Event Coverage

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 – Danville, Virginia

Non-Retrieving Stake: Day 5

Finally our run of good weather has come to an end. The morning dawned with temperatures about forty five degrees with overcast skies. The threat of rain was in the forecast. There was an easterly wind of only about 5 MPH. The rain held off until after the noon break then came down as light showers for the remainder of the day. The rain was light but served to settle the dust that the horses stirred up as the walked along. After four days of this stake enjoying blue bird weather, this change should not be a surprise to anyone, it is spring time!

Today also ran a non productive problem. Very few dogs would complete the hour. Although the judges were not imposing a two non productive and you are out policy, many handlers felt that two non productive would be too great of a hole to climb out of and retired their charges. Some very nice performances were observed as the dogs seemed to enjoy the cool temps and damp conditions. No brace approached the number of bird contacts that were seen earlier in the week. This is of note as birds are being planted every morning and following each brace of dogs. Logic would deem that the number of birds available would be larger each day but the number of contacts per day has defiantly been lower yesterday and today. Your scribe has seen one red-tailed hawk that seems to be doing quite well for himself.

The usual running of three braces in the morning and four in the afternoon was altered for today’s running. Because of early pick-ups, four braces were run in the morning and three in the afternoon. This resulted in an early end of the day, which is a welcome break at this point.

Brace 29) Look At Me “Buzzy” Pointer, handler Jamie O’Donnell
Lady Easy Braveheart “Easy” Vizsla, Mike Mullineaux
Buzzy moves easily through the fields with eye catching appeal. Everyone thought that he was going to post a bid for the title when he ran over a bird in the trees before the old turn around field. Easy had his sights set on distant horizons. His first cast took him out of pocket for eight minutes, he passed through the gallery and began another extended cast that took him out of sight for another six minutes. In the back loop area his handler decided that Easy was not pressing the leaders and was retire.

Brace 30) Arcanum’s Free Spirit “Sally” Pointer, handler Allen Haynes
FC AFC Specter “Specter” English Setter, handler Dave Pomfret
Sally was to put on a show. She hunted intelligently, filled the country, and did it with class to spare. She had her first find along the fence line before the “back loop”. Her manners were perfect and her style was impeccable. At twenty six minutes, after rimming yet another field she again pointed game. On this find she also showed the results of her good training. She ran big but handled as if on a string. Her handler rode behind her deminstarting complete confidence in her. As we passed through the chute area that leads to the long corn field, at forty six minutes she pointed again. As she was relocated to pin the bird better she ran over the bird which was in the trail behind the heavy grassed she first pointed. Specter ran a pleasing gun dog race that showed off his easy, ground covering gait. He pointed with breath taking style in the corner as we entered the last field before the “back loop”. His style can be described as calendar art as he stood tall on both ends, with a world of confidence. This stand would prove for naught and he would be credited with a non productive. Sent on he continued to display his abilitys on the ground. He would also fall victom to a second non productive and his handler called it a day.

Brace 31) FC AFC Winfield’s Palmglade Dan-D “Dan-D” GSP, handler Dave Walker
NGDC FC AFC Bucks Hit The Road Jack “Jack” Brittany, handler Judy Kiracofe
Dan-D is a fun dog to watch. He ran hard, seeking the logical birdy areas. At seventeen minutes he was pointing in heavy woods looking down into a small drainage ditch. There was a bird hiding there and he was showing exactly where. His search for game continued until at forty five minutes he pointed again. Unable to flush, his handler asked him to relocate and the result was not what anyone had hoped for. Jack is a snappy little gundog. His gait is quite flashy and it is sure to catch your eye. He was doing a creditable job covering the course when at twenty six minutes he had bird contact that was not of the acceptable kind to finish his day.

At this point I will have to conclude today’s report. Technical details prevent reports on the remaining four braces. I will include reports on these braces in tomorrow’s posting. I apologized for this inconvenance.