It's been a strange but busy season.  Not all the tests were held but there was enough to meet old friends and fellow competitors.  We were lucky to win 3 opens.  Druid won 2 and Fia 1.  The working test season isn't finished yet and we hope that we are lucky enough to get a run at Scone and see how that goes.  All in all this has been a good year at Accio Gundogs for working tests and we look forward to the shooting season where we will be picking up and competing in Field Trials.

Working tests are static competitions where every dog is judged and scored according to how it performed across a series of retrieves.  Every dog gets the same opportunity, at the end of the day the dog with the best score wins. In Scotland, if you have done well you are invited to compete at Scone amongst all the other dogs that have done well that year. Nae pressure!!! There is a commentator and an audience, and even a grand-stand of sorts. There is no hiding place if you screw up. Druid has been twice to Scone and Fia once. I still get as nervous as the first time but when you are out there you are in the zone, its just a focus of you and the dog, and you just forget about all the eyes on you. The only eyes you want to see are your dogs as they bring you back the hidden treasure.  Below are two pictures of my dogs at Scone, different years and different weather, but the same focus and drive to bring me the dummy. My dogs give 100% on game as well as dummies but I'm sure if they could talk they would tell you they prefer game. Dummies don't run ………………………

​Thanks to Jan Evans at Polarstar Photography for the pics.