Doc’s Senior Hunt tests

Doc’s Senior test 1 – The kid’s not yet 4 years old but you wouldn’t know it by the way he hunts. Doc ran a very nice test but didn’t find a bird, and once again a brace mate was disqualified; yet he failed the Hunting category whether he found a bird or not, but it was fun to watch him test. I did leave the test confused over the judges’ interpretation of hunt test rules; my gunner was equally confused and debated rule interpretations while I handled Doc.
However when Time was called, the test ended, and I was walking Doc out of the bird field on leash, the Shorthair went on point. Sometimes judges will allow a dog to continue if they’re working a bird when Time is called, which wasn’t the case here; the judges should have had the handler pick up his dog and carry it away from the bird, which would be left for the next test. Instead, they allowed the handler to flush the bird, gunner to shoot it, and Shorthair to retrieve  it.
Since the dog was disqualified, it didn’t make any difference to anyone but the bird.

Doc’s Senior test 2 – Doc ran a nice test with a beautiful little Brittany Spaniel whom they had been braced with three years ago in their Junior hunt tests. I really like her, being one of the few Brittanies with high energy, hunted nicely, and still well mannered. It was also one of the few times that a brace mate wasn’t disqualified. However in this particular test, neither dog found a bird.