Update on Gunner's calendar....

Gundog Calendar 2016 cover page

Well.... here we are, nearly at the end of the year and I've now done the final 'totting up' for Gunner's Calendar.
I am really honoured and touched that so many people wanted to buy copies. I have just two left, which means that my estimate of 150 sales was spot-on. Nearly all the calendars have gone to people who knew Gunner via fb and twitter. That is great because we can keep in touch and, as each month goes by, I will give a little background to, and explanation of, the photos I selected for that month. The BestestGundog may be gone but he will not be forgotten. 
The other objective for producing the calendar was, of course, to spread awareness of canine cancer and to raise money for further research. Hiopefully, at some future date dog owners will have more targeted help and information to deal with this devastating condition. It is the biggest single cause of death to our canine friends. I didn't know that before it took Gunner. I'm certain I'm not alone in ignorance. After deducting all costs of production I am able, thanks to your generosity, to donate well over £300 to ACT. I thank Gunner for that achievement, tho I do so wish he had not been the reason for it. xx 
Thank you all and I wish you a very Happy Christmas xxxx

Happy 1st HalfYear birthday gorgeous grandson

 

The latest addition to #TeamGunner turned 6mths of age today.The time has flown by and Skipper has changed from an awkward little pup into quite a handsome young dog. He is a lot like his dad Jaunty but there are many instances where grandad Gunner's genes shine through - not least his ability to concentrate and listen. Fingers crsssed these traits remain and develop through the next 6 months. 

Although Skipper had a short assessment from 'Him the trainer' a couple of months ago, we are off for our first real session tomorrow. He's already comfortable with the whistle instructions for 'sit', 'turn' and 'come here' and will happily hunt for or retrieve tennis balls and small dummies. He's also able to 'sit & stay' for several minutes whilst I am in sight and is growing more confident with staying put when I disappear from view. Uniquely amongst all the dogs we've had up till now he also understands  to 'lie down', something we learned together at puppy class.

It will be very interesting to see how we get on tomorrow. Up till now everything has been learned through play and I'm hoping we'll be able to continue in that way ....

That's it then

Sunrise after the storm...

Desmond, the fourth in the first season in which the met office are naming storms, wrought havoc across much of the Scottish lowlands and northern England, dumping some 11+ inches of rain on parts of Cumbria alone, during the 4th & 5th December. We were fortunate; we escaped the downpours.

A tumultous dawn....

Nonetheless, the day of our Last Ever Market -   Sunday 6th -  dawned dramatically over the Wolds, a fierce wind bending the trees and making the leaves dance across the fields. "Going to be a challenging day" I grinned to myself as I opened up the poultry palace. The chickens were not keen to come out. I didn't blame them. I couldn't help feeling I was going to get more than ruffled feathers if the wind didn't ease off a bit.
Fittingly, our Last Market outing was to the local town where we'd started out several years ago. It's not the busiest place in all the world so I didn't expect to sell out, but it's always more rewarding to come home with a 'decent' return. Over the years we've been to all manner of 'markets' in every type of weather - the combination of wind and rain is undoubtedly the worst - if everything doesn't blow off the stall, there's a fair chance that most of it will get wet. Added to which, browsing around markets is a popular hobby but one which only thrives in fine weather. As soon as the rain comes the people go!!!
Our luck held out; we were located in a sheltered street and after a smattering of dramatic gusts in the first hour the wind died down completely and the day became quite busy - familiar faces and friends not seen in a while made the time go quickly. Then it rained. And that was it really. Two or more hours of nothing much happening apart from the 'entertainment' and people promenading..... Totting up the takings over a bottle of champagne later my suspiciouns were confirmed. We'd done OK, no great shakes but no disgrace either.

