PONCDraftTest2011

Sunday Qualifiers

Newphorias Yoshi-Lani, CD, RAE, WD1

handled by Mary Burke for Brigette's DD

Makepeace Back In Black

handled by Ivan Rakyta for Jett's DD

VN CH TimberknollsSteppin-ThroughTheRainbow,CD,DD1,WRD3,CGC &

VN GCH Kloof Bear Over the Rainbow TimberKnoll, CD, DD,WRD3, WRDX,CGC

handled by Bonita Edds for Sydnee and Ellie's TDD

Now you may not believe what we are about to tell you but this story is based upon eye witness accounts from unimpeachable sources if you can believe that those exist at PONC.

It all started a week or so before the test - Bonita's Sydnee (or maybe Ellie) came into heat. Just what she needed; scheduled to be in a draft test in Pennsylvania of all places and one of her team goes into heat. Well we all know what happened next, The other one comes into heat, so now she has a team with both girls in heat. She calls Joyce the secretary who was also hosting the draft event at their farm and told her the bad news. "No problem, you can keep the girls at the house and then we will move them down to the barn just before the test begins, they won't cause any problems down there.” Little did we know.

Saturday, the test is moving right along with only six entrants, and the maneuvering course is proving to be tough. The handlers and their dogs get through the out of sight stay, the loading of the freight loads and then they head down a gravel and grass road from the house toward the barn and just before they reach the point where they are to cut off into the hay field, someone is goading several chickens into the grassy area next to the freight course. Dogs pause, do double takes, but with lots of encouragement, everyone keeps moving past the day's intriguing distraction. The chickens live on, So, on to Sunday.

While we had a few rain sprinkles from an overcast sky on Saturday, Sunday, starts with sun and wisps of clouds hastening across the sky to catch yesterday's gloomy legion. Today is the big test for Bonita and her two girls, unsettled and experiencing cabin fever from being kept away from the boys.

The judges start the day with the schedule, basic control on the half a football field sized flat area between the pool and the barn for all other entrants, then they leave and the girl team does basic control. Then the other entrants complete harnessing and hitching and the maneuvering course. Now it gets tricky. Since there is one boy out of the six entries in the test, he and two others will do the first freight haul followed by Bonita doing harnessing, hitching, the maneuvering course and then with the two other entrants do the freight haul.

Everything was going to plan and we were on the last leg of the first freight haul coming across the hay field toward the barn, when in the distance, we all witnessed

a brightly colored rooster and several chickens running out of the barn and across the barnyard and through an opening in a hedge row. The colors of the rooster were what caught the eye of most. He was the rooster from yesterday. Just as they were wondering what would cause such a commotion two Newfs that seemed to be running as a team came bursting from the barn. They dashed through the opening in the hedge row followed two seconds later by a red faced lady waving her arms and running hard. Yup, you got it, the Edds girls. And then all was quiet. For at least five seconds, but to the chickens it must have seemed like eternity. Then back up over the hedge row came the rooster and at least one chicken flying like their lives depended on it, followed shortly by the two Newfs racing back towards the barn and then by Bonita. Back into the barn. Here is where it gets interesting. That was the end of the story for the folks on the freight haul. A couple of the handlers didn't notice a thing. They were focused on their dogs.

The Rest of the Story

But according to Bonita, that was just half the story. The barn has been used as a kennel building over the years and has indoor stalls that lead to outdoor runs. To the right of the barn door, there is a big hole that is inhabited by one of the resident ground hogs. No, not the one that forecasts weather, but a local relative. Now, as the chickens made it back to the barn and escaped by going to the upper levels, the ground hog, who had been grazing peaceably, looked up to see two black monsters coming his way – FAST.

He decides that the best escape route is through the barn so dashing into the barn he moves with a roll that would be familiar to those that visit the Newf breed ring. Now the girls have a new target, but he has the advantage of being on home turf. He blasts into a stall, through the kennel door and is gone. Unfortunately, the kennel doors were made for one not two Newfs. The first girl charged into the doorway but was brought to a screeching halt when her companion linked by a coupler was jammed into the wall. Remember the red faced lady chasing the dogs? Well she shows up, extracts one from the door and with great emphasis places them on a sit-stay on the barn floor just in time to realize that she is due at the maneuvering ring. Wow. Five minutes later, after the first freight haul participants are excused, Bonita, with red face perspiring, walks into the harnessing and hitching area as if nothing had happened. She came, the girls behaved and they passed. Congratulations to Bonita and her TDD team Sydnee and Ellie. We never found out if they stopped for a chicken dinner on the way home.