Sulo’s evaluations: Finnish Winner -09, Nordic Winner -09

Head not balanced with body. Good neck, good length of upper arm but prefer more laid back. Good bone & feet. Nice depth of chest. Good topline & tailset. Prefer more width on quarters. Hocks well let down. Front movement just prefer more length of stride, rear movement good. From hard muscle condition.

Erit. hyväntyyyppinen uros jolla hyvä pää ja hyvä kaula. Eturinta tulisi olla voimakkaampi. Suorat olkavarret. Hieman litteä runko. Hyvä raajaluusto. Hyvät takakulmaukset. Hapsutus puuttuu täysin. Liikkuu löysästi edestä. Esiintyy reippaasti.

A dog of excellent type with good head and neck. Forechest could be stronger. Straight shoulders. Slightly flat ribcage. Good bone structure in limbs. Good rear angulation. Feathering completely missing. Moves loosely in front. Performs enthusiastically.

Sulo’s evaluation

Sopivan kokoinen. Muuten hyvä pää, mutta runsaat huulet ja löysä leuanalusnahka. Hyvä kaula ja ylälinja. Riittävä luusto ja rinnan syvyys. Tasapainoisesti ja kohtalaisen hyvin kulmautuneet raajat. Runko voisi olla täyteläisempi ja turkki hapsukarvojen osalta runsaampi. Liikkuu hyvin mutta häntä korkealla. Käyttäytyy luottavaisesti.

Good sized. Otherwise good head, but loose lips and loose skin under chin. Good neck and topline. Adequate bone structure and depth of chest. Angulation balanced and reasonable. Body could be fuller and coat could have more feathering. Moves well but with tail held high. Behaves in trusting manner.

Flippe’s hip dysplasia started bothering him three years ago. In January he was also diagnosed with spondylosis in several of his vertebrae in the lumbar region. Even though he was on daily pain killers for some time, his quality of life slowly deteriorated. Occasional cries of pain when getting up, loosing strength in his hind legs and dragging them, stumbling in the stairs… The last time he cried out in pain when getting up tore our hearts so much that we made the hardest of decisions – we let Flippe cross the rainbow bridge to a place where he can finally swim pain free and retrieve his frisbee. It was the hardest decision of our lives, but we now know that he is feeling better. During the last year Flippe’s character has also changed significantly. The former enthusiastic Officer in Blue had become timid and searched for safe havens. And we couldn’t even get him to play with us.

Flippe, thank you for seven years of unconditional friendship. You taught us so much and left a gaping hole in our life. You were a unique personality and there shall never be another one like you. Sleep well dear friend. We miss you so very much.

We entered both dogs to the test and Ramin hit the road with both dogs even though only Luka’s entry was confirmed. Luckily one dog hadn’t showed up so Jalo got to start in the test as well.

The test started with a single 20m mark in the forest followed by a 20m guided retrieve slanting up a hill. After that there was a double mark in the water with the boat moving between the throws. And then back up the hill a bit for the free search with three seagulls in the rushes, two crows and a rabbit in the forest.

Luka completed all of these tasks extremely well and got to progress to the 200m rabbit trail. Unfortunately it started to rain (it was pouring) and for some reason Luka just didn’t progress far enough to find the rabbit. So he didn’t get a first prize… However, we are very satisfied with his test. Read his full test report.

Jalo did well considering his long break from training. He didn’t really succeed in any task, but his general appearance was much better and calmer than before. Read his full test report.

Haku: Kattaa aluetta hyvin, hyvä into ja vauhti. Löytää 5/6

Free search: Covers the area well, good enthusiasm and speed. Finds 5 out of 6

Ohjattavuus: Selvittää tehtävän ohjattuna.

Guided retrieve: Completes the task under guidance.

Paikallistamiskyky: Näkee kaikki heitot, hyvä muistikuva, selvittää tehtävät itsenäisesti.

Marking: Sees all throws, good memory, completes task independently.

Riistankäsittely: Spontaanit ylösotot, palauttaa hyvin, muutama pudotus luovutusvaiheessa.

Game handling: Spontaneous pick-ups, returns well, drops a couple of times when returning to hand.

Jäljestämiskyky: Ei selvitä jälkeä.

Tracking ability: Doesn’t complete the task.

Muut ominaisuudet: Vaatii ohjaajan huomiota ammuttaessa ja heitettäessä.

Other qualities: Requires attention from handler during shots and throws.

Yleisvaikutelma: Työhaluinen, melko nopea koira, selvittää kokeen tehtävät. Ei selvitä jälkeä.

General appearance: Enthusiastic worker, quite fast, completes tests tasks. Doesn’t complete tracking task.

Excuses: Definitely Luka’s best performance in test to date and he completed the first phase. Unfortunately the pouring rain and tall forest after a small clearing while on the trail apparently weakened his self-confidence enough that he didn’t find the rabbit. However, I still have a wide smile on my face while writing this after a successful test.

Haku: Kattaa aluetta niin, että löytää kolme riistaa.

Free search: Covers area so that he finds three birds.

Ohjattavuus: Selvittää tehtävän melko omatoimisesti.

Guided retrieve: Completes task fairly independently.

Paikallistamiskyky: Näkee heitot, hakee kaksi itsenäisesti, unohtaa 1. veneestä heitetyn.

Marking: Sees throws, retrieves two independently, forgets first throw from boat.

Riistankäsittely: Painaa tuomansa lokin lyttyyn.

Game handling: Squishes a sea-gull that he returns.

Jäljestämiskyky: -

Tracking ability: -

Muut ominaisuudet: -

Other qualities: -

Yleisvaikutelma: Pienessä stressissä töitä tekevä koira. Koe keskeytyy riistankäsittelyongelmiin.

General appearance: A slightly stressed dog when working. Test ends because of problems handling game.

Excuses: Jalo’s first test for over a year with only a couple of weeks of training. Even though the test ended once again with broken game, the feeling I got from the test was very good (and it wasn’t just euphoria after Luka’s test). He was quite calm when waiting for his own turn and not as stressed when working as in his previous tests. All in all he didn’t really succeed in any task, but his calmness was a positive surprise. This is a very good starting point for the winter’s training and next spring’s tests.

Thanks a lot to Vikke and Eeva for a place to stay!

Our pictures from the championship are in our gallery.