Christmas Market stall 6.12.15

So - that was it. Our last market. Ever. Let's list the things I shall miss: Fine days in interesting places; being invited to attend things like the Queen's Golden Jubilee Garden Party 'Market'; talking to entertaining customers; the camaraderie of other stall holders; selling out; coming home to a well earned drink after a hard day at market; being told our pies/sausages/pate/black pudding/etc are "the best".
And the things I shall not miss: Getting up before dawn on a cold winter's day to travel to market - and not being able to feel my feet after an hour or two; leaving the animals for the day(s), being told "I can get it at half the price in Tesco (insert any other supermarket)",  missing more pleasurable events because of  markets...
More pluses than minuses....
Oh Well.... we've still a few pigs left so our options are open......
But this was Our Last Market Ever........................ honestly.............
Our Bespoke Provisions Service will still be available to customers ensuring you are not without your delicious Curly Coat products over Christmas and through to Easter  2016.

Update on Gunner's Calendar

So the calendars came back from the printer and they were superb except, of course, I keep thinking of all the photos I could have included .... and maybe I should have added captions to the pictures .... and what about all the wonderful shots I have found since that somehow I cannot remember coming across when I was looking for the "12" ..........

Pre-orders have all been shipped and sales have been good.

Hours of planning and looking through files for the most suitable photos have been more than rewarded by the heartwarming feedback  I have received as the calendars drop into people's homes.

Two weeks on and costs have been recovered so I am well into making a decent contribution to ACT - the chosen cancer charity; about a third of the calendars are still to go but we have a number of events leading up to Christmas so I'm certain they will not 'hang around'.

In addition to calendar sales people have generously made additional contributions to the charity along with paying for their calendars and a few have independently contributed via ACT's website.
Gunner would "grin" if he knew...
I'm interested to see what the final reckoning will be.....

Remembering

Do not stand at my grave and weep                      I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Mary Elizabeth Frye

2016 Gundog Calendar

It's one month today since Gunner left. It is still too hard to write about him.

2016 GUNDOG CALENDAR

However, in response to popular demand and to commemorate his life I am producing a 2016 Gundog Calendar. This will feature 12 pictures - selected with great difficulty from the thousands I took of him over his 8 years. Once I've recovered my costs, the remaining proceeds from the sale of these will be donated to canine cancer research.
The calendars will feature a picture and page per month and will cost just £5 each plus postage at cost. They will be ready at the end of September and, apart from being a personal memento, would make ideal Christmas presents.
If you would like one (or more) please contact me via twitter @bestestgundog or facebook Sylvia Codling or e:mail me at gunnersma13@gmail.com

Change is in the air.....

Wurzel, Brother to Mangal, our Founding Boar

Pepper, brother to Ginger, our Founding Sow

      














   "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another."
                 Anatole France
                 The Crime of  Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)



 
  Since 13 June 2007 this blog has enabled us to share with readers our experiences with the animals who populate this wild  woolly corner of Lincolnshire which we affectionately call RectoryReserve. Many of the stories have concerned our curly coated Mangalitza pigs. Ever since they first arrived here in April of that year they have framed and directed much of our activity. When the first two, Mangal & Wurzel, arrived we had no idea what they would lead us into. Even when we decided to "breed a litter" and brought Ginger & Pepper here, we were not aware of how our lives would be altered by their presence.
But altered they have been. From Mangal & Ginger we bred not just one but some 13 or 14 litters. They were joined by Samson and his wives and, later, Black Banana and his wives.  Many curly coats came and went, some to breeding homes elsewhere, some to 'show' homes in and out of the county and some to their final destination. We retained a herd of 3 boars and 6 sows which produced 12 litters a year - some 70-90 piglets between them. That is not many compared with commercial herds of 100's, if not 1000's, but for us it was A LOT.

Ginger with her 2nd Litter in May 2008

 We had a lot of fun. We tried very hard at the beginning to keep the piglets in with their mothers but after 3 or 4 litters we learned that we were battling against a strong force of nature. Piglets will always find a way to wander ..... 
After that it was piglet pandemonium as they free-ranged everywhere much to the astonishment of visitors, who encountered them wandering up our drive, and complete strangers who were disconcerted to bump into, or be followed by, piglets tumbling along the bridleway which borders RectoryReserve!!! 

Samson Nov. 2010 preparing a snow wallow

It wasn't just piglets who wandered! Older herd members would occasionally take it into their heads to go trotabout.... some were easier than others to persuade back 'home'. One memorable occasion was when Precious, a favourite sow, decided late one evening that she had had enough of Samson, her boar, and left him; via the high fence & ancient hedge separating our property from the bridleway. She found her way via a long and circuitous route back to the Church Field: where I saw her happily mooching about when I did my late night check! I doubt I shall ever forget the sight of her trotting happily back to me through the almost-dark night and made it clear she just wanted to get back to her own pen and ark!

