Going to be a Gundog! .. continued

A fortnight passes very quickly in the life of a would-be gundog. Since the last training session we've been "playing" a lot of ball games to stimulate a little more enthusiasm in the task of retrieving. And I have to say that Gunner really loves fetching the ball - from anywhere and as often as one cares to throw it...... He's also been very good in all his retrieving lessons and, as ever, has done everything asked of him. Out hunting he's learning to stay closer and hunt more thoroughly; he's not once run off or ignored the whistle, or any other commands for that matter. Last week we came across a family of seven hares romping in the fields. It was a wonderful sight to see: my guess is they were a young family from the way they were 'boxing' and chasing and playing hide & seek. We do see a lot of hares around here, particularly at this time of year, and frequently in two's and three's but I have never seen seven in one group. Gunner sat, as commanded, and watched them - bolt upright and very excitedly but not in any way straining at the lead. When the hares finally loped off we hunted across the field with Gunner obviously picking up their scent but not once attempting to follow the line. I think he's brilliant.

So when Rory asked yesterday, as he always does, "How's he been" I told him all that.

And off we went to run through our paces at the farm - again.

First off, though, we had a bit of a demonstration by Rory and a young black Cocker spaniel bitch - to show us how to do it. Gunner and I watched. Me fascinated. Him? A bit confused if anything! Her whole manner was so hyper-active and whizzy that it was almost frightening!

Putting her back in the truck after the demo Rory commented that she was "a little off-colour today" but hoped we'd "basically got the idea" of the level of enthusiasm he was used to in his dogs!

Well - it was a bit daunting.

Anyway, we then continued with our session. In short, Gunner did everything asked of him but in the way I've now come to expect him to behave when Rory's about: lacking in confidence and slightly hesitant. On the negative side, he was less than enthusiastic about thrown retrieves. On the positive side, he stayed very close when hunting and was very positive with the 'memory' retrieves.

"He's got me totally flummoxed" said Rory finally. "I just can't get inside his head. Memory retrieves which most dogs find difficult to learn, he does easily; thrown retrieves which most dogs find jolly exciting, he appears to find totally disinteresting. He's bold enough to go into any density of cover or nettles with no urging needed yet appears to lack confidence! It's all back to front!"

Comes to something when the trainer is stumped.

"Every now and then" continued the man "there's a spark but it just gets so quickly extinguished. I have never come across such a laid back spaniel!"

I think" said I "when we finally get Gunner out into the Field and the real world of hunting and shooting, the penny will drop, the confused "what am I doing this for? look will disappear and he will show his true colours. He's just going to be the bestest Gundog ever". Rory smiled.......

Next session will be on home territory. I need to discover whether it's the man or the place that is inhibiting the dog.

Meanwhile, we've been given some exercises to stretch Gunner's memory and, hopefully, stimulate continuing interest.