And the Award Goes To...

Brisztow Jones! Wearing her safety-orange hunting collar by Lion County Supply, Brisztow Jones looks radiant as she receives her ribbon for hunting test success!

I did it! I finally did it! I went into my second test with more confidence and realized why I was there - to point some Quail!

Here's the play-by-play:

Mom, Ms. Stern, Owe'n, Gabby and I got to the field around 8:30a (after a trip to Starbucks of course -- not for me though, silly!). Mom and Ms. Stern once again got out and checked, double checked and triple checked when our braces were. I was right after Owe'n, so Ms. Stern wouldn't be able to walk with me and mom, and we would need to quickly trade off the gun, or borrow Mr. Scott's.

Mr. Scott was there running Lucas and Rozie in their tests, so we were all in huntin' mode. Mom had received some well deserved critiques yesterday and we made it our goal to cover the entire field, not giving up until I found my bird.

Once Mr. Scott came in from handling Rozie, mom asked if we could borrow his gun. He was very nice and handed it over with the warning: "It is hard to pull the trigger, so I always cock the hammer first." Mom, tucked that away along with the over 100,120 other things she had to remember and we marched over to the start of the test. Since Ms. Stern was busy with Owe'n, Mr. Scott agreed to be our galley and watch how we did in the field.

My bracemate was a sweet female GSP named Pepper, so there was a lot less distraction right from the start. She didn't chase me once! There were also less HHHs (only two), so I was less worried about them. I still ate the road apples (how can a pup resist fresh road apples?), but mom knew she could use her wistle to get my attention back, so I would refocus on the task at hand.

Once we got to the bird field, pepper found two birds right away, so her handler was nice enough to stay out of our way. Mom really worked the filed much better, so that I was able to catch the bird's scent. I found him! I immediately went into my point, while mom raised her hand and looked at the judge to make sure he was paying attention.

Now that my job was done and I was holding my stance, it was mom's turn. Disclaimer: I first want to say, though, that mom is not a hunter and she has never used a gun. So when mom went in to flush the bird and get the gun out, it got caught in her coat pocket. In the midst of the fumbling and nervousness she forgot Mr. Scott's warning -- the trigger is hard to pull.

As the bird flew off and I dashed after it, mom went to pull the trigger...

nothing

She cocked the hammer, and then tried to pull the trigger...

nothing

At this point, one of the judges called out "Ma'm juz yeall 'BANG'" so mom shouted "BANG!" I guess that just is to confirm the credit for the point or somthing like that. I was still off pointing the new spot where the bird landed so the second judge figured it was OK for mom to officially fire the gun. Pulling back the hammer and using two hands, she finally, successfully shot the blank gun. Good work, Mom! I didn't move a muscle, and so I received some great points for pointing.

Mom called me to her, and we marched back to where Ms. Stern was watching, triumphant and proud of our accomplishment. What a difference a day makes.

Here is my score card for the day (please notice this one is NOT ripped up! Thanks Ms. Stern!):












(Click on the image to see it larger, then click the "back" button to return to Urban Mutt.)










Owen and Rozie also qualified so we thought a family photo was in order to mark the occasion. Enjoy!



Many thanks to everyone who helped me towards this goal; onto the next test!