Our drive Dec 2010

 More fun was had during the winter of 2010/11. Three horses, circa 80 pigs and 50 or so assorted poultry depended on us for every drop or water through I cannot remember how many frozen days and nights. 
The countryside looked moody, romantic, christmas card pretty but with livestock it was a nightmare! Well, almost!

Just a little mud!

The only source of water was the house. Three times a day we carried containers of hot - because cold would freeze before we reached the animals - water, on foot, to our 'family'.  Definitely character-building!!! At least the snow was pretty.  If you have outdoor pigs the other 'thing' you are going to experience is Mud. Not just ordinary mud. But serious mud. Curly coated pigs are active creatures. They rootle and mooch all day long. And they wallow. They are also very friendly! Throughout the wet months - which we do seem to have a lot of - they are experts at making, gathering and flinging mud everywhere.  I hadn't realised how exceedingly muddy one could become when dealing with livestock!!! For so long....... Mud affects everything else of course: walking is twice as difficult, vehicles get stuck so every task becomes 'manual' , mud sticks so everything is twice as heavy to carry or move.... etc etc. There have been times in the past 8 years when I have gone to bed at night dreading going out in the mud again the next day!

Food.....

Then there is the Food.
From the beginning we were passionate about bringing the delicious products from our Mangalitzas to the great British public. To that end we have marketed a vast range of goodies from the not-so-humble pork pie to the deliciously sybaritic air-dried ham. We have supplied famous hotels, attended small and large farmers markets, food festivals, game and country fairs and even a special Jubilee party for the Queen. It has been entertaining, gruelling, eye-opening, challenging, fun and hard work.     Looking back to 'life before pigs' neither of us would have guessed at the experiences we would gather  throughout our 'life with pigs'. We wouldn't have missed it for the world. 

...glorious food

Given 20 years in our favour we would have moved into a serious growth spurt last year. Mortality is a wicked teacher though; we realised instead that we no longer have that time, or its accompanying energy, to 'grow'.  
Last year was a difficult year in many ways; not least because we said goodbye to our boars and sows (except for Delila and Andromeda who remain). This has been the first year since 2007 that we have not been surrounded by piglets. It has been strange - and sad. 
 This winter will be our last with the curly coats, going to 'market', dealing with the admin., mud and all the activities we have grown accustomed to. 
Our goal of building a future for the Curly Coated Mangalitzas and their delicious 'products' has, hopefully, been secured. With luck, the next generation - at least in these parts - will recognise and appreciate this rare and beautiful breed.

RectoryReserve, and this blog, will continue without them. People ask us "what" we will "do" without pigs. How can we know? When the space is there, something will move in to fill it.....
Watch this space...................

 

Welcome Skipper

 Meet Skipper .....
He is beautifully bred: he is.....
 - Gunner's Grandson
 - Gunner's daughter Nell is his mother
 - Nell is Bugler'ssister
 - So Bugler is his Uncle
 - and Jaunty is his dad
 ...................................

 Needless to say we greeted him with mixed emotions.
But I believe he knows that.
He is more his grandad than he realises....
Already he chews the furniture his grandad chewed.....
and chews rug corners like his grandad did.
But: weight of expectations or no - he is definitely his own person......

That said, having had a role in his selection, I think Gunner approves.
This was the sunset on Monday night after we brought Skipper home.
Fanciful or not..... the spirits speak on......
Let's all watch how he grows ......

Four Feet

I have done mostly what most men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can't forget, if I wanted to,
Four feet trotting behind.

Day after day, the whole day through -

Wherever my road inclined -
Four Feet said, "I am coming with you"
and trotted along behind.

Now I must go by some other round -
Which I shall never find -
Somewhere that does not carry the sound
Of Four Feet trotting behind.

                                            Rudyard Kipling

Medical Update

 Late on Wednesday afternoon David, our vet, rang with results from Gunner's blood tests.

