Well done, 
it's great fun to do . Almost ready for bronze with ' obi ' our 7 mth gsd pup 
Also working at working trials with this boy as missed not doing it with my last boy but he had attitude problems ( brain problem we think) and severe leg pain at times. Love the atmosphere with other competitors at trials, very unlike show world I found. I think the difference being we are not competing against each other as such, several dogs can be awarded the same marks and pass the awards.
How does field trials work?
Good luck with OBi's bronze. The testers are fairly sympathetic with puppy I find. Our one was pretty tough on Monday I thought. She only passed Freckles out of 5 of them.
Field Trials are for gundogs but there are four different groups - 'spaniels', 'retrievers', 'pointers and setters', and 'Hunt Point retrievers'.
The Spaniels have to hunt in a pattern, quartering the beat they are given, within gun range (50 yards approx), flush anything in front of them, and show they are steady to the shot and the fall of game and should have the ability to retrieve on command. This applies to retrievers too, except they don't have to show any hunting ability, but they are asked to do more complicated retrieves - longer distances(300 yards sometimes), more awkward finds; where the bird may have fallen in an awkward place they have to use their noses to find it. They have to show steadiness to game falling all around them in a driven shoot. They must not move till told to do so.
Pointers and Setters have to show hunting ability, that they point/sett to game, flush on command and are steady to the flush and shot. Hunter Pointer retrievers have to do everything. Show good hunting pattern, find and point game, hold teh point till told to flush, sit to flush and shot, wait till told to retrieve no matter where it has landed, and all of them have to retrieve to hand without damage to the game. That;s the basics but there's a lot more to it than that.
