30

December2013

ISaberTails

IPBGVsatWork

PhotosandarticlebyBobCohen

A

ttheendofNovemberIattendedanothercoldNewJer-
seyhunttest,putonbytheMid-NewJerseyPBGVAsso-
ciation.Butthistimewasdifferentforme.Forthefirst

timeIhadfiguredoutawaytobringmyowndog,soI
broughtmySusietoherfirsthunttest.(Iusuallyvisitmy
sisterforThanksgivingandtheautumnNewJerseyhuntis
usuallythedaysimmediatelyfollowing.Mysister'sbuilding,
justnorthofNewYorkCity,doesnotpermitdogs,soI've
previouslyhadtoboardmydogswhilevisitingherandifI
wasabletogettothehunttestIdidsosansPBGV.)

Susiestayedwithherbreeder,JeanneHurty,sointhe

morningIfoundmyselfdrivingnortheasttoConnecticut
insteadofsouthwesttosouthernNewJersey.IgottoJeanne
andCharles'shousewhereIwasmetatthebackgateby
severaloftheirPBGVs.Ofcourseeachdemandedattention
fromthisvisitor,butbeforelongIhadSusieinhercrate
inthecarandwasheadingsouthwestagain.AndIwas
remindedofhowmuchIdisliketheNewJerseyTurnpike,
whichseemstobeunderperpetualreconstructionwith
stop-and-gotrafficinmanyareas.

Itwasn'tuntilafternoonthatIgottotheDelseaBeagle

Clubandjoinedthefolksinsidetheclubhouse.I'dsigned
upSusieforaNoviceLearningExperience,whereshecould
forthefirsttimefindoutwhatit'sliketobeunleashedand
freetoruninsidealargefencedfieldwithotherdogsand
maybeevenarabbitortwo.Susiewouldhavetowaituntil
laterintheafternoonwhileotherdogswereoutinactual
hunttests,followingthesequenceofthedrawthathad
ocEventuallyourtimecame.Thesunwasgoingdownandit
wascertainlychilly,butthedogsdidn'tseemtomind.Susie
wasallowedontothefieldwithsomeotherinexperienced
dogsandafewwithexperiencewho,itwashoped,could
showthenewbiestheropes.MeanwhileMeganEsherickand
otherhumanswithhuntexperiencewereshowingmewhat
todotoencourageSusietogetoffthemowedpathsand

HunterinTraining

JudgeMeganEsherickwatchingadoginahunttest.

Susiecheckingoutthebrush.