Unfortunately the red cell count is down still further - from 4.0 to 2.7. The numbers don't say much to me but David (our vet) says that's a big drop in just a month. No wonder Gunner is feeling so weak.

He asked the lab to do some extra work to confirm whether or not his red cells are regenerating. If they were we could give him a course of B12 injections, which would help fight the anaemia.
Unfortunately the lab confirmed to the contrary so there's no point giving B12. However, the low count could, apparently, indicate that he's picked up a viral infection. He's now on a 10 day course of antibiotics so hopefully they will help him.
Meanwhile, tho' he looks pale and moves at a steady trot rather than his old running around and bounding self, he still wants to join in whatever is going on.... like this afternoon with #TeamGunner group training. He looks at me most accusingly if I don't include him so I have to give him 'tasks' to do too..... making them close ones so he doesn't have to run too far without giving away that I am deliberately giving him the 'easier' options........
I don't think he's fooled...... he's just humouring me.....

Merry meanderings # 19 The Understudy

Jaunty & brother Sept.2012

 One of Gunner's twitterpals @Sjnwoh asked if maybe I could tell a few stories to illustrate how norty Jaunty is. Or maybe why I call him the Norty... or, latterly, the Not-so-Norty.

It's only fair to start with a bit of context.

Gunner & Jaunty Oct 12

As soon as Gunner started working as a bushbeating dog he was 'marked' by a number of colleagues as a potential mate for their bitches. At 18 months he was too young but when he got to three years old, 4 serious proposals came forward. Since they were all working girls the timing was critical. Their 'dads' obviously didn't want the girls to miss the working end of the year so we were dependent on them coming into 'season' out of 'season'! In his 4th year those two circumstances did not occur! In his 5th year one of the possible mates sadly suffered a heart attack on the very last day of the shooting season. That year also our local shoot - the first we worked on - closed down; one of the bitches' dads worked on this shoot and he decided the future was too uncertain for him to breed another pup. Exit wife number 2.  Wife number 3 was the wonderful Meg - Bugler's mother - but that year she failed to 'take' on mating and had a phantom pregnancy.
Omens were not good.
Gunner was already 5. I was keen to have a pup who would understudy, and eventually take over from, him when got to an age where beating wasn't going to be the best option.

Gunner and Jaunty Oct 12

Clearly this mating business was too uncertain and time was passing.....  Gunner and I were not getting any younger!!!

Laundry maid Nov 2012

Taking the bull by the horns I decided to buy a pup. For the first time ever I looked into breeding 'lines' and pedigrees - and googled what litters were available. It had to be in 2012 - I wasn't prepared to wait another year! There were only 2 possibilities. One was in Cumbria; pups sounded good but a long way off from us. The other was in Norfolk - not far from my mother. Useful. I went to visit; they were just 2 weeks old. I went back 3 more times before finally deciding which of the two black & white brothers (in the first photo) to have. Jaunty just had a little extra something about him!!!! On October 21st 2012 we fetched him home. He was the perfect puppy. As soon as we arrived home I put the blanket he'd travelled in on my lap into his crate... he followed and immediately it was "his place". (Contrast with Bugler who had to be cajoled and persuaded into his - or Gunner even, who never ever settled in his). Jaunty would happily stay in there, eat his dinner in there, sleep in there all night long... he still happily spends a lot of time and takes his 'treasures' or dinner in there.... He wasn't particularly difficult to housetrain - although sometimes he simply 'couldn't be bothered' to do the right thing. I went

Ahhhh - so innocent & helpless Nov 2012

through a lot of newspaper and he didn't get beyond the kitchen until he was about 9 months old. He learned quickly though and was lovable to have around - everything was worthy of closer examination!!!! He got on well with Gunner and would follow him around everywhere, snuggling down when the opportunity arose. I don't remember him ever being an 'ear' nuisance. He was such a character that I started a file: "Things about Jaunty" -
- He chases leaves
- He tries to catch snowflakes
- He looks for the snowflakes when they fall on the snow

 "What's going on over there?"

