DAY 5: Flight D: Bill Blochowiak and Mike Jespersen; Test 3 “Lakeside" Con't

The “Lakeside” test is a land/water triple, double blind, walk-up and a diversion shot. The first bird is the walk-up thrown to the left at 38 yards to the right of the line, bird two is thrown to the left down the pond at 70 yards and the flyer is shot to the left at 66 yards right to the left of the line. The first blind is under the arc of the flyer at 109 yards. Blind number two is directly across the pond at 97 yards, landing up a hill under heavy cover. This test took an average of six minutes per dog.

Arriving back at Lakeside today, it was 68 degrees, the skies were clear and bright, with the wind at 10-15 mph coming at the handler's back as they faced down the channel. This test has quickly earned the reputation as being one of the most difficult at this year's 2014 Master National. The first two dogs that we watched both had to be handled on the middle bird. As we sat on a high ridge, overlooking this test. The gallery was quick to note a wind change. The wind is now coming in over the handler's right shoulder. Whether the wind made the test change or not, it was hard to tell because most of the dogs continued to handle on the middle bird. The blind work was good. From our vantage point, we could see where the dogs had worn a path up the hill to the left-hand blind, but this may not have been visible at the dog's eye view.