The 2010 Inter-Area Finals was hosted by the North Midland Area at Haughton Warren Farm, Nottinghamshire by kind permission of Mr Tim Banks and Mr Noel Hudson of the Bevercotes Park Shoot. Teams of 3 dogs and handlers from each of the nine “Areas” of United Retriever Club competed. The judges were Linda Partridge, Steve Crookes, Graham Stanley and Frank Wright. Fortunately the weather was pleasantly warm with a light breeze, an ideal interlude between the preceding heatwave, and the heavy showers of the following week.

The tests emphasised team work and simulated picking up situations on the shoot. With Linda, teams completed a walk up with two marked retrieves, one just into woodland to one side, and the other a remembered mark in rough grass forward of the line. This caused few problems, with just one failure, and steadiness and heeling generally satisfactory.

Meanwhile Graham judged a picking-up test in Crow Park Wood. The first gun met the handlers at a junction of rides, where he indicated the positions of two dead birds and the fall of a third. Wise pickers-up opted for the possible runner as the first retrieve, with the dead birds left for the other two dogs. A second gun, in a clearing near a release pen, was less precise about the location of three more birds, which required some hunting to pick.

A simulated drive took place where the wood faced a clearing near the River Maun. Steve and Frank were the judges. During the drive shots saluted three marks, two over the river and a final one in the water, which needed picking quickly by the selected dog. Slick team work was needed to get a dog away, whilst the other two chose when to send across the river to pick from low but tangled cover. There were several failures. The locations of three blinds, a short way into the wood, were then described and the teams then completed one more retrieve for each dog. There were great differences in the approach to team work, as reflected in the bonus scores awarded by the judges.

After a short refreshment break, we moved to another beat of the shoot. Linda and Graham judged together at another drive in an area of set-aside alongside a wood. Each team was told to send in their own time and that it was permitted to to pick up during this drive. The first shots saluted a running hare. Then a walking gun could be seen flanking the wood in front. His first shot resulted in a dummy representing a dead bird. Some teams sent for this, others waited. Walking on, another shot was greeted by a shout saying it was a runner. This clearly needed to be picked immediately and for some teams this was the first retrieve. A final shot by the walking gun produced another dead “bird” intended for the third dog to pick. Not all teams adopted the best strategy for successful team picking up. Lastly a long blind for a hare dummy was an extra retrieve for one of the dogs. Concurrently two tests took place at a long rectangular irrigation pond which is a haven for both wild and released duck.

Frank judged a simulated duck drive, with each team picking up marked retrieves over the pond. Steve’s test was based on blind retrieves across the pond, with a diagonal swim giving the best dogs a chance to shine. At each of the tests one dog in each team had to be chosen for a further blind retrieve across a broad area of low game crop.