 

- He stopped at the first sniff of new mown grass....
etc etc

I was confident that He would be the perfect Understudy; his pedigree was almost entirely red for all 5 generations; he was energetic, intelligent, lovable and keen.  He and Gunner got on really well with each other....
The future looked rosey.  They're both good looking dogs and would make a handsome pair .....
My expectations were high......

Me and my pal Gunner 11.12

 When Jaunty was 6 months old, Wife Number 4 came back to visit Gunner.
This time Meg has a faultless pregnancy and delivered 6 bouncing pups. That's timing for you. There was never any doubt that we would have one of the pups. The long awaited son of Gunner,
Bugler was born April 23 2013 (the same day that wife no 5 came to mate with Gunner. Molly delivered 9 pups but since she was not a working girl I never considered having one of them).  He came to live with us at the end of June. Jaunty took to him straight away and they soon became a team - known as "the pups" ever since.

A few months later I started referring to them as #TeamGunner.... and making all sorts of plans..............................

"How is Gunner?"

 We've had so much support from all Gunner's pals around the world on Twitter.
One of his followers suggests that there is a power in the combined spirit which supports us through hard times and I am beginning to believe that.
He's certainly amazed me.
It's almost a month since the Big C diagnosis. That day in Grimsby I really thought that, with so much rubbish going on inside him, he wouldn't be with us for more than a few days - a week at most.

 Yet here he is- pulling at my heartstrings more as each day goes by.
Anyway.... we went back to our vet this morning. I'm very lucky in not having had anything to do with cancer before now. I needed some reassurance about how to best look after my old pal.
As we walked through the door into his consulting room the vet said:
"I was only thinking about Gunner yesterday: to be honest I'm surprised to see him at all, never mind looking so 'well'"
It seemed that the report from the Grimsby specialist had made him believe (as it did me) that Gunner was not long for this world!

 David (our very sympatico vet) checked him all over: I mentioned a 'gunky ear' which had suddenly developed but which I'd cleaned up - much to Gunner's annoyance - on Sunday. He has a bit of infection - the steroids weaken the immune system so anything nasty that's going will take hold quicker. Note to myself to keep a closer eye on him - which will annoy him too cos he's not a dog that likes any sort of fuss!
Too bad Hey? He'll really love the Eardrops twice a day!!
The other thing I was not liking is the 'dandruff'

which he has developed. This too is down to the steroids.
I asked about bathing with baby shampoo. Gunner's face fell.
Luckily David also poo-pooed that idea.
"Give him fish oil and Evening Prrimrose oil; they have a dynamic interaction which will help  his immune system and his skin..."
The things we learn from our dogs.......
On the plus side, despite his bony appearance, Gunner's weight has remained much the same and 2 or 3 meals a day will 'do no harm'. He liked that bit!
His heart is beating strongly and his lungs are working better than expected. Having always been a fit and healthy dog is definitely working in his favour.......
David has taken some blood; "It's thin but still has a good colour" - we should get results back later tomorrow or Thursday morning....
We'll have a better idea then how he is getting on.....

Meanwhile, we carry on as 'normal' as we can. Gunner still enjoys his Struns (think strollxrun), his hunting instinct is not diminished if his energy and speed are! Main change is that, now if he finds some manky bit of rabbit or bird in the undergrowth, he is inclined to eat it rather than bring it straight to me as he's always done in the past.
That's the steroids again though - making him constantly hungry.
Ah well, we can't have everything......

Merry meanderings #18 More curly coats ......

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

"So the piggies was here a while and they were all together and they were lovely. The Big Boss and Her did start to learn about pigs and their habits and much they did read in books and magazines.......
People did keep comin to see 'em which was fun.
In those days the Big Boss and Her did used to go shoppin in the Lincoln city.
One day they did go as usual, and, as usual when they did come home, they did go to feed the piggies.

Ginger and piglets

Usually when piggies know it is feed time, they come runnin' - like me at the moment, they is always hungry.
But only three piggies did come runnin' on this afternoon.... Then, all of a sudden, Ginger did rush out of the ark, do a twizzle, make a funny noise and did dash back into her ark.
"What's up with Her" Said The Big Boss?
"I don't know" said She who must etc....
Well, the other piggies did get on with eatin' their feed and still Ginger did not come back....
"You'd better go and look in the ark and see what's wrong with her" suggested the Big Boss.
He's always good with suggestions for other peeps to do.
So She did clamber over the fence and did go to the ark....
And she did cry out in alarm.....

