Sam did well in Working Tests today, coming 8th of 35 Novices at Laverstoke Park after which I managed a visit to Wiggly before Diana allowed me home. Daimon Hill won the Portuguese Grand Prix today and with it enough points to get back within one of Michael Schumacher.
The Travelodge gave me a comfortable night and I did get some sleep after the long and tiring journey.
**"Read More" BELOW for the complete story**
I had a quick breakfast and then set off, allowing the best part of an hour but it was far less than that to get to Laverstoke Park and I had soon arrived and spotted Tim Wignall from Harlow there and some others.
With Sam's main problem on these occasions being his behaviour towards other dogs, I took car to exercise him first and introduce him gently to as many as possible before the contest began. The good news was that Sam and I were properly entered and appeared 5th in the running order.
The bad news was that there were 38 other competitors registered in the Novice Class of which 35 were running to make it almost impossible to win. More importantly, with all these dogs to get through the tests we were in for a long day and a lot of time waiting in the meantime.
The entries were split into two halves and started on different tests and, once I had settled Sam down to some extent, I was presented with the first test which was demanding with pitfalls and distractions. It was basically a downwind unseen retrieve with the dummy off of the line in the cover on the right opposite water on the left.
A marker showed how far it was away and a helper put out the dummy before you arrived and saluted with shot when the test began. The problem was that firstly, being downwind, there was not direct line of scent and so the handler needed to send and stop the dog past the marker and then send it right with the command to fetch; not one of Sam's specialities at the best of times.
Furthermore, the dummy man himself and his dummies were a distraction and the shot salute was pointed left and across the water to confuse the dog and the water was inviting. However, running early, the main problem for Sam was that he first fixed on the towelling marker and, though I got him to drop it several times, it was only when he was allowed to bring that back and then go again that he found and fetched the dummy.
A poor start, but then the water came soon afterwards, and he went willingly across the stream and found the seen dummy well. He did run along the bank for a while before coming back over and then shook before giving the dummy back which was a pity, but all-in-all, he had made a promising start.
Then the long wait for the hunting test but happily, through waiting patiently and chatting to the nice lady steward, I was allowed to run before lunch. This was a narrow strip of rough land, with large circular straw bails, that the dog had to quarter before having to drop to a shot. Evidently, when the test started in the morning, the breeze was towards the starting position but by the time I got there the wind was from behind me, over my left shoulder.
Inevitably, he cast all over the place when I set him off and sniffed at the marks of all the other dogs so that his quartering was poor. At least he dropped nicely to shot and performed a near-perfect blind and seen retrieve in the right order. All this earned him an 8th place out of the 35 runners and Tim's more experienced dog made 4th which was even better.
It was early evening by the time all this was known and still later once I had written all the marks down and fed and settled Sam for the long journey. The traffic was horrendous driving back and so I called Diana and sought her agreement to stay at home overnight instead of returning to Norfolk.
I then called Wiggly and arranged a few hours at her place on the way and she was pleased to see me. I showered and then we chatted a long while and then got into bed. I was tired after my efforts but still petted her for ages trying to get her to climax. Then it was my turn, but I was off the boil and just biding time petting whilst trying to regain my ardour.
Wiggly is a direct and intelligent-enough person not to let me get away with this and after simply asking "What are you doing?" and elucidating my confession, she stimulated me and ensured that I quickly had my reward. Another poignant good-bye as this time she was off to Holland for a few days and I would not see her until Thursday.
To The Hayling View, where I settled Sam down into his kennel and myself into the spare room for a night's sleep, reflecting on a much better day. Daimon Hill won the Portuguese Grand Prix today and with it enough points to get back within one of Michael Schumacher. His ban ends now, and it will be an exciting finale to the season.