Not a dog's life

Last Thursday started out like any other. Actually, now I think of it, it didn't. Where were my morning bickies? Ohhhh. That should have been a clue. We went down Town to see the nice Vetman who usually checks my height & weight and sticks a needle in me and Bobs your uncle. Well he did all those things and suddenly I felt all dozey;instead of worrying when She went out the door and left me behind, I felt kind of sleepy. And when I woke up I was in a strange place. With strange creatures all around. And a strange blue bandage on one of my legs - the one that used to have that little lump on it. And a funny cold feeling in my ribs.
Well! Honestly;what's that all about?
She came back later and brought me home. All I wanted to do was sleep. And dream.
But I was fine next day. Even better when I'd had my mornin' bickies. Lookin' forward to my usual daily hunt & run. But strangely, She made me take her on the end of the lead. And every day since. She took that blue thing off my leg the day before yesterday. Great! I thought. Now I'll be able to run free. But worse came. Before she went up to bed she put the Huge Cone on. I froze. Why did she do that? OK. So I had inspected my missing lump - closely. But why the Cone? What's that got to do with my leg? How's a chap s'posed to sleep?
Well, the answer is, I didn't sleep. Nor the next night. I don't understand. And then tonight I'm sure my dinner disappeared too quick. I know exactly how many chewfuls I get each night. But half of them were missing.
What is going on. This is not a dog's life.
When will things get back to normal?"

Trials and tribulations



The four judges searching in the distance for a  'runner'

 The presence in the household of The Bestest Gundog in All the World provokes an interest in all things 'Gundoggy'.  Thus it is that one is learning to shoot and has, indeed, acquired a Shotgun licence and a rather smart, though modest, firearm! Being a Spaniel household, it stands to reason that we believe that breed to be by far the most superior in the shooting field. Others will argue the case for the, mostly labrador, retriever. The old adage that a labrador is born half trained whereas the spaniel dies half trained is often opined (usually by men in tweed). In fairness, both breeds are excellent if properly trained but there is a distinct difference in the work they do. A spaniel is primarily a hunter, expected to find & flush game within range of shot and retrieve only when asked (please note, Gunner). A retriever, of which the most common in the working field is the Labrador, is required to retrieve on command - often from great distances; when not retrieving it remains at heel or 'on the peg' (where the person with the gun stands.)
I had a chance yesterday to go and see how the 'Other Half works' by volunteering at a Novice Retriever Trial being held locally.  The day dawned bright and breezy as people from all over the country drove to a remote field in order to spend the day testing out their dogs across acres of the county's finest sugar beet! Apart from the dogs, their handlers and owners, the assembled company included the landowner, his Game Keeper, 4 judges, 6 men with Guns, a 'Trial Secretary' (assigned the onerous task of ensuring dogs appeared in the right order at the right place - harder than it sounds) and various volunteers, two of us assigned to carrying the 'Bags' (after the first few hares were shot we both had time to regret our impulsive help). The following format was repeated throughout the day: two judges would each have 2 dogs 'in front' of them and those dogs would have 3 Guns on either side of them. They would line up relatively close together across a stretch of field. Also in the 'line' were the Chief Steward, The Steward of the Beat, the two bag carriers (one for each pair of judges/dogs) , the Landowner, his Gamekeeper and three other chaps acting as 'beaters' to tease up the game. The 'gallery' of other entrants was shepherded by the Trial Secretary well away from, but in line with the 'Action'. On command from the lead judge the line would move forward slowly, stopping the moment game (either partridge or hare - and one pigeon) was flushed. The nearest gun(s) shot the game (not always!). Depending on which end of the line the game was shot, a dog from that side would be sent to retrieve.
Now here's the interesting bit (well, if you're a spaniel person!). On being 'sent' for the retrieve, the labrador bolts in the direction indicated by the handler. He may have 'marked' the retrieve. In which case it is picked and returned without further ado. This didn't happen very often. Mostly a whistle command tells the dog where to stop and another tells it to start looking. The amount of whistling varies enormously depending on how well the dog listens and reacts to the commands. Mostly there was a LOT of Whistling. On hearing the whistle the dog would stop, look at the handler, read the hand signals and go look where told (or not as the case may be). More whistling. More signals. Until the dog finds the bird or hare and bolts back to the handler. Each dog was given a couple of chances at a retrieve and a fair amount of time to 'find' it. Some dogs didn't 'find' and were called back. The second dog on that end of the line would then be sent. If unsuccessful in the 'find' that dog would be called back and the dogs on the other side of the line would be given the opportunity for an 'eye wipe'. If unsuccessful, all four judges would set off - to the area the dogs had been sent to - in search of the retrieve (this part of the process would have been much more efficient had a well trained spaniel been employed!). If they 'found' what the dogs couldn't this reflected badly on the scorecards. Mostly, though they spent much time looking, they did not 'find' (this, after all is why we have gundogs - they are better at finding; furthermore, it confirmed another aspect of shooting - that the person who shoots does not always know what has been shot - if anything - and far less where it landed so can be quite wrong when giving instructions to those tasked with 'finding'). When a dog was 'out', the handler would put its lead on and take it back to the gallery, from which it would be replaced with the next contender who would come out from the gallery to join the 'line'.
The best dogs required little 'handling'; they followed instructions and bolted there and back - a pleasure to watch. It soon became clear to all which those best dogs were but all were given a fair chance. Dogs were 'out' for various reasons: not 'finding' at all, not heeding commands, dropping game instead of giving it to the handler, not giving it to the handler, marking the game with teeth etc etc etc. Those not out on the first round went through to the second round 'in front' of the other pair of judges.  And those not out went through to the third round which was made more difficult because the dogs were required to retrieve game shot at the other  end of the line. Those still remaining went into a fourth round and the action was repeated until just three dogs were left. By which time we'd stumbled and staggered over vast acres of sugarbeet under a cloudless blue sky. Lovely for humans, not so lovely for the dogs. Luckily we all had plenty of opportunity to rest our legs or heavy game bags (try carrying several full grown hares and any number of partridge) when the judges went looking for 'lost' birds - and lunch alfresco at 2 pm was a very welcome break.



