.

Sunday morning

From Saturday morning until Sunday morning, we were enveloped in a cloud from a huge front that had dumped snow across the Plains and midwest and swirled into the south.  The wet and chill produced a mysterious air to the morning.

Judge Susan approaches as Bill, Al, and David prepare for the day's events. 


John and Bronwyn hold a skull session. 

Cathy and Frank fill bird bags as the fog begins to burn off.