Now that were back home and I'm back to work on the pond I got a bit of down time to put this together. First I want to thank the Judges and Volunteers that participated at the test, they put everything together and it ran very well even with my group being split between majority UT tests and myself and another guy testing NA. As I mentioned before the test site was an excellent set up and provided plenty of room for parking and the tests to be run without being at all crowded.
From the start my trip up to NY from VA didn't start so well. While packing the day before my wife held up my brand new GoPro camera and asked if I needed it packed for the trip, I told her yes that I wanted to video Cody and as much of the rest of the test as possible. I thought she put it back in the back and so did she. When I went to find it Friday morning to get it charged on the way up there it was NO where to be found. I turned the bag inside out twice with all our clothes laying all over and had to refold them much to my wifes displeasure. So I'm down the new camera, no worries I have my regular handheld I think, and will just have my step son follow along and video. Well the charging cord is not in its bag, ok I have my regular camera that also takes video, but it has a dead battery and needs to be charged. That charger was also in the video bag, missing. So I just figured I'd buy a new one once we got up there at Best Buy or Wallyworld. Best Buy was closed when we got there and Wallyworld didn't have it. Totally frustrated now we call it a night at 1030 and go back to the hotel. Try to get to bed but our neighbor had other ideas. He was enjoying several adult beverages and taking frequent cigarette breaks between what sounded like drywall work going on next door. Cody did not like all the racket and continued to bark at the door as he was going in and out and the frequent knocking and strange sounds coming through the wall. After 2 calls to the front desk and a friendly conversation with my neighbor at 2am I decided I'd sleep in the truck with the dog. Got a couple hours of shut eye before it was time to head over to the test site.
We got there early and ran Cody in a separate field for 20 mins or so to get some energy out then as others arrived we got set up and I met the locals and found many friendly participates that were very willing to answer a few questions and ease my nerves over what was to come.
We ran second in the field search behind an 8 month old GWP. The field was plenty wet from the morning dew, nice and cool with a very slight breeze out of the south. He had 3 points for 4 birds, he showed a lot more range than he had in our previous field work but that is probably due to the reduced size of the fields we have to work in our area and I was very happy with how he worked the field. Next up was the track, again we were second. The first dog worked the track great and did not want to leave that pheasant in the woods unclaimed. Cody started off great, looped back around a short distance after getting slightly off and followed it on down the line then locked up for a bit then started creeping in on one of the rows, we thought the bird had made it to the woods but apparently decided to stop short, as he got closer the rooster busted out cackling and trying to fly. After lunch it was time for the swim after the UT boys did their duck search. After testing the waters a little ways out with the second bumper he swam on out to get one of the other bumpers further out. They finished up the blind work for the UT and then tallied the scores. It was a great feeling to hear Cody had earned a Prize 1 with 112 points.
Being my first test I had no clue what to really expect. There was a good bit of down time in between due to the split run between NA and UT but really it all went too fast. We had a great time and met some great people. I'd love to go back up north to run with the Finger Lakes chapter and their members in the future if schedules can work out. Now its time to get a lot more serious about moving on to the next level. Then for the long drive back home, it was all well worth the near 1,000 mile round trip. From the start I just kept thinking it can't get any worse, and Cody made sure to turn the trip around with an excellent performance making me very proud.
From the start my trip up to NY from VA didn't start so well. While packing the day before my wife held up my brand new GoPro camera and asked if I needed it packed for the trip, I told her yes that I wanted to video Cody and as much of the rest of the test as possible. I thought she put it back in the back and so did she. When I went to find it Friday morning to get it charged on the way up there it was NO where to be found. I turned the bag inside out twice with all our clothes laying all over and had to refold them much to my wifes displeasure. So I'm down the new camera, no worries I have my regular handheld I think, and will just have my step son follow along and video. Well the charging cord is not in its bag, ok I have my regular camera that also takes video, but it has a dead battery and needs to be charged. That charger was also in the video bag, missing. So I just figured I'd buy a new one once we got up there at Best Buy or Wallyworld. Best Buy was closed when we got there and Wallyworld didn't have it. Totally frustrated now we call it a night at 1030 and go back to the hotel. Try to get to bed but our neighbor had other ideas. He was enjoying several adult beverages and taking frequent cigarette breaks between what sounded like drywall work going on next door. Cody did not like all the racket and continued to bark at the door as he was going in and out and the frequent knocking and strange sounds coming through the wall. After 2 calls to the front desk and a friendly conversation with my neighbor at 2am I decided I'd sleep in the truck with the dog. Got a couple hours of shut eye before it was time to head over to the test site.
We got there early and ran Cody in a separate field for 20 mins or so to get some energy out then as others arrived we got set up and I met the locals and found many friendly participates that were very willing to answer a few questions and ease my nerves over what was to come.
We ran second in the field search behind an 8 month old GWP. The field was plenty wet from the morning dew, nice and cool with a very slight breeze out of the south. He had 3 points for 4 birds, he showed a lot more range than he had in our previous field work but that is probably due to the reduced size of the fields we have to work in our area and I was very happy with how he worked the field. Next up was the track, again we were second. The first dog worked the track great and did not want to leave that pheasant in the woods unclaimed. Cody started off great, looped back around a short distance after getting slightly off and followed it on down the line then locked up for a bit then started creeping in on one of the rows, we thought the bird had made it to the woods but apparently decided to stop short, as he got closer the rooster busted out cackling and trying to fly. After lunch it was time for the swim after the UT boys did their duck search. After testing the waters a little ways out with the second bumper he swam on out to get one of the other bumpers further out. They finished up the blind work for the UT and then tallied the scores. It was a great feeling to hear Cody had earned a Prize 1 with 112 points.
Being my first test I had no clue what to really expect. There was a good bit of down time in between due to the split run between NA and UT but really it all went too fast. We had a great time and met some great people. I'd love to go back up north to run with the Finger Lakes chapter and their members in the future if schedules can work out. Now its time to get a lot more serious about moving on to the next level. Then for the long drive back home, it was all well worth the near 1,000 mile round trip. From the start I just kept thinking it can't get any worse, and Cody made sure to turn the trip around with an excellent performance making me very proud.
