Bang! Drop! Fetch!

I keep wondering how we convert the would-be Bestest Gundog in all the World from 'fetching' dummies to fetching the real thing. I think one of his little escapades this week proves that I needn't have wasted my time worrying about it!

But first, the theory.

Our lesson this week involved Gunner's introduction to THE GUN! Not a shotgun at this stage but a sort of starter pistol firing blanks.

"Just let him hunt over there" said our Trainer "and at some stage I'll fire the gun and, when he looks, I'll throw the dummy".

So off we went hunting some very interesting scents through the extremely long, rough grass. I heard the pistol fire; Gunner carried on hunting regardless. I heard the pistol fire again; Gunner sort of half lifted his head but then decided the ground was more interesting.... I heard the pistol fire again; Gunner looked up as if to see what it was that was disturbing his Important Business..... And then he saw the dummy drop. So I sent him off to fetch it. Zoomed there and back with it. No problem, despite the fact that it was one of Rory-the-trainer's dummies.

So he successfully passed two tests: (1) he doesn't worry about gunfire and (2) he's happy to collect a strange dummy.

"We're really flying now" I thought to myself.

Big Mistake.

"Right" said our Trainer "Back there in the direction of the car I dropped a dummy behind that distant clump of dock leaves. Send him to fetch it. I expect it back in double quick time!"

About 10 minutes later................ I won't even bore you with the detail but Rory said it was "well handled at the end".

It knocked Gunner's confidence a bit. Given the instruction to 'fetch' again, he just sat and looked at me as if to say - "What? Go through all that palaver again?!" Can't blame him really. But he realised I meant it and, having seen where I dropped it, at the 3rd time of asking, off he went and brought it back no problem.

Then we did some hedgework. Sit the dog. Throw the dummy over hedge. Send dog through to fetch.

First time, no problem. Well, we've been practising at home!

Second one was a different ball-game altogether. Another 10 minutes went by. Didn't help that the handler couldn't see the dog, and vice versa, because the hedge was too dense and a good 12 foot high! All I could do was call the dog in then send him back to try again. Several times. In the end we chucked a second dummy over. Which he fetched back easily!

"I reckon that other one's gone down a rabbit hole" I said to the Trainer! Nothing for it but to walk round through the gate down the track and find it! When we were in the right area, we set Gunner to searching and he found it easily! "Stupid humans" he probably thought.....

So we did a bit more hunting and tried the gun thing again.

Only at the third firing did Gunner immediately look up at the Bang, watch the dummy Drop and Fetch it instantly when told!

"OK, lesson learned for today" said our Trainer and we returned to the car. Me wondering if the lesson would be remembered two weeks hence!

Then yesterday, whilst I was mucking out, we heard a pheasant clucking. Gunner disappeared. And didn't return when I whistled. Always an ominous sign. Went in search and saw him with a pheasant clutched between his paws and the chicken-pen fence. On whistling him again, he brought the pheasant to me. Struggling somewhat cos it was still alive and struggling..."Good Boy". And gave it to me. "Good Boy" --- spitting feathers out of his mouth.... Pheasant was still alive. But died shortly thereafter - of a heart attack I suppose. Gunner was over the moon. Soooo excited that he'd bagged his first pheasant. Without all that Bang, Drop, Fetch stuff. What do we know. "This is more like it" he seemed to say!

All he wanted to do for the rest of the day was sit and watch his prize - until he almost fell asleep! Is that, or is that not, a GUNDOG in the making.....???