Mother Nature Delay …

#87 Jack came to the line at 3:47 pm. When he completed his test we were called off due to the current weather conditions. Reports of lightning strikes a few miles away and sleet pelleting the ground. As soon as it is safe, we will resume reporting on the dog work. However we know that Jack completed his test and a bye dog was run so he could complete his honor. The workers were then all quickly pulled out of the field and everyone waited for the thunderstorm to pass!

Weather - Starting the 8th Series

As we are heading to the 8th Series here is a few pictures of our current conditions. We are surrounded by rain, sleet and snow!

We are currently in the mid 50's with winds around 6 mph coming from the southwest.

Quick Weather Up Date

The wind has died down from the gusts of 35 mph not to just a light breeze. And the lighting is perfect!

Weather - Rain Showers

And now it rains....

It is looking like we are going to have the rain showers for the rest of the evening. The temps are starting to cool down a bit, but the wind gust still seem to be an issue.

Condition Report - Stong Winds - 6th Series

The wind is strong and the work is tough. We have had 6 dogs run since our gun change and out of  those 6 dogs, 3 of them picked up and 1 handled.

The majority of the recent pick ups are coming from the dogs hunting an area where they already picked up a bird. The wind is blowing the scent cove and also making it VERY hard to handle.

Weather Conditions - 6th Series

High thin clouds are letting more sun through. It feels warmer more quickly in the mountain sun. But winds are picking up as predicted and will become more westerly. It will be easy to keep track of as it sets the tall grass in mesmerizing undulating waves.

Weather Conditions - 6th Series

Here is a look at our weather for our fifth day in Ronan, Montana for the 2019 NARC.

Our high temp is supposed to 65 degrees with a low of 47 with mostly sunny skies.

The problem for today is looking to be the wind. Currently the winds are WSW about 13 mph.

These incredible winds are going to be extremely challenging for the Judges, Contestants and our Gunners.

Weather - Conditions - 4th Series

At 10:40 am the lighting has become much brighter. The clouds have cleared for the day. Our temps are supposed to climb to near 80 degrees, but the breeze will provide some relief.

The winds have picked up and are shifting more out of the west. This appears to be making it easier to pick up scent coming off the birds.

4th Series - Day 2 - Weather

We started this morning at 59 degrees, gray skies and a southern breeze 3 mph.

As we progress we have warmed a bit and our wind has switched direction now coming from the south west and increased to 6 mph.

We will see if this change is enough to change the dog work.

PM Weather - 4th Series

As we are approaching the PM hours and our temps dropped a bit, it seems the wind has too. It looks to remain in the 70's with mild to no wind for the rest of our evening.

We will see if the lighter wind improves our dog work. But then we the factor the setting sun. Let's see what is going to happen with the rest of our dogs tonight.

Gun Change - 4th Series - Review - Weather

Another 20 dogs have completed the 4th Series - Water Triple with an Honor. We started this second group of dogs at 10:18 am and started this gun change at 1:39 pm. We ran this bunch of dogs in roughly 3.25 hours. Our average running time has decreased just a bit to roughly 9.75 minutes per dog.

Due to our last running dog picking up, we did not have to use the by dog, which lead us to getting a jump start on our gun change.

Our second group of dogs (#114 - #10) has had 4 pick-ups, 2 handles and 1 double handle.

We have less handles but more pick ups from our first 17 dogs that have completed this series.

The weather has shifted a bit. Our temps have increased to 73 degrees with partly cloudy skies. The wind still mild, but has increased to 6 mph, and our humidity has dropped down to 44%. There is a 70% chance of light rain to start around 2:00 pm.

We have 60 more dogs to complete this challenging Water Triple.

Gun Change - 4th Series - Review - Weather

We are at our first gun change for the day. Dog #113 has just completed his 4th Series - Water Triple with a Honor.

Our "by" dog came to the line at 10:07 so #113 Brit could honor.

At 7:17 am our first running dog #89 came to the line. We are about 2.75 hours into the 4th series and 17 dogs have completed this series. We are averaging about 10 minutes per dog to complete this test.

Series 4 has some challenges as the first 3 dogs handled. Out of the first 9 dogs, we have a total of 5 handles and 1 pick up. However, with the last 8 dogs not having any handle or pick up issues, one would expect the run time per dog to decrease.

We still have a very mild breeze of 2 mph, but we have warmed up a bit to 60 degrees.

As always are our gunners are making quick work of their switch, so we will be back to the action of the 2019 NARC soon.

Weather - Conditions - Quick Review

We are about 2.5 hours into our 4th series - Water Triple with an Honor.

Eight dogs have completed this series. It is roughly taking about 10 minutes per dog. Our first three dogs all had a handled and our last dog #99 was just picked up.

It would seem to prove our judges have made a very challenging 4th Series.

As you can see our temps are at 57 degrees with the humidity at 86%, and a very mild wind of 2 mph. 

Will be interest to see what happens with the dog work as the day goes on!

Conditions Report**

It is currently about 53 degrees as we begin Series 2 and 3 Water and Land Blind.
The wind is NNE at about 3 mph.

Good Morning from the National Amateur!

Good Morning on Day 1 of the 2019 National Amateur Retriever Championship!  It is a BEAUTIFUL morning here in Ronan, Montana!  We are preparing to head to the site of Test 1! As you can see the weather is a little crisp, party cloudy, but mild. And we should see temps up to 81 degrees here for the high.
We are very excited to kick off this National! Here we go!!