A – "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is a Water Triple with a Water Blind and a Land Blind using all dead birds. Handlers will be facing this water test with a slight south wind at their back. It promises to be a warm day with "feels like temperature" near 95 degrees. This is a good day to work water. The test starts with a mark to the far left of the test thrown to the right at 97 yards, landing on the base of a point. The middle bird is thrown to the left at 110 landing on the far shore. The dog must enter the water swim across and over the same point from the first mark and swim to the far shore to retrieve the bird. The third bird on the right is a 150 degree turn and is shot and thrown to the left at 60 yards.
After the dogs have picked up the three marks, there are two blinds to run by invitation. The Judges instructed the handlers that they can be run in any order. For the Land Blind, the dog will turn to the right and follow along the land side of the shoreline for a 45 yard land blind under the arc of the right-hand mark. The Water Blind is run to the right of the middle mark. It should provide some interesting suction from the marks when working to get this blind. The line to the blind is to the right of the middle mark, but this time the dog has to swim past the point of the first mark was on. He has another point to negotiate on the right before getting his bird. Some challenging angles will keep handlers and dogs on their toes on this test that is taking approximately 12 minutes per dog to complete.
 | ||
| The credit for the test diagrams goes to Terry Elliot – Thank you, Terry! |
B – "The Grassy Knoll" is a Water Triple with a Water Blind and a Land Blind. Handlers will be facing this water test from atop a mound with a slight south wind at their back. The first gun station is located on the left shore of the pond, throwing a dead bird right onto an island at 63 yards. The second gun station is directly in front of the line on the other side of the pond. This station throws left landing on the far shore at 50 yards. The third bird is in a second pothole to the far right of the line thrown to the left at the far shore. The line to this bird is across the pond, over a land bridge to the next pothole and the far shore to get the bird at 62 yards.
At the invitation of the Judges, the Land Blind and Water Blind can be run in any order. The 77 yard Land Blind is located to the far left of the test out or the area of the marks crossing a gravel road to a grassy terraced field. The line to the Water Blind at 92 yards is under the arc of the first bird, skimming the island where the first bird had landed.
 |
| The credit for the test diagrams goes to Terry Elliot – Thank you, Terry! |
