As the handler, with dog at heel, walked towards the end of the spit of land a duck was hand-thrown and a shot fired from bird station #1. The bird landed in the grass about 4-6 feet from the edge of the water. The second bird of a double-marked retrieve was hand-thrown from station #2. It landed in the water about midway down the length of the channel. Dogs could pick up the birds in either order, but must deliver each bird to hand. As the dog was returning to the handler with bird #1 a blank shot was fired to simulate shooting another duck. This bird was not seen by the dog, but instead was placed near the end of the longer spit. The dog was sent to retrieve this bird with the handler guiding him with whistles and hand signals. This is called a "blind retrieve."