In Memory of Ray Muth

The 2013 Master National event is dedicated to the memory 

of Ray Muth, a great supporter of the retriever sport.

MNRC Important Event Update

Here are the starting numbers for Tuesday: 

Flight A Start Dog #68 then #97 

Flight B #90

Flight C #96

Flight D #88 

Flights A, B and D start at 7:30 am and Flight C starts at 8:30 am.

DAY THREE – Test Two – Flight D – Duck Blind – Bill Largent and Laurice Williams

"Duck Blind" is a land/water triple using all ducks. The order for this test is the left bird is thrown to the right on land. Then the middle bird thrown to the right, landing on the edge of the water. Finally, a flyer to the right of the line is shot to the left with a sluice. The blind is just to the left of the middle gun station.

The work on this test has been good. Sluicing the flyer close to the line had been very tempting for the dogs. The cover is high and difficult to see through for the handlers and gallery alike. The line to the middle bird is in the water. Several dogs have beached early, but still come up with the bird. One dog swam deep of the mark, but worked his way back to the bird. The strong breeze out of the southeast, makes the blind a crosswind blind. The dogs are taking between 7 and 9 minutes to complete this test.

The Waning Moon …

DAY THREE – Test Two – Flight C – Three Ponds – David Christianson and John Marchica

"3 Ponds" is a land/water triple shot left to right with a blind using all ducks. The left hand bird is shot to the left and is dry. The middle bird is shot back and to the right. The right hand bird is shot back and to the left. When the dog is returning with the last bird, there is a diversion shot. The dog then must run a blind crossing a small canal over a narrow point in lunging water to the end of the pond, where he gets up and out and find the bird. This test is taking between 5 and 7 minutes per dog.

When we arrived at the test "3 Ponds" for Flight C today, we had a very stiff wind from the south and south east. This test is at the bottom of a hill and today the wind seemed to be swirling on the pond. This wind made the blind alternate between a downwind and a crosswind blind. The dogs were doing a very nice job on the marks. The only difficulty seemed to be the flyer hunt on the back side of the levee as the feathers built up. The test remains about six minutes per dog.

The Karate Kids!!!

DAY THREE – Test Two – Flight B – Burches – Ed Arnett and Laura Judd

This test is a land triple with two blinds, a diversion bird and an honor using all rooster pheasants. The right bird is thrown as a walk-up. Second, the long, middle flyer was shot to the right and the left hand bird also was shot to the right. On the way back from the third bird, the diversion poison bird was thrown to the right. The handler then picked up the left hand blind, the diversion poison bird, the right hand blind and then went the honor mat. The average time on this test is between 5-7 minutes per dog.

We arrived at the "Burches" to watch Flight B in their second test. The wind was very strong out of the south east. This test continues to cause the contestants problems. We have been told by the line marshal that there has been a break, several pick-ups and several switches. The pesky pheasant flyer has been the major cause for concern with a very wide fall area. While we viewed this test, the time per dog to complete the test ranged between 6 and 10 minutes.

DAY THREE – Test Two – Flight A – Buffalo Wallow – Bob May and Duwayne Bickle (Dewey)

Buffalo Wallow is a triple with a diversion, two blinds and an honor using rooster pheasants. The order was right, left flyer and middle. The diversion bird is thrown as the dog returns with the third bird. The dog runs the left blind and then the right blind, before retrieving the diversion bird. It is taking between 4.5 to 6 minutes per dog.

Monday morning found Flight A moving to test site "Buffalo Wallow." With a strong wind out of the south east, the pheasant flyer is the source of most of the logistical problems. A bye dog has been kept close to the line for the flyers that land behind the middle mound and are called a no-birds. The test is averaging approximately 7 minutes per dog. The work has been good with every dog successfully completing the test during our visit to this site.

BEFORE  and  AFTER …

Our Judges