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.