Who says dogs can't talk

"....And there goes another bird......"

Sometimes people ask me why I go bushbeating in all weather. Waterproof, windproof, brambleproof gear and wellies is hardly the height of sartorial fashion. There have been days when the weather's been really awful - pouring with rain, blowing an icy gale, or blizzarding with snow. But they have been very few and far between.
Many days we have brilliant sunshine, clear blue sky and just a hint of cool in the air. Ideal for a long walk in the countryside with the dog.
And the dog loves it. From the moment we leave the house in the morning he is 'in the zone'; his whole being focused on his 'work'. He knows his job so well I could probably drop him off at the shoot in the morning and collect him again at the end of the day. In fact, there are days when he clearly thinks that too!

"...I'm not taking my eyes off that one either....."

He watches every single bird ....
We were out the other day and one of  our 'beats' was along the bramble-thick edge of a large wood. We had a 'gun' about 200yds to our right - in position for any birds that might fly out the side.
Gunner spotted him as we lined up.
He spent the entire drive flushing birds out of the briars and then running to the outside of the wood where he would stop and stare intently at the gun. If the shot reached its target, off charged Gunner full pelt to fetch the bird, returning as quick as his legs would carry him: quickly he'd deposit the body in my hands and dash back into the depths of the briar filled woods again. Within a short spell the scene would be repeated. On those occasions (and there were several) when the gun was unable to connect Gunner would stop dead when the bird failed to drop from the sky and stare at the offending person:
His every fibre seemed to say:
    "What? You missed? But I just found and flushed that bird out for you!"
After a few seconds he'd turn abruptly and rush, hell for leather, back into the woods to find another bird.
This little bit of theatre repeated itself until, by the end of the drive, the gun had shot - and Gunner had retrieved - 5 birds.

"There's a man with a gun over there"

    "It's a real treat to have my own picking-up dog!" said the Charming Gentleman after the horn had blown  and we walked, birds in hand, towards his colleagues.
If he'd had his own dog by his side, of course, he would have had a very different attitude!

At the  beginning of this season I would joke that Gunner was auditioning for the role of 'picking-up' dog but I no longer joke! In fact I believe he thinks that I am at my most delighted when he is filling my hands with shot birds and that it is up to him to bring me as many as possible.
 "Here you are Mum, you just grab this while I hurry off and find you another" he seems to say.
And that's really why I go out bushbeating regardless of the weather: the joy of watching the dog do what he so clearly says he loves doing most it beyond measure.
If he could  talk he'd say:
                                 "Just trying to keep you happy mum".....................

Compare and contrast

What's that over there?

 Six years ago this blog reported on Gunner's progress from would-be bestestgundog to proven bestestgundog. In his first season - 2009/10 - he had already worked 13 days by the third week of November. Bugler, who started work at the same age as his day has, by contrast,  just completed his 4th working day (Gunner having done 18 so far). That's the advantage of having two dogs to take to work!
By 21 November 2008, Gunner's 13th working day, his tail (which regular readers will know had not been docked as a pup) was so torn and sore that he refused to work after mid-morning and I brought him home in the lunch break. He didn't work again until several weeks later having had his tail amputated on 5th December.