NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The outcome of every retriever trial boils down to a choice.

Some choices are obvious like the timing of a whistle on a critical retrieve. Other choices are not so obvious like, well, the timing of a whistle on a critical retrieve.

Regardless of the outcome of the Super Retriever Series in Northfield, Minn., it's likely that the choices made during the second day of the event will always be looked at as the ones with the most impact. At least that's the way a few of the handlers will certainly look at it, Paul Jackson and Keith Allison in particular.

On Friday, the two handlers qualified two retrievers each for the semi-final round of 12 dogs. But according to Super Retriever Series rules, a handler can only carry one dog to the semi-final round, leaving both of them the choice of having to cut one of their dogs.

Tough choices

"It's one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make," Jackson said, moments after wiping tears from his face.

Jackson of Dyersburg, Tenn. leads the field with Achilles, a black Labrador that has been the top dog in both of the opening rounds. Jackson, who handles Achilles for a client, finished the day with an almost flawless run. But Jackson's personal dog, Maddie, was fifth on day two and third on day one.

"I'd love to be running my own dog," he said after making the decision to scratch Maddie. "But you can't take the number one dog and scratch it. The bright side is at this time in Stuttgart, I was at a service station getting a hot dog and a Nu Grape for the trip home. At least I'm getting to make that choice."

Jackson wasn't alone in making hard choices. Allison, of Pea Ridge, Ark., and Abby, a black Labrador, were second after Day One before falling to third. His chocolate Labrador, Cosmo, was sixth. Allison chose Abby to finish the series, but he had to use all of the allotted 10 minutes to make the decision.

Joining the party in second place are Derek Randle from Prairie Grove, Ark., and Stella. Mark Suchta and Scout of Zimmerman, Minn., are fourth and Dana Fritzmeier and Bob of Rochester, Minn., round out the top five.

Saturday's semifinals

The 12 semi-finalists will run Saturday, with the top six dogs advancing to the final on Sunday. And the top dogs in the final will qualify for the ESPN Great Outdoor Games.

The big benefactor of those tough choices is Bill Autrey and Cody. The retriever/handler team from Bentley, La., was the top seed coming into the competition, but fell to ninth on day one and then to 14th on day two. But the scratching of the two dogs moved the team up and into the semi-finals and gave the struggling team one more round to try and qualify for the Great Outdoor Games.

"It doesn't bother me at all," Autrey said of just slipping into the semi-final. "I'm just glad to keep playing. Cody actually gets stronger every day. He stomped the test today, but I had to handle on the blind, so I'm doing something wrong and I'll work that out."

The tests of Day Two

The second-day test included two easy marks and a long mark, followed by a "simple" blind retrieve. Taken individually, each of the retrieves wouldn't be a problem for any of the retrievers. But taken as a whole, they wiped out much of the field. Achilles qualified with a score of five, while Cody got in with a 26. Those that didn't make it averaged well into the 60s, including two disqualifications.

Handlers are scored on their ability to guide their retrievers through the course and pick up the training dummies without making mistakes. Each whistle was assessed two points, with points added to the overall score for a variety of other mistakes. Points were added for leaving the hunt area, refusing a cast or whistle made by the handler and "popping," a five-point penalty where the dog becomes confused and sits down or stops swimming before the handler blows the whistle.

The first mark thrown was the long mark, hitting to the right of the line about 200 yards away. But it landed straight up a steep hill that required a handler to get his retriever to make an angled entry into a small pond, and then push through the heavy grass and over rolling hills. The varying terrain made straight lines difficult, while the heavy cover forced dogs to trust their handlers.

The second mark was thrown directly in front of the dog, but landed behind the pond and on the side of a knoll. It required the handler to take the dog directly across the pond, into the thick grass and onto the knoll. But if the retriever went too far on the knoll it was out of sight. "And you were lost," Jackson said.

The third mark was a short breaking bird thrown from the left side and making a big splash.

The blind retrieve was to the left of the line, across the pond and to the far left hand corner at about 125 yards, with a series of decoy spreads thrown in to provide some confusion and suction.

The second and third marks and blind retrieve did not prove to be big problems for most of the dogs. But the first mark, typically the last mark picked up, proved to be a monster.

"The other two marks burned a lot of those dogs memory of that first mark, and it required a lot of handling, which meant a lot of points," said Lyles Rudder, head judge for the Super Retriever Series.

The top dogs had little trouble with any of it, though.

"The thing I like about the Super Retriever Series is it combines a little of a hunt test and a little of a field trial with a little duck hunting all rolled together," Jackson said. "This one really capitalized on the hunting side. If you look at the top dogs they all have hunting experience, and that was crucial."

Jackson explained that many of the handlers set their dogs looking straight out, and hoped their dogs would follow the gun barrel from the handlers as the marks were thrown. But with the winger station sitting directly in front of the line and 100 yards away many of the hunt test and field trial dogs locked in on it.

The hunting dogs, on the other hand, had no trouble keying on the handler's gun barrel, following it around the course and consequently seeing every mark fall.

"That was crucial," Jackson said. "The dogs that hunt knew to follow that barrel and not lock into something they thought might happen. I wanted my dogs to see every part of the test at the crucial moment, not the whole picture at one time."

On day two it worked. Day three, though, is another matter.

As is the custom in Super Retriever Series events, the competition is expected to get tougher each day, creating even tougher choices along the way.

Day Two Standings
May 16, 2003

Place, Handler/Dog, Hometown, Points accrued

1. Paul Jackson/Achilles, Dyersburg, Tenn. 5
2. Derek Randall/Stella, Prairie Grove, Ark. 10
3. Keith Allison/Abby, Pea Ridge, Ark. 11
4. Mark Suchta/Scout, Zimmerman, Minn. 12
5. Dana Fritzmeier/Bob, Rochester, Minn. 17
5. Marc Fritzmeier/Emmy, Rochester, Minn. 17
7. Andrea McConico/Chili, Fridley, Minn. 18
8. Thomas McMorrow/Chammy, Wayzata, Minn. 19
9. Steve Earick/Dory, Ellefontaine, Ohio 20
10. Bill Howland/Comet, Apple Valley, Minn. 22
11. Chad Bessemer/Tanner, New Ulm, Minn. 23
12. Bill Autrey/Cody, Bentley, La. 26