We'd planned since he first entered the field to breed a pup from The Bestest Gundog in all the World but for three years, and for various reasons, all his "wives" fell by the wayside. When Meg, his wife of last year, had a phantom pregnancy and no pups appeared, the decision was taken. An Understudy to The Bestest Gundog was needed. So one needed to be found. It's a huge world of gundog breeding out there. Where to start? So I decided we could do worse than go back to the place where Meg was bred - after all, I reasoned, if we liked a bitch chosen to be the mother, we might like another dog from the same home. The question was asked; As fortune would have it, a very well bred litter was due in August. I reserved a male pup. He was born a year ago today. Such excitement when the call came. Two weeks later I visited.
And there they all were ...... 4 liver and white and 4 black and white. After a further two visits and much umming and ahhing we chose one of the black & whites ... and the prettiest (I thought) of them. And brought him home. And he was an absolute joy from the start ... straight into his box... never fussed or whinged and house-trained really quickly too.
A year on, he's still a joy in the house - exuberant when happy and calm when asked to be..... content in his own company but really, really loves to be out and about and running...... running
And that's been a bit of the problem. The Bestest Gundog at the same age was steady and moving forward in his schooling. However, to be fair, the BG started proper school at age 11 months whereas his Understudy started proper school at 6 months. In hindsight - too early. He's just beginning to understand the purpose of schooling..... finally comprehending the point of listening to the whistle..... He's such an exuberant character when he's out ... all that space out there just needs to be invaded he thinks and his human's too slow..... well you can't blame a spaniel for wanting to run.... But he's coming to hand and, with help from Rory the trainer, he may - by this time next year - be shaping up to be a dog a chap can take to work for the season.
I certainly hope so.... he's such a lovely dog and really wants to please - if he can be persuaded there's a good reason...
"Gunner was easy to train" said Rory-the-trainer early on in our training-the-Understudy experience this spring.... "But if you can train this one then you'll have learned a lot". Thanks Rory. Well we've gone through the past five months of lessons and he's learned - a bit. He's very quick to learn and I think that's half the problem. He can easily do what I ask and the rest of the world out there looks so much more interesting. So, 'heel' and 'hunt' and 'fetch' and stuff - OK; but then, whooppee and he's off to explore. But finally, I think, he's beginning to understand...... and, after numerous telling-offs, he's gradually coming to learn that life is a lot more interesting if he listens to the whistle...... the more he listens the greater freedom he can enjoy.......
And freedom is his greatest pleasure.... so, hopefully by this time next year The Bestest Gundog in all the World will be looking forward to having the Understudy, aka Jaunty - aka Gaberlunzie Master at Arma - join him in the field for the 2014 season.........
Meanwhile, Many Happy Returns to a Happy spaniel........
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