Tougher tests

The Super Retriever Series is a qualifying competition to find the best all-around retrievers in the land to advance to the ESPN Great Outdoor Games.

In order to do that, the organizers take the best attributes of a field trial, a hunt test, and actual hunting situations to grade the dogs.

In this event, the test has switched back and forth with slants toward each of those disciplines. During the final, it will include all of them with a few twists.

The biggest twist will be a swimming/diving duck that has already caused problems for the test dogs setting up the course.

In short, a special Dead Fowl Trainer, a reproduction of a real duck, has been produced for this event. Shaped like a teal, the Dead Fowl Trainer has a lip on it like a diving crankbait used by fishermen. The bird is actually cast from a deep-sea style fishing rod and reel. Attached to the fishing line is a breakaway loop that gives way when the dog actually gets it in its mouth.

But before it does that the dog has to understand the concept of a wounded bird in the field.

Once the retriever gets close, the bird is reeled in for a short piece, diving under the water for a few feet before popping up again. The action is repeated once the retriever regains his bearings before the dog is allowed to catch the moving target.

During the set-up portion of the course, each of the test dogs eventually caught the bird. But not before they had some twist and turns mixed in and a whole lot of whistles that could prove disastrous for the finalists.

Big springer

While the event is called the Super Retriever Series, the Big Air portion of the competition is really the Super Dog Series.

Labrador retrievers make up a major portion of the field. But they share that spotlight with as many as eight different breeds and a whole slew of mixed breeds.

Of the 52 dogs in the contest, the list includes golden retrievers, Chesapeake Bay retrievers, German short hairs, German wire hairs, Boykin spaniels, and Springer spaniels. They hail from 12 different states, including as far away as New York and California.

And they could jump too. Tucker, a Springer spaniel handled by Tim Goss of Coon Rapids, Minn., doesn't stand more than 18-inches tall at the shoulder. But the little dog wooed the crowd with three consecutive jumps that broke 19 feet. His longest was 19 feet, 7 inches, a distance that would have qualified the dog for the ESPN Great Outdoor Games a year ago, but is about 1 foot short of the qualifying distance for this year.

Overheard

"It's going to be nuts." Shad Field, organizer of the Big Air event on seeing how far the finalists in the event were jumping. All 12 dogs have broken the 20-foot barrier.

Bridesmaid

Thomas McMorrow and Chammy of Wayzata, Minn. are playing the bridesmaid for the second year in a row.

The retriever/handler team finished seventh, one spot out of qualifying for the final round of six dogs. It's a familiar position for the team. That's the exact spot they finished in 2002 at the Super Retriever Series event in Northfield, Minn.