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 )

Saturday - no dog work as i got sucked into repairing one of the forklifts. Rebuilding a solenoid was straight forward but it worked on teh bnech but not in the truck .... hmmmmm.

Sunday Retriever training with 'les oranges'. Catja started quite well but tailed off in performance - had a new trick introduced - the 'short lead gee up' On a short lead the dog is fired up and then put back to heel this is repeated a few times and then set up for the retrieve. A much improved out run.
Topaz once he had got his toilet duties off his mind settled down well. We had a path with dummies set either side - the wind direction across the path axis. At the outset we had to commit to the side from which the dog would retrieve. He was quite good at it. I was pretty pleased. Need some work on his hand signals but the sit wasn't bad - for him.

A quick trip to the workshop ended a good day - I had worked out what i might need to do to get the solenoid to work and it DID!! so that is one sorted, just need to change a few bits of electronics and rework a commutator on the other.

Thursday
Hmm - I have a bit of a moral dilemma. Catja was out and about the workshop this afternoon - mainly asleep at my feet at the desk. However suddenly I had this sense she wasn't there and at the same time there was a call from the workshop to say 'I think you have a problem with your dog' She was standing in the middle of the workshop with a live chicken in her mouth.

There are chickens in the garden next door - but through a hedge and behind some chicken wire.

The chicken was a bit short of feathers but seemed otherwise ok so I put it back in the hedge and when i went back a bit later it had gone.

Now the dilemma - should i go around and knock on the door or should presumption lay blame at the feet of a local fox? After all if my little dog can get in then the local fox certainly could.

Monday
A catch up day at my desk - the price one pays for taking time off!

The evening saw topaz and i off to HGS gundog training. We were on a lovely bit at the edge of a wood with a small decoy pond. It did himself good to stay tied to the game bag and watch the vizsla. A lovely 15 month who came on a treat in the space of an hour - I got the handler to change their whistle sit command to a more 'spaniel' style 'peep' away from the more genteel 'would you awfully mind stopping and sitting' version she was using. That worked well. With a length of line on (as this dog was magnetically attracted to the water) we did some simple marked retrieves. Including a couple of goes with Monet's old duck- who is now becoming well traveled - his last flight being outside the hotel at Fritzlar.

Topaz as a reward had a directed blind on the pond; sent in, stopped, directed one way before dummy was thrown in behind him and he was redirected to that. Quite pleased as he did not follow his urge to get onto the island and look for duck!

Gosh - i see i haven't posted since last Tuesday!
The week being a short one for me - BH on Monday and away on Friday and the in between we were on site so no dog training and no walking save daily duties exercise.

Friday - a day in the car for them all as we went off to the CBV show in Fritzlar in Germany. Twelve hours door to door with areas of traffic that put the M25 to shame (in the extent of carparking they offered). Normally on a 500 mile trip one can reckon on beating the satnav by about half an hour or so including stops - but this time no stops ad an hour and half behind.
It was nice to meet up with some old friends. a nice convivial dinner ended the day. Catja's photo in the Shooting Gazette meeting with much approval - I do sense the German Club looks upon her as 'our Catja'

Saturday - Early breakfast and a walk out to the stream where of course all got wet!
The show was held at the local horse centre and was on grass outside so a blessing as there was little need to hoover the ground for ants. Catja moved very well and stood well. The tips and tricks from Les Strudwick (he of Leonbergers and now proud owner of Array Adorn Eastonite) were useful - Catja was walking into a good stand and did not need to be handled. I did try my 'this is the best dog here' face but as the judge does not speak English this probably did not get across. The judging was shared between the Breed Master and Club Secretary (the French judge who had been booked was unable to attend)

This is a conformation show - The dogs are graded as in France and then those graded excellent are put in to order 1,2,3 etc. Dogs need to attend this before they can be bred from; the result is entered officially onto the dogs papers.

Catja was graded excellent and placed first in her class (open). She then went on to be give the position of best bitch in the show. A best in show between dog and bitch is not given.

pictures here http://www.facebook.com/album.php...amp;id=716403565&l=fb738e7d37

after the show a scurry was run pictures here http://www.facebook.com/album.php...amp;id=716403565&l=6f867a7d74

A lovely day with great people - there were as many who had come just to watch (without dogs) as were entered. - which indicates how sincere they are about the dogs. After the show Julia and I retired into town for cake and beer - which seemed the better option to attending the club AGM.

A final chat and coffee with Andrea, Hermann and Anne before they departed. Donald (Catja's half brother a most lovely faced laid back dog) displayed some calm retrieving on the hotel forecourt whilst Catja indulged in some puppy bounce style retrieves rather than her more sedate usual style - I think having an audience went to her head. It was interesting to see how Catja went into play mode the moment she saw the sister she had spent many months with whereas others had to go through the rigmarole of becoming friends. She recognised Andrea and Hermann immediately and subjected them to her enthusiastic greeting.

