We have now watched about 80% of the field tackle the
4th. Although there is not a lot of water on the way to either memory bird, it
seems any time you place two birds across water some dogs will have to work to
find their birds, especially when, as is the case here, the memory birds are
thrown converging with a different angle to be taken to each fall.
The flyer,
which is a land mark, has not presented big problems, with many dogs pinning it
although there have been some exceptions.
Most handlers
send next for the center bird which is the closer of the two memory birds -
although it has quite a bit more water on the way to it than on the way to the
longer memory bird. This bird is thrown slightly in towards the line. It lands
in green cover along the water's edge, a place dogs tend to "check
last" when hunting near water so there have been many hunts on this bird,
some quick and some not. One thing we have seen on this bird is that some dogs
want to take extra water before landing. This line puts a dog on the opposite
side of the guns from where the bird has landed, resulting in a hunt. Although
this bird has produced quite a few hunts we have also seen some wonderfully
accurate jobs on it from those strong markers who can tell their handlers
"which blade of grass it's behind."
Many dogs are
having strong work on the long bird with clean jobs on this bird. When there is
a problem it can result from a "backside" and then a hunt in the
wrong area. The line to this bird crosses just the very end of the pond, a line
that inevitably invites a cheat or at least a "thin line" - both of
which can throw a dog off to the right an put him "behind the guns."
