Photography Announcement...

...Molly Schlachter and MCS Photography will be taking pictures of your truck dogs today in the parking area at Test 6. They are located near the hostess wagon and the food tent...so grab your doggies and swing over for a photo.

44. AFC KIMBER VIII, LF, Gary Zellner

...from the time the dog entered the second piece of water, she executed every challenge perfectly.

43. FC-AFC CITORI’S ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTE, LF, Michael Moore

...has just turned in an excellent performance on the water blind. She was on both points, handled quickly back into the water both times. And has done well.

42. AFC UN PETIT PEU CANAILLE, LF, F. Lee Jolley

Pick-up...

41. FC-AFC CAMINO WEIGHT CUTTER MH, LM, Andy Kahn or John Henninger

...came to the line at 1:03 p.m. He was perfect and both the front end and the middle of the blind. He got pretty deep and had to be handled back to it.

39. FC-AFC RAGIN EYE OF THE STORM, LM, John Thomas

...came to the line at 12:56. He had a quick whistle getting in and a little trouble getting off of the second scented point. But he was successful getting back into the water and swam to the blind.

38. FC-AFC WATERDOGS SHOCK AND AWE, LM, John Stracka

...came to the line at 12:49, he was successful with all of the obstacles and has retrieved the blind.

32. FC-AFC CANDLEWOOD GOLDENDAZE LOUIE, LM, Chuck Schweikert

...came to the line at 12:43. He did an excellent job of hitting every factor and went directly to the blind. Applause from the gallery.

31. FC-AFC DIXIE CITY JAM II, LM, Bill Goldstein

...came to the line at 12:38 to start the 6th Series. He did a good job of entering the first piece of water, crossed the land, back into the second piece of water and on to the first point. He ran down that point until he was past the poison bird gunners on the opposite shore and reentered the water. He swam to the second point on the far right shore and did an excellent job of getting on and off. He then swam directly to the area of the bird and was tweeted back to it. Nice job...this test took 5 minutes.

6th Series - Water Blind with a Poison Bird

From the top of the ridge

The sixth series is a water blind with a poison bird. The handler and dog first stand on a ridge approximately 5 feet tall. At that point, the three gunners in the field fire and throw a poison bird down the right shoreline of a pond. The handler then comes back down off of the ridge with his dog and goes into a deeper area where the mat is located. This is a no-see-um entry. When released the dogs climb and cross the ridge, go down into the first piece of water and the handler follows them to the top of the ridge. They swim the water and up and over a wide stretch of flat ground that separates the first pond from the second. They enter the second piece of water at the bottom end in a cove on the left-hand side. They swim across a small cove, are handled on to a wide flat point (scented). They run this point until they are past the poison bird gunners on the opposite shore. They must then cast back into the lake, continue their forward progress as they cross the lake at a narrow spot, get on a point on the right-hand side (scented), cross that point, re-enter the lake and swim to a small bush that is approximately 230 yards from the line to the bird.

Thanks to Pat Martin for the sketch...

The yardage in the sketch above has been adjusted...as in the test description, the distance to the blind is 230 yards.

Preparations for the 6th are underway...

...should be calling for a test dog shortly.

Callbacks to the 6th...

Dogs called back: 69

6th Series Starting Dog: #31

Callbacks to the 6th:
3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 49, 50, 52, 55, 57, 58, 59, 61, 63, 64, 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82, 86, 88, 90, 91, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 113, 115 and 116.

Dogs dropped: 14, 20, 34, 36, 56, 60 and 105

Behind the line...

107. FC-AFC TEQUILLA'S HOT TAMALE, LF, Mark Medford

 ...clean on the flyer. On the middle retired, went straight out, turned left and straight to the bird. On the left-hand retired, took a great line to the area, had to make a loop to the left and the right and quickly picked up the bird.

Test 5 is in the books...callbacks to come...

The last dog in the 5th Series is finishing up...

106. CASTLEBAY’S VAM PYRE, LF, John Russell

...did a nice job on all three birds.

105. FC GREENWING TALL TIMBER, LM, Alex Abraham

...flyer was okay. The middle retired was both fast and straight. Handle on the left-hand bird as he went back to the middle retired.

