Water Lilies

[TuMicks]

Well...

We titled this weekend (JH). Rocket Dog was steady and quiet! On line, that is. She was squeeking and snorting like crazy in the holding blind, but I think she realizes that doing that on line is a fatal flaw that will get her walked back to the truck. (And we didn't exit the blind until she was quiet.) So... there was that.

She did a good job. But, the water series was fun to watch. One of the water marks was on a line slightly angled across a wide channel. Line maybe 3' from the bank. But there was a projection of water lilies a little bit off the line to the bird that looked like a point of land. (Kinda.) Many dogs ran the bank to the "land bridge" and learned they couldn't walk to the mark on the lilies. Rocket dog jumped in the water taking a perfect line to the mark then veered to the lilies like "what the fark is THAT?" took one sniff and then proceeded to the mark. She'd never seen lilies before.

But then there was today. We went to a lily pond (totally incidental. The pro picked the training site.) Well, RD's bird did not clear the lily choked area. She went in after it and it was sorta scary for a while. We could only see her head from time to time. She was splashing and snorting. Then it would go quiet then she'd snort and splash some more, broke into open water, circled back, more splashing, snorting and then quiet... She was diving looking for the bird. Wouldn't quit. I decided to bag this and started calling her in... and she swam out with the bird trailing a bunch of lilies. I fully expected her to deliver the bird and puke up some water, but she was fine.

Rose City Retriever Club put on a wonderful Hunt Test! (In spite of rain. )

In all honesty, I must admit, after watching all the dogs that ran junior, Rocket Dog won the FLL Trophy hands down! (Funny Looking Lab.)

[Labradorks]

The water lilies freaked me out a little. Why did my dog have to go right through the middle of them??? I was thinking to myself, "OMG, I am going to have to dive in and save my dog!" Being a thinker, I fully expected him to panic, but he sailed through them pretty well, I thought.

There were more conformation-ish dogs there than usual because the event was put on by the club, but I don't think your dogs was the FLL. There were some odd sort-of ashen yellows with curly tails in Juniors.

Congratulations on your title! Off to Seniors!

[Snowshoe]

Water lilies are scary. We've had to canoe through patches a few times and they can bring us to a standstill. It's a lot of work to get past them, can't imagine what the dog is experiencing. Tangling is scary.

[TuMicks]

I woulda jumped in. I was headed down the bank toward the water giving the come in whistle. Though, a 68 year old woman tangled in the lilies would not have helped Rocket Dog. Maybe, however, it wasn't over my head.

I appreciate your kind words about her appearance. I think RD has one of the most expressive faces of any lab I've ever known. Maybe it's that hound-dog look of such sincerity and calm and gravity... until... DUCKS!!!!!! And her coat is definitely not dilute. I hasten to add that aluminum boxes such as the pros frequently do, will give a pale yellow lab a greyish tinge.

We're going to the Senior at Hills Ferry. The pro rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth (not really) and told me that I need to view it as a learning experience. And maybe it will be a dress rehearsal for Sage Hens (Suisun City, CA) in September. I'd like to end the season with one pass. I would feel that it has been a good year if we could do that.

Not that long ago Rocket Dog was breaking on blinds. And by that I mean, she bombed out of the holding blind to outrun another dog who was running a blind. She had no idea what she was going after, but she wasn't going to waste any time. She's come a long way.

[Annette47]

Congrats on your title!

The water lilies incident would have scared the crap out of me ... I know my dogs and they will NOT come back without the bumper even if I called them off it (they haven’t been worked on birds) so I would worry about them getting into real trouble and possibly drowning. Glad your girl not only made it out, but made it out with the bird!

[Snowshoe]

Oh gosh, sorry, I thought I said that too, congratulations on the title, the most important part of your thread.

[Rosy]

Congrats for that tittle

[Anna Scott]

Water lilies are something that we often have to deal with at trails. The one coming up next weekend will be chocked with them. If it is windy they flip over and will cover a bird. The dogs really have to use their noses when battling through them. Two years ago we started to get them on our back pond but we had a really cold winter and the roots must of frozen because there are only a very few now. The root systems of water lilies are massive, that is why they are so hard to get rid of.

Congratulations on RD's title ad your handling. Sounds like you both will be ready for senior.

[Scoutpout]

Congratulations! and yes, scary....i'd be going in as well....

[TuMicks]

Anna... tell us how the water work goes on the lily pond when you get a chance.