26 May

Basic heel work and the new style 'back' signal.

Back signal seemed to work well - but we were on the roadway outside the workshop so some good ground lines to follow and not much going on either side of the tarmac.

Heelwork - should do this more often as it really improved all the dog's focus. Ellie seems to love it and walks along looking up with a 'I love my Dad' look on her face - to her lead means going for a walk.

Topaz also was very focused and did squares and about turns and reverse turns on the spot. One of my favourites (don't ask me why I don't know) is the one step forward and sit stop, step after step.
Not quite as good off the lead.

Latest on the Bobwhite front.
12/18 candled fertile.

All fertile made it to hatching
4 failed to make it out of the shells - they made a start but failed even with human help to make it.
5 hatched but died as they had straight legs - unable to stand up.
3 have survived and seem quite strong - well are growing and are noisy.

Now have 120 coturnix quail eggs on their way.

Bank Holiday Monday.

Some basic directional work with Topaz over two sessions. At 100 yards he keeps coming back on what is a directional cast. I will really have to think about these hand signals. The response is far from good enough.
The 'go back' hand signal I am changing from a hand wave - not unlike a ostrich head nodding agreement to a 'punch the air' signal - used by Andreas Eissing when he was over here last year. To start with I have only done this on paths and field edges so there is a nice boundary to follow.

Catja had some work on her sit and turn. I have let her get out a bit to far so am now having to close her down a bit. After yesterdays bimble about looking for the distractions - I know she knows 'fetch' and I know she knows 'find' as separate commands - but I am beginning to think one coul

Ellie - along with Catja had a run in a silage field. Knackered in about 10 mins - the hill is on a steep slope and the only way through is to bound (unless running a wheeling) .

Tuesday will be some very basic heelwork - but they don't know that yet

What i did not write about yesterday was loosing a dummy - one of the white knobbly ones that cost only about £2.50 from America!

Now that rankles - so i was to be seen on my knees with my hands in the water firstly with the other one to see if my theory that it had got stuck in the mud at the bottom (which it could easily have done) and then in a vain effort to 'feel' for it. No joy.

Went home a bit disgruntled.

After sleeping on it - and thinking how much progress Ellie had made I decided to return to the pond, but this time with a stick, to try and 'rod' the bottom to dislodge it. No; this did not work so I finally gave it up as lost and did some more water work using the other. Mainly seens and with them sitting in a group to then go by name. Checking my watch I realised I needed to leave in about 20 mins so thought 'one more each for luck' - Ellie missmarked so was recalled , Catja was sent but would not focus on the area and finally Topaz hunted out a spot a little downwind from where i thought i had marked it down before wishing to go elsewhere. I decided to go and pick it myself - only it was not to be seen. This pond was eating my dummies.

I am now two dummies down - such is the inconvenience of not having them that it was off with the shoes and socks and roll up the trousers. The water was knee deep and there was ooze half way up my calves, but solid ground under the mud. An ever increasing circle of anticipation and expectation developed - me working my stick and feet through the grunge. Nothing until I was just about to give up, (I had to be 1 1/2 hours distant in 1 1/2 hours time) when I looked around and there was a nice white dummy floating on the water behind me - yesterday's. This spurred me on and several bits of stick and knobbly stones later, wet trousers and a whistle with mud in it I found the last one.

Much happier now- we even were on time at our next rendezvous.

Retriever training - was very much outside my comfort zone. 100 plus yard blinds with a distraction thrown before the dog starts. Neither had much pep in their step and Topaz kept stopping at about 40 yards to check back to me and again as it went from shade to sun, in fact i could not get him to move out into the sun - it was as if there was a physical barrier. All but one struggled with this exercise. Catja was given the 'distractions' to retrieve as 'blinds' - a very simple exercise as they were not far into the hazel thicket, but a good one to build her confidence in me sending her for something. I was especially pleased with the last one as i could not readily see her. She was out of area so recalled and whistled 'stop' when I judged she was where I wanted her, a moments pause and then the 'hunt there' whistle. I could hear her moving again and in a few moments she appeared with the last dummy.

Bob whites are suffering - they seem to have locked knees and so cannot stand - only one has so far survived. Internet research suggests itis a problem of close relation. So another good reason for having a pedigree and using it!

