I have been reading a couple of books I recently bought on Amazon. one on the biology of dog behaviour - which is fascinating - about why rather than how, and Cotton - retriever training. This also has revealed a number of insights. The first one I like was teh assertion that even his best dogs needed reminder lessons in obedience and heelwork as often as twice a week. It makes a change to read a top trainer voice a view other than 'repeat half a dozen times to set the behaviour.

Continued the individual outings, with the emphasis on stop. Catja now puts her bum down in a flash when close but when out will often only stand. I would like to get her to sit sharply when away - so that any lapse in this eres towards the stand rather than standing now when any lapse is still movement.

I got to thinking about the sit close and sit out scenario - and began to wonder if it is not distance that is the key but 'attention' or 'focus' on me or even 'us' as a team. When working close it is a case of 'look here' 'now look there' with the odd dummy thrown in behind so she learns that I know where they are ans she may well have missed them. However when away she is more self directed in her hunting, led by her nose. I think received thinking is the dog has gone from 'pack drive' to 'prey drive' . If this is the case - and it makes sense to me then I need to dream up some way of keeping the dog in touch with me when she is in prey drive.

Wyngold's post elsewhere about high prey and high retrieve drive dogs being hard to make steady also struck a chord.

She also had a small session in Ropley pond and another in the local stream. The local stream is a small chalk stream with watercress in it, cold and a bit swift - so I am only using the slack water to get her happy to go in; if the dummy gets into the stream she is not happy enough to bounce after it but climbs out and then watches it from the bank. Ropley pond has a shallow entrance and is still water, full of dead leaves and at the edges the mud stinks. Here I am using the slope to encourage her further and further in until she swims, once wet we go to a banked bit so there is drop into the water.

Without access to a pinioned duck I can only build on her desire to retrieve her normal dummy. I have the concept of a dummy with twiddling wings (something like a cotton reel tank from my childhood - for those who have not had the pleasure get a cotton reel - the ones about 30mm diam and thread a small rubber band down the middle, put a piece of matchstick under one end and hold it in place with a piece of selotape, put a whole match the other and use this to wind up the rubber band; put it on the floor and let go.) So if i did something similar with a dummy and a bit of pheasant wing - threw that into the pond I would have a very enticing object.