# Arghhh! Callbacks and confirmation ....



## FTGoldens (Dec 20, 2012)

Okay, so I was running the Am with two dogs and the Qual with one; I had late numbers in both stakes. 
I went to the Am and waited half the day to run them ... the mutts both bombed out (it was an exceedingly difficult test with a triple consisting of a long retired water mark at around 300 yards, a short retired land mark at about 90 yard with the gunner below a ridge so the dogs could only see his shoulders at best, and a flyer up the middle at about 200 yards ... the dogs had to pick up ONE of the marks, then run a 275 yard water blind with a 225 yard angle entry into the water, then pick up the other two marks (I'm not complaining about the test, just explaining that it was REALLY hard for a mid-sized Amateur).
After running both dogs in the Am, I headed to the Qual, which was waiting on me and one other handler. The test was a double with one retired ... NOT a tough test. So my dog watches the birds go down; I release the dog and it proceeds to blow past the flyer by about 20 yards, then a couple of fairly big swashes back and forth until the bird is found ... then the dog STEPS ON the retired mark (... go figure ...). The callbacks are given to the marshal, who puts the numbers on the dry erase board and my dog's number is NOT on the board ... the numbers go from 23 to 25 and she was 24. Okay, well that was a bit surprising, but it was a big Qual, they got a late start, so I figured that the flyer hunt was enough to get us tossed. 
So I headed home.
A bit over an hour after leaving the grounds I receive a call from the Field Trial Chairman who says, "Where are you?" I told him that I was headed home because I was out of both the Am and the Qual. He replied, "You're back in the Q!" I said that I looked at the marshal's board and my dog's number wasn't on it. He said, "There must have been a mix-up because the judges are asking where you are, you are definitely back!"
The Chairman said that I could return and run the blind when I got there, but I had already made plans for the evening and for Sunday, so I told him that I appreciated the offer, but I was headed to the house.
So, yet another lesson learned ... there's no harm in seeking (politely) confirmation.
Nonetheless, the alternative plans worked out wonderfully and I have no regrets that I chose to keep heading to the house after learning that the dog had been called back ... but I'll TRY to not let that happen again!
FTGoldens


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

FTGoldens said:


> So, yet another lesson learned


Will we ever learn them all? I doubt it.
Better luck next time


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I am sorry that happened. Good story to share as a reminder to people to check unless they are 100% sure their dog is out. Sometimes even then someone may be feeling generous  I just marshaled for a test a couple of weeks ago and I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. It's just a lot of chaos sometimes and having to use a dry erase board with people talking to you from multiple directions doesn't make transferring information easier. I will be pre printing dog names and numbers next time I marshal so I don't have to deal with erasing and re-writing.


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## Edward Lee Nelson (Jan 2, 2017)

Happened to me years ago, I was lucky I wasnt to far away and the marshal had my cell #. I still hate to ask if I was called back or not for some reason. I just try to be a polite as I can be. Good luck next time. Our trial season hits full blast on Friday with 6 weekends in a row, I probably will only run 5 of them. Lucky that 3 are les than 45 minutes away and the other 3 are a 1 hour and 15 away. People dont say much about the mid atlantic but I can probably hit over 20 trials or more a year within 2 1/2 hours and 30 if I hit all the trials in Va or NY which are around 4 hours or so.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Sorry to hear that FT, at least they had your cell phone number to get a hold of you.

This happened at the national specialty one year. I was marshaling the qual. One handler asked why he wasn't back since his dog one whistled the blind and had zero problems. I went and talked to the judges. Turns out the judges mixed up their forms. The handler stayed in. And of course so did the person who did get called back incorrectly. Which is a whole other discussion.

Please ask, people make mistakes - marshals and judges. As a marshal I never mind asking. Judges don't want to send the wrong dog home. 

Also please wait until call backs to make sure your dog is definitely not in the next series. One year I ran a derby with a guy that was very deaf. He thought his dog did poorly, so he walked away with her to load her up. He was a fast walker and none of us could catch him to tell him not to leave, and we didn't have his cell phone number. At call backs, he was still in. The next weekend was another derby. I had to tell him what happened and to not leave until after call backs. He was disappointed that he had left too soon. If you can't hear, please ask, we don't always know who can hear well or not.


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