Saturday - a good doggy day. Took them all to the New Forest for a run on heather and work in the pond that Tara and Amber know so well. They had a fantastic time. Catja was spronking from tussock to tussock - chasing dragonflies mainly.
Ellie was the dark horse - she got into the water to retrieve a dummy and return it to me - time after time; with passion. She has never done that before. I wish i had my camera with me as she went nose to nose with a big shaggy beast. the cows and horses were not phased by dogs so it was a great chance to work the dogs around them.

Returned home and then a trip out to see the bob whites or bob white as it turned out plus another walk up an old ox drove. A good point by Topaz but he moved in after the flush.

The moral for the day however was Ellie - one should never give up on a Brittany - I wish there was some way to tell her i was so proud of her today.

Early breaking news - as in egg shells. So far 5 bob whites have hatched but one later died . Two more chipping their way out.

Took all three dogs up to the Lythe at Selborne. Have not been there for over a year. At the end are a couple of man made ponds which I have in the past used with Topaz for some water work (and had Scouts up there floating paper boats with candles in them - at dusk - quite magical - think Divali)

A couple of nice old fashioned meadows on the way for some marks into long grass. The pond was nice and clear save a swan half way along. That was not a problem until it decided the pond was not large enough for all of us and it was there first. Topaz in a burst of innocent enthusiasm paddled out towards it and 'was on a mission' but decided to heed my recall when the bird started to paddle towards him. The last thing I wanted was Catja to have another reason not to go in so we moved to an adjacent pond - not such a nice entrance and i threw a dummy in as a blind and sent Catja 'back' for it from a start about 20 feet from the shore. She got into the water and only then winded it. I was very pleased with this as she is now becoming quite reliable at getting into water from a variety of banks. Not sure how far she would swim though - that has to be the next area of work.

On the way back to the car more 'marks'. Topaz just will not pay attention and watch the dummy away and down, he always at the last moment looks away so the majority of retrieves are 'blinds' - which does look good when he should be out and back.

Lastly did a few long 'memorys' and for Catja a blind that needed her to go back through a kissing gate - I wanted to get her through a physical barrier with the ground texture staying the same; next time I will try a hedge, or a small fence jump or maybe a small stream.

Work is definitely getting in the way of dogs at the moment. We did however get across the road for the first time in many weeks. The grass field was fresh sown earlier in the year and is now nearly half a metre high. The dogs love it but keeping track of them is difficult as one only has the occasional flap of ears to mark their progress. Sit them in the middle and they are completely lost from view

No more news at present on the Bob Whites 12 of the 18 candled as fertile; but in the meantime I have been invited to use a pheasant training pen. Looking forward to that as this could be the first good step in getting Catja steadier to flush.

Monday - HGS night. two this week. one 15 month and one 5 month. Simple seen retrieves followed by some hunting followed by some more seens.
It is a real pleasure to see a dog come on - the Vizla at the end was really holding her ground and hunting for the dummy (which she had miss marked) Whilst I would normally want to see a mark run to and not hunted for I felt it was important to see just how determined this little bitch was; and she was. The Brittany on the other hand went over the courseof the evening from retrieving only a feather to returning to hand with a puppy dummy. Such a happy little dog that never strayed far whilst hunting (albeit looking) She enjoyed working with her owner who was being encouraged to 'look' into undergrowth as well.

Catja was there as 'demo dog' - when handlers have never done something before it often easier after describing what I want them to do to do it with my own dog so they can see. One can talk over the dogs actions much more effectively than directly to a handler as they are running or after. As we were near the pond we finished with a few simple water retrieves. these she went straight in for without hesitation; and then back in almost for the hell of it.

In the trainers 'wash up meeting' (we have a chance to discuss how our evening went and problems or otherwise ) a couple of interesting points were raised. One was about a recent working assesment where the judge admonished the handlers for wearing their whistles around their necks - in the judges opinion they should carried like referee whistles off the wrist. Ready to put to mouth but not in mouth. None of us could see the benefit of this and all wear neck lanyards and have developed the art of talking around the whistle to the dog (and to others should the need arise). The whistle is there to offer immediate command, milliseconds can make all the difference!. Someone suggested they would loose their dentures - as they often directed the dog and blew the whistle at the same time.
If using a silent whistle (metal) then the trick is to put a piece of plastic tube (available from Band Q or similar) on the end with which to hold the whistle. (it also gives you something to chew on when it all gets a bit tense )