“Pat’s Perspective”
It’s early afternoon and we’ve been running the 3rd series since 7:20 this morning. For some reason, the dog work has taken a turn for the worse. What changes? A few things come to mind: scent, temperature, wind and lighting. It’s amazing how subtly a change in conditions can have dramatic effects. I have been cruising the gallery, talking with both amateurs and professionals about this test and their experiences with changing test conditions. We agreed that wind and lighting seem to be the most significant. The temps have risen a good 30 degrees. The wind velocity has increased to around 15 mph and shifted slightly more at our back. The lighting seems to be better??? After studying the field again, it was obvious that the guns and birds appeared to be more visible. However, a lot of the other parts of the field have become more obvious as well. The large square hay bales, the hillside and the far tree line are more attractive as well. Earlier this morning, those areas did not draw my attention. Even though the birds show up better, the zones without birds do as well. I am certain that the build up of scent and the increased wind velocity also has an effect.
The one thing that I know for certain - when a test takes 15 hours, the work is always going to change. It always seems that 1/3 of the time the test will be friendly, a 1/3 of the time it appears undoable and the rest lies somewhere in the middle. Typically, the winner of most nationals is able to endure a test during unfavorable conditions. My guess is this will hold true for the 2018 National Amateur.
Til next time,