103. FC-AFC LAND AHOY, LM, Gary Zellner

...was clean on the flyer, curved on the middle-retired bird directly in to the bird. On the long, left-retired he went to the area of the fall and came up with it quickly. Nice job...

102. TONKAH ZEE OOMAH, LM, Chuck Mize

...the flyer was clean. he ran the long, left-retired mark second, went through the stream, kept a tight line and it was an excellent mark. on the middle-retired, he had a large bow and went directly into the bird.

Rain?

...the wind remains gusty and the temps are cooling.

101. FC-AFC CITORI'S VISTA 40TH PRES, LF, Michael Moore

...had a good flyer and excellent marks on both the middle and left-retired.

100. FC-AFC-CFC-CAFC ADAMS ACRES MUDDY CREEK, LM, Jerry Younglove

...did a nice job on the flyer. He was clean on the middle-retired and when directly to the bird. On the long, left-retired, he went all the way to the tree line took a hard right and found the bird.

99. FC-AFC HARDSCRABBLE ROXIE MCBUNN, LF, Bill Benson

...was clean on the flyer and curved in to the middle gun from the right...nice job. Excellent job on the long, left-retired.

98. AFC CANDLEWOODS COMMANDER AND CHIEF, LM, Fred Kampo

...was clean on the flyer. He did a very nice job on both the middle and the long bird.

97. FC-AFC CASTLEBAY'S NIGHT ROBBER, LM, Dave Seivert

...had a very long hunt on the flyer. He came back and did a nice job on the middle bird. He went directly to the area by the blind on the long, left bird, turned right, and came up with the duck quickly.

Behind the line...

95. FC-AFC CUDA'S NEGRA MODELO MH, LF, Charles P. Tyson

...had a good flyer. On the middle she went straight out, made a hard left and right to the bird. Going to the left-hand bird, she hunted short then proceeded on to the bird.

94. AFC WRS BUGS BLACK MIST, LF, Wayne Stupka

...her flyer was clean. She took a good line to the middle-retired. The line to the left-retired bird was straight to the area of the fall where she made a small loop and found it.

91. FC-AFC LANDOVER GOLDENDAZE YUKON, LM, Chuck Schweikert

...the flyer was fine. There was a small hunt on the middle-retired bird and an excellent left-hand bird.

90. FC-AFC SARA’S BLUE STREAK, LM, Bill Goldstein

...did a nice job on the flyer. Curved into the middle bird and picked it up clean. Hunted short on the way to the left-hand bird before working his way back to it.

MCS Photography

MCS Photography (Molly Schlachter) now has the team portraits and action shots from the 1st and 2nd Series available on her website. Molly has just arrived at the test site and will be available for viewing pictures...

88. SON OF A PREACHER MAN, LM, Duncan Christie

...did a good job on the flyer. On the middle bird, went straight out, hooked left and made her way to the bird. Going for the long, retired, he hunted short before going deep and finding the bird.

86. FC-AFC HILLTOP’S HIGH SOCIETY, LF, Sylvia McClure

...made quick work of the flyer, curved into the middle bird from the right-hand side and did an excellent job on the long, retired.

Gun change...

82. FC-AFC EVA ETHYL PROBY-WEBER, LF, Alanson C. Brown III

...did a nice job on the flyer. On the middle bird, curved left and went straight to the bird. On the long, left-retired, she went to the area made a loop and picked it up clean.

80. FC-AFC HENNINGER'S SLICK N READY, LM, Mark Medford

...had a clean job on the flyer. On the middle-retired, he was wide-right but curved left, back into the bird. On the long, left-retired, he was close to perfect.

Wind...

...is really gusting right now, getting up to and over 20 mph at times, causing all the tents on the grounds to be carefully watched as they may fly away (even though they are professionally staked down by the grounds crew).

78. AFC PATTONS BLAZEN ABBY MH, LF, Dan Hurst

...after an extremely fast retrieve on the flyer, she was clean on her next two marks as well.

Judge's Vehicle...

...is stuck. The good thing is, we have some time before they will need their transport vehicle.

UPDATE: The mini-van has been freed from her muddied prison.

77. FC-AFC CANDLEWOODS LIFE IS A HIGHWAY, LM, John Stracka

...he was clean on all three birds.