The 'Line' enjoying a rest whilst the 4 judges search for unfound 'game'

 By the end of the day I'd learned some useful lessons:
- a good working labrador is always under control
- a good dog handler has an excellent eye to mark the fallen game
- a dog is easily confused by too many commands
- a good handler trusts the dog to use its nouse and do the job without constant interference
- in whistle use, less is definitely more

The trials and tribulations of the average shooting day mean that not many of the above factors combine in the same place at the right time..... good dogs, whether labradors or spaniels are rare and to be admired and treasured. The best dog yesterday was Winhocklin Willy, owned and handled by Mr K Broomfield.

Here they are

Here they are ... Andromeda & her little brood - looking jolly cosy in their stable at Elsham Hall. Go along and see them whilst you can because Elsham's summer season will close at the end of this month! Annie, a particularly fine example of a swallowbelly Mangalitza ,  will probably not be seen this clean again!

The Delinquent Delights

Meanwhile we learned that same evening that Andromeda had delivered a litter of piglets at Elsham Hall, much to the delight of Pirjo - her trotterservant there. Taking in her breakfast in the morning Pirjo discovered Andromeda had been joined by two piglets; a morsel or two of feed was taken and a little cleaning up done - Pirjo thinking that was 'it' when no sooner another little body arrived on the scene - and another - and another - and another..... until there were 9! Good Old Samson! Just in time to delight the visitors over the weekend......
Hope to have more details and pictures to follow shortly

Ladies & Gentlemen

We'd had all that fuss with weaning Truffle and putting her out with Samson and her deserting him and running riot about the place.We were naturally anxious, therefore, about putting her back out. But having weaned her from her piglets the previous Sunday it was time for her to return to her Intended. We needn't have worried. Two weeks indoors was more than enough. She went straight into the trailer, straight off the trailer, straight into the field - totally ignored Samson and her food bowl and headed for the mud. Then she wallowed and rolled and wallowed and rolled and wallowed some more. It was quite clear what she'd missed most!  Then she got on with her food and when Samson finally came round to greet her she couldn't have cared less! He sniffed her and she sniffed him and that was it really.

 There was no indication that he remembered her as the feisty dame who'd shunned his advances two weeks previously. But then why would he. She'd lathered herself in his gloriously black perfumed cream and that was all he could sense. Nothing else to get excited about.Not yet. Apart from that, she brought with her a dowry of Extra Rations which he was more than happy to accept - well, little thing like her clearly didn't need all that feed for herself. As long as it was understood that her feedbowl was his feedbowl all would continue to be calm.  And it has ever since. She came into season yesterday and was quite accepting of his advances. He's quite a bit bigger than her. No problem. She positioned herself in the corner between the fence and the gate and he used both to provide extra support. What a clever girl!

On the same afternoon we moved Victoria. She was born last October, the only girl in Ginger's litter of 5. She's rather lovely and well developed with a superb curly coat and the beginnings of curls about the ears. The loss of Precious got me thinking that Victoria, of the same line, might be a fitting replacement.

