I placed 4 pheasants over a wall at around 250 yards away as blinds - the dogs having to go through a large boggy area - over a broken wall, then over a field and then over a solid stone wall, then hunt the ground for the pheasants.
All the dogs took it in turn, and all completed this test with relative ease, and delivered well to hand. I repeated this test again but put the game/retrieves further back at a longer distance, so that the dogs would have to ignore all the previous scents on the ground, and get their noses down and hunt the ground - using the slight breeze in the air. Again all dogs completed the test well.
Because of the poor lighting conditions, I decided to call it a day after that, so took the dogs home to dry them off and give them there tea and then put them away with a bone and the heat lamps on with plenty of vet bed to lie on.