76. RMR'S I HAVE A DREAM, LF, Joel Harris

...was clean on the flyer. Made a large bow going from right-to-left on the middle bird but got it quickly. Going for the left-retired, worked down the right side of the field, then came in left to pick up the bird.

75. FC-AFC NEBO’S GRANDMA RUBY, LF, Al Wilson

...was clean on the flyer and the middle-retired bird. On the long, left-retired when out to the area with a small loop and promptly picked it up.

Test 5 Photo/Diagram

Thank you to the Patopea's for sharing this visual aid.

74. GUNSTOCK'S PROTOTYPE, LM, Yvonne or Charles Hays

...did a very nice job on both the flyer and the left-hand bird. He was excellent on the middle mark, taking the straightest line, so far.

Wind...

...has shifted and is coming from the west-southwest and is increasing gusts...

73. FC-AFC PREMIER'S RIPTIDE, LM, Bev Busler

...spent quite a bit of time locating the flyer, it came back with very clean and nice marks on both the middle, and left-hand gun.

72. FC-AFC TRUMARC’S L’IL MS POGO, LF, Martha Russell

...had a fine flyer, was clean on the middle bird, but on the long, left-retired, hunted out of sight for quite a while, coming up deep right and then working her way back to the bird.

71. FC-AFC CANDLEWOOD'S RIGHT ON RUBY, LF, Lydia Fekula

...was clean on the flyer, tripped on her way to the middle bird, but got up and had a clean mark. Did a nice job on the left-hand bird.

Test 5 Sketch

70. CALUMET'S HOT TEXAS SOUP, LM, Mike Boley

70...was clean on all three birds.

69. FC-AFC KISS OF THE DEVIL, LF, Bob Hanssen

...clean on the flyer, very nice job on the middle bird, he was out of sight for a while going to the long, left but popped up and got the bird clean.

66. FC-AFC BAYOU-STAR BEYOND INDEPENDENT, LF, Suzan Caire

...was clean on the flyer. She broke the current strategy and went for the long, left-hand bird second. She went straight to the holding blind area, and directly out to the bird. She then did a nice job on the middle-retired.

64. FC-AFC BADGER STATE RAM KICKER, LM, Judy Powers

...did a fine job on the flyer. He was clean on the middle retired bird. On the long, left-retired, he went directly to the area, made one loop to the right and right back to the bird. Good job...

63. FC-AFC TEALCREEK PATTON’S SABER, LM, Chris Hatch

...did fine on the flyer. He had a moderate hunt on the middle-retired bird, and stepped on the long, left-retired. Nice job...

61. AFC IN THE HUNT FARM'S EXECUTIVE SWEET, LF, Linda Bogusky

...spent a little time recovering the flyer. She went directly to the middle-bird. On the line to the left-hand retired, she came in from the right side, moved over quickly and found her mark.

60. FC-AFC WIDGEON'S CARBON CHIP, LM, Tom Hartl

...did fine on the flyer. He made quick work of the middle-retired and had a handle on the long, left-retired....the test took 7 minutes.

59. AFC ROCKYTOP'S GIVE UP THE FUNK, LM, David Didier

...was clean of the flyer. He went straight to the middle retired, had an excellent mark. For the long, left-retired, he took a direct line to the area of the fall, made a quick loop to the right, quickly back to pick up his bird.

Test Dog...

...MS Micro Doodle Dandy, LF, Tom Bogusky, kicked off day two of the 5th series. After making quick mark of the flyer, she went straight to the middle retired, angling behind the middle retired blind, he went to the end of the field then worked her way over and found the bird. Better lighting this morning, and as of now the wind is not a large factor...

NOTE:"Dandy" was the test dog that ran the original Test 5 that was set-up and then adjusted to the current test.

Good morning!!

Test 5 will resume this morning...at the moment, the gunners are loading up and heading into the field as the contestants await their chance to see the test from the line.

The sun is out and working hard already. The skies are all clear with the exception of some clouds in the west. Temps are in the low 70's and are forecasted to reach 77 for a high today. The wind is slight out of the south-southwest peaking at 5 mph, but may get up to 13 mph later today. There is a 50% chance of rain today (no thunderstorms in the forecast), so rain gear is at the ready.

Starting with #59. AFC ROCKYTOP'S GIVE UP THE FUNK, LM, David Didier

More to come...