Mock trial in St Ulrich, Austria
9th and 10st of september 2006
A mock trial is so much more fun than an ordinary workingtest. But it was not alone for this reason that I choose to travel all the way to St Ulrich am Pillersee to attend. The organisers were planning nicely to honour Rupert Hill for his excelling input in the continental retriever world for the last 20 years. A much appreciated idea.
My thanks go to Robert Kaserer and Werner Rudig for a perfect organisation and allowing me to attend.
A mock or dummy trial is set up and is judged as a field trial. So you’re called up in turn and walk up with the judges until you’re told which dummy to retrieve. We never know in advance where a dummy is being shot and for whom it is to retrieve. So you have to be on guard at all time. 34 dogs are running.
We do a walk up through soggy marshland full of high grass. So at greater distance it is hard to mark, since the shot echoes in the mountains. I have an excellent marking dog, so this is my sort of trial. Frodo marks exactly as I know him all the time. So he gets through the first three rounds with ease. Next we work with one of those ridiculous bumperboy machines. They do not function too well and it messes up our turn a bit. These plastic dummy’s are not so much the problem for Frodo, neither the flapping bands, but the hard knob that hits him on the nose with each jump irritates him and he decides to pick it up anew. So I presume that was the end of the trial for Frodo, but obviously it is pardoned.
Next we have a very long retrieve at a few marks from a driven out piece of woodland; way ahead over two mountain streams and this boggy marshland. Frodo honours me with another perfect mark. We can see the work of our colleague competitors all the time and I’m mighty please to be in the race. The standard of also the other dogs is really impressing!
Our next test is a blind up the mountain over the stony grassland and just into the fir tree wood. No shot is heard. I put Frodo in a slightly better position, line him up carefully and he goes in a straight line. He doesn’t whither for a second; my throat chokes but not my dog. In the wood I blow the search whistle to slow him down; he picks the dummy and is on his way back. Since I was in the first couple to run, I can see all other 13 dogs and am proud to say that there was no cleaner job done.
It leaves us with five dogs to go. Again we do a walk up in the boggy grass with the same marks for each. Frodo shows the cleanest, straight job. Four more to go. Again Frodo marks slightly better than my colleagues. The judges have seen enough. My fellow competitors come up to me – much to my surprise – to congratulate me. Very charming, but I can tell them they have misjudged me: my heelwork was lousy. I can’t have won with that. It just couldn’t be helped.
The good thing was that I left the Austrian competition to be won by Austrians.
The sad thing was that I missed the Rupert Hill trophy by a hair!!! And just because of my training failure. Does that hurt!
1. Platz – Bianca Puritscher mit Yafforth Debutante
2. Platz – Robert Kaserer mit Griffin vom Tennikerweidli
3. Platz – Karl Müllner mit Conrad of Dukefield
4. Platz – Nel Barendregt mit Tauvechan Osprey
for more details see the site of the Austrian Retriever Club