Sunday - the long drive home. Preceded by a nice walk by the river. They were all loose and Topaz disappeared, on looking around i saw an orange and white streak racing along the far boundary of the football field we were next to. Whistled the stop - nothing. Then realised it was not Topaz at all but another dog. topaz was eventually seen on point amongst some nettles; and as I went in to move him on the other two backed which was rather nice. He put up a duck which Catja then proceeded to chase - so that is not sorted yet! On her return I said nothing. (previous posts refer to my current thinking about this behaviour). She did find a retrieve however - proudly bringing in a wooden clog. Her fear of water seems to be nicely under control - she was going in just for the fun of it, walking in or jumping in off a log and swimming around in circles. Back to the hotel for breakfast to be serenaded by the hotel's resident grey parrot whistling Colonel Bogey - much to my amusement.


Last job of the day- before moving off- was to find a supermarket to buy some beer to bring home - but they are all shut on Sunday. Did manage to get some 'drop' in a Dutch petrol station en route though

Bank holiday weekend.

Saturday - took her to the stream at work for a bit of a play in the water. I have to admit I got the sense she did not want to stop.

One of the points raised in the book i am reading is about play being used not to act out hunting scenarios but actually to test out uncertainties in a safe environment. It was with attitude of mind that I took her into the stream on Saturday, donning my wellies and splashing around with her.
Later in the afternoon we went to Ropley pond for another session. I hunted her around the pond first and then threw a dummy and almost immediately sent her in. There was no hesitation. Several more and I called it a day. The last being off a little bank - so was a 'jump in'

Sunday - we had volunteered to man a Brittany stand at the Blindley Heath Country fair. It is a small world as we were next to the girl who brings her Sussex to the shoot we pick up on. There was a most impressive display by a Welsh sheepdog handler who herded a flock of Indian Running Ducks around the ring with three collies. All on different whistles for left and right. He moved them forward by calling their name in a soft voice and stopped each by using its name in a hard voice - much as you would admonish a child - he said.
Walking an HPR around a game fair is most time consuming. She was on point to the birds of prey, and then the ducks and chickens and was gripped the sheepdog and duck display. When the spaniels did their display she marked every dummy - much to the amusement of the people standing next to us. I was most interested they teach their spaniels to be steady before they teach them to retrieve.
Monday - went to work briefly to empty my car of junk and at the same time gave my starting pistol and dummy launcher a bit of TLC and oil. The launcher, not having any grease handy put some wax on the shaft. I went outside and gave it a go - forgetting that I only now have 'long' blanks. The dummy flew 100 feet before it hit the top of a tree and fell to earth through the branches. Moments later the man who was working in the field appeared and started looking about. So plan B kicked into action as I had no wish to explain or justify my action - Plan B involved hunting Catja around the back of the yards and into the rape field with a few dummy retrieves for good measure, a walk to the stream and then back with a view to hunting up the 'fall' as we went past. The field person waved at us cheerily and the dog particularly as she carried her dummy along. We did a simple water retrieve and then as we returned Catja ran off to the fall having obviously marked it from earlier.

On the way home via the pond - again- this time i put Monet's duck out on the pond before fetching her from the car, a little hunt and then an 'aport' from a distance (as a directed blind). She went straight in. Another as a long mark saw her go in at the earliest opportunity rather than run down the bank for the shortest swim - that did surprise me. There is a small jetty over a bank of iris or similar, about 2' above the water; I thought we had made so much progress I would throw the dummy from here and show her how to enter from the bank. Well no chance for that she just jumped straight of the jetty.

Only once did she hesitate on entry and that was where she was next to lemna covered water; this she patted hesitantly so I called her away and sent her from a different place. The concept of texture and contrast certainly is worth paying attention to.

another idea thrown up by the autism book. Dogs don't handle distinct change. That is they don't take to new situations.

This I found interesting as it seemed to be another way of expressing the 'dogs don't generalise' concept. With the added idea of contrast or change as the de-motivator rather than 'new'. So for instance (and this is my take on it) a plain sight retrieve on flat ground is different from a plain sight retrieve on flat ground with a footpath to cross in the middle. - unless of course the dog has crossed footpaths several times before. because there is a change in contrast in the ground both texture and colour and this is what is making the dog wary.

Anyway - Wednesday was quite warm so took the orange to the water with a view to only splashing about at the edge - harking back to the idea of detail one of the things Catja baulks at is sparkles on the water - so I thought 'get her to make her own' Sent Topaz out on a blind (so blind there was in fact nothing out there) once out I lobbed the dummy in (only about 5 yards) off he goes for it and in jumps herself and swims out to it. She has never gone into that bit of water before. ! A couple more retrieves some over the stream and on the other bank. (going to be a loss when they let the pub opposite whose garden I am using by proxy )
They were both then on super-hypaw drive; I have noticed that before that once wet the rate of travel increases.

Last night there was a mist over the field about 10 feet deep - you could see it coming down the valley. The grass was jeweled with pearls of water - scenting must have been good as they all were very 'busy'