Finally - it's here

After months of looking forward, finally it was here. Although the shooting season officially commences on 1 September for Partridge and 1 October for Pheasant, the first day, for the dog and I,  was last Friday. After months of anticipation and  'keeping the dog on the whistle' (as Rory-the-trainer recommends!) The Morning dawned. And it was the most beautiful dawn - which I gained a full appreciation of when I went with The Boss to set his stall up at a local Farmers' Market. A number of the shoots The Bestest Gundog and I work on clash with market days. No guessing where priorities lie - so The Boss is responsible for taking the pork provisions to Market! He was looking forward to

his First Day almost as much as the Dog and I! "Red in the Morning" proved not to be a shepherds warning: the whole day was unseasonably warm and sunny. The picture  above and alongside were taken whilst waiting for the first drive to start. (Wo)men and dogs standing quietly in eager, patient anticipation. The Bestest Gundog displayed an unexpected composure. I thought, as in previous years,  he'd be quivering with excitement. He was excited alright but calm and still with it;  facing his 4th season he knows what's coming and how long it will last and is just totally professional about it. It came home to me sharply that he is now a fully fledged Gundog. There's still  stuff to learn and loads to perfect but there's not a lot he doesn't know.

And throughout the morning, 4 or 5 drives in all, he worked smartly and eagerly - his nose to the ground and his ear on the whistle. My biggest worry was that he would invoke the wrath of the Keeper (whose wrath is prodigious indeed) by 'pegging' a pheasant - catch one on the ground before it had time to get in the air- even more so since this was purely a partridge day! There is only one greater sin a working dog can commit and that is to run straight through the drive! But he behaved as though it never occurred to him -even though once or twice I could tell he was tempted! The drive immediately after lunch was long and, in the heat of the bright sun, exhausting. He crossed me at one point with his breath rasping and his tongue almost on the ground. I should not have let him get in that state and called him to heel immediately. Shamed that I'd not stopped him sooner,  but we humans get carried away on the First Day too. It was close to the end of the drive and we made it slowly back to the Beaters' Bus where he drank and drank and drank and drank. Half an hour later he was back on the beat and pacing himself more carefully.
A serious lesson learned; nailing the technicalities alone does not a working gundog team make methinks... an interesting thought to start the new season.