Training & surprises.....

"I'd not been lookin' forward to it. A Training Day? "Wash your mouth out" I felt like sayin' to Her. Am I not The Bestest Gundog, 5 full seasons under my Equafleece? Training's for youngsters - The Understudy & His Understudy - not for me? I was mortified. I did not wag my tail when She put me in the car. I did not wag my tail when I got out of the car - after a lot of faffin about I'll have you all know. What is it with Humans that they have to fiddle n faddle and gossip and chunter and then they expect us to get out the car and be "Seek on" and "Get out" and "pip pip" and "sit/stay/seek/fetch" all in an instant. Good job we spaniels are switched on ..... But that doesn't alter the fact. I was not lookin' forward to a Training Day.

It was a cold and windy morning and She forgot her jacket. I'd have laughed if I'd thought about it. But then I met the other chaps - all Pint sized spaniels - Cockers I think She called them. Things started to look up. We went out to a wild and wasted field with huge ditches - Oh my almost favourite...... and I could smell all sorts of good smells. This was no ordinary training. And then He-the-Trainer was carrying a gun... I've always been a bit wary of the chap - but a gun? Well that made him almost my best mate --- I Love people who have guns...... Guns with people are what makes my switch really turn on..... And then I could smell some wonderful strange bird smells..... the wind was wafting them right up my nostrils.... Ohhhhh bliss ... almost better than my favoritest dinner.......

Well, let me tell you  the morning got better and better and it was nothin' like training. Well, actually, now I think of it, She was a bit naggy at the start & He-the-Trainer did yell at me when I was off and away. Then it occurred to me that She really wanted me to listen, so I listened, (I'm not insensitive to her wishes) and from then on it all just got wonderful and whizzy and I Oh so loved it. Up and down the dyke sides, up & down the bankflanks, to and fro, wonderful smells and birds everywhere - and then gunshot and retrievin'.... only I was stopped from goin' out instantly - and then another bonio dropped - She don't always want me to dash out straightaway ---- Well, why the Dog didn't She say so before..... I very amenable you know....

 There were four of us dogs and we all got to work in turn and inbetween She and Me had a few earnest words and she gave me good vibes and then on one of my turns, He-the-Trainer said something that made her jump up and down - I stopped dead in my tracks, I thought She was going to do somethin' embarrassing...... she went quite silly.... I've never seen anything like it.  Seems he admired my energy and style and the way I was workin'. He never seen me at full tilt and on song before: "I've never seen him work so stylishly" he said "if he could keep this up He could be a Field Trial dog" .................... This from the man who said I was too steady to catch a cold...... who always said I'd never amount to much.....
Well, as I said, She very nearly flipped. The biggest compliment anyone, 'specially He-the-Trainer, ever paid me.............. well, I was already enjoyin' myself but now She was over the moon. I've always been the twinkle in her eye but for He-the-Trainer to say I could be good enough to do Field Trials...... well, that makes her not so crazy after all................. Me? I've always known I was better than he thought!     I actually think I almost enjoyed this training day more than some of my workdays - it was so much more focused & I could really concentrate on what I was doing. In fact, now I think of it, the training was actually for Her not for me - to teach her how to help me do my job better............. Do you know what? I think I'm all for training days. The more she can do to help me the better I can get on and do my job and the more fun we both have.
Now, that's what I call a good lesson.  Training and surprises don't often happen together....... We're off to work tomorrow.... let's hope She can keep it up....... *goes off humming 'me a field trial dog, me a field trial dog.......*