It wasn't difficult to identify a Mate for her. He needed to be of a totally different line, handsome, young and good-hearted. The Black Banana ticked all the right boxes. He'd been moved to the woods a week earlier when his brothers went on The Big Journey. He'd moped and been sad for a few days, even off his food. We told him Better Things were to Come. He didn't understand. Towards the end of the week he'd reconciled himself to his fate and was eating almost normally.

Victoria was separated from her pals with only a little delay. "I've trained her" Linda boldly announced "to eat nearest the gate": So the plan was that when she started to eat, we'd open the gate, move her bowl into the trailer and she would follow. But she didn't. Not for a while and not before she'd eaten a goodly portion of everyone else's food first. Eventually she obliged. Trotted out of the trailer and into the woods and tucked into her second dinner there. Banana, head down in his feed bowl, was oblivious to her arrival.

Till he'd finished eating. "You be gentle with him" Linda said to Victoria and went off to see to the others muttering that she hoped they'd be OK together and still "be in the same place tomorrow". Well she'd hardly gone out of sight when Banana finished his food, raised his snout and scented Another Presence. He rushed round to introduce himself. She was equally pleased to see him. "So this is why I had to leave my mates?" she must have thought. It didn't take long for the introductions and preliminaries to be out of the way before they were all over each other like the proverbial flies. Clearly we'd moved her at Just the Right Time and the pair of them were highly delighted. And continued to regale us with their delight from the depths of the woods for the next day or two. They've not left each other's side since. Ahhhhhh....

Just Heard

To Andromeda & Samson - 9 squiggley piglets born today at Elshom Hall. Mother and little ones doing fine. More news and, hopefully, pics to follow.
Well done Annie!

and again.

Not content with being at The Burghley Food Fair over the Bank Holiday weekend we returned a couple of days later for the International Horse Trials - arguably the most prestigious 3-day event in the Horse world calendar. Up before dawn and home after dark for four days on the trot really tested our metal. We caught a glimpse of the occasional horse but mostly we were head down and hands on battling to tempt the hungry horsewatchers to sample our tasty wares. Each day presented a different challenge either because of the vagaries of  the weather or the mood of the people.

Pork pies normally 'walk' off the shelf but could we shift them here? Mandy-who-makes-pies and had been up at 4.30 am in the middle of the week to bake was particularly pleased when we rang to cancel the provisional delivery for Sunday - not least because they were moving 'shop' over the same period. The Boss, ever flexible and open to opportunity, quickly decided on the Friday homeward journey that something needed to change so Saturday morning saw us frying sausages for our 'Bangers in a bap' offer which went down very well indeed, particularly at breakfast time - so much so that we shall be presenting a very different offering next year!.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

We had many compliments for our wares over the four days and met a host of interesting (and a few strange) people.The Iranian stall next to us, which was selling a huge selection of olives, cashews and Baclava, provided a running floor show -the "Lovely Jubbly" sales guys from Thursday drove us nuts with their endless banter and hard sell techniques (not to mention zillions of bees who were attracted to their honey coated treats). Luckily for everyone they were replaced by much quieter, though no less hard selling, colleagues for the next three days.Many of the stallholders probably passed the entire four days totally oblivious to the fact that it was one of the premier horsey events in the calendar - in fact the guy looking after the Devon Cream Teas stall next to us first couple of days asked halfway thru the second afternoon "What exactly is going on here?" It's an amazing event. Setting up starts as early as July; it is organised with military precision; we, as stallholders, received 6 pages of rules and instructions; there are more shopping opportunities than probably anywhere else in the country and the 150,000 strong crowd are treated to the most amazing array of food and beverage offerings. I'd guess that many people attended for the whole weekend with hardly seeing a single horse and a large number of them only came in order to see and be seen - some of the fashions were extremely interesting. And Dogs! Thousands of them in every shape and size; a passing onlooker could have been forgiven for thinking it was a dog Show and virtually every stall provided a bowl of fresh water for the weary canines.

And the excitement of the weekend was not just happening at the show. Life back at the Reserve continued. Pigs were moved here and there and Linda successfully and single handedly reweaned Truffle's little family. We returned home late on Sunday evening to find The Flowers safely esconced in the barn and their Mum securely shut into the Stalls on her own. The fact that the Boss and I had been scratching our heads over the weekend wondering how we were going to achieve that outcome was neither here nor there! Easy peasy, just like that, the job was done. And very happy and contented everyone looked too.

So tomorrow we shall move Truffle back to Samson and hope that she does not decided to part rapidly from him again. Or we may end up weaning her again, again......