Are you my mummy?

"We've got piglets, we've got piglets!!!"
"That's not possible" did say the Big Boss.
"They're definitely piglets!" She did say  "What do we do now???"
"I don't know" said the Big Boss "I haven't read that Chapter yet....."

Well, they did learn very quickly what to do with piglets! But the first thing they did learn was that piggies is ready to make piglets much earlier than the peeps .... and that was a very good lesson indeed and one they (mostly) did not forget over the next 8 years...... "

"And that could be a story for another evenin.............  perhaps!"

Merry Meanderings # 17 "So, why curly coat pigs....

"This is another one of those frequently asked questions..... all the time peeps do say - "Why you got curly coat piggies?"
It's a bit of a shaggy dog story so I hopes you all sittin' comfortably..

Mangal & wurzel 05/07

Once upon a time there was a native Lincyshire piggie... it was famous for bein' huge and fat and hairy - hairier than a spannl - . It was called the Lincolnshire Curly Coated pig and many people in this part of the world did have one at the bottom of their garden. They would love it lots and feed it more... Sometimes the pig would be 'paid' to a family in exchange for their labours so many people did call it a Wage Pig.  It did make them feel good if they could make that pig the biggest piggie in the neighbourhood,
"The bigger my piggie, the bigger my position" would say the person....
Some piggies were very huge indeed - local mythology do put some of them at 40 stone - don't know how big that is but I only 24kg and I am not small.... so it an awful lot of spannls....
Now.. I say "were" because there are no more of these huge great piggies in the world - not one... not anywhere.

Ginger & Pepper 05/07

But before there were not any of these piggies anywhere a large number of the female curly coated Lincyshire piggies went to Hungary (which is where I am all the time nowadays - so I not really understand how bit fat hairy piggies who no longer live here once went to where I am now..... odd...). But I gettin' off the story.
The Lincyshire piggies what did go to Hungary went there because the local pig in that part of the world was in danger of disappearing forever too. It was after the big fight which the peeps do call World War 1 and the starving people did eat nearly all the piggies....

Saying god nite to the anipals

So An Important Person in Hungary did look all over the world for a piggy that was like his piggies so that he could marry them together. He found the curly coats in Lincyshire and he was a happy man and did buy many of them.  The 'new' piggies were called Lincalitzas because his piggies were called Mangalitzas. Five state-run breeding stations were made for the new piggies and family trees were recorded and the people were very proud of their new piggies.
But then there was another big fight and after that new people did take over the country and did trash all the breeding stations and get rid of all the Family Tree records and the pigs all became known as Mangalitzas because now no person could tell which was Lincalitza and which was not.....
Time passed and the Big Boss, who has always loved piggies, heard that a man who loved rare breed piggies was trying to import some of these rare Mangalitzas from Austria and he did think it would be wonderful to bring the Curly Coats back to Lincyshire.... He offered his help to the man.
And so it came to pass that eventually the Mangalitza piggies did arrive in the South of England, and the Big Boss did go down to 'see' them and did come home with two.

Curly Coat pigs return to Heckington Show 07/07

She (who must be obeyed) was not displeased but pigs not being Her thing, nor was she over the moon....
However She did say that it was a shame to have two such very rare piggies and just fatten them for the kitchen! (I think sometines maybe She did wish She had kept her mouth shut - She quite often wish that - but that another story...)
Well, he needed no more persuading - within a matter of weeks the Big Boss did arrange for
the boys, Mangel & Wurzel to be joined by Ginger and her brother Pepper. They were all young and friendly and we all did love them.

Paparazzi pigs 08/07

And the local people were all so happy because the Big Boss did bring the Curly Coat Pig back to Lincyshire after 40 or more years...... The piggies was in all the papers and on all the TVs and radios ... it was A Very Big Thing in these parts --- and it all did happen around the time I did come to live here so piggies have always been in my life.....


There is more to this story but that be the next chapter ............................

Merry Meanderings #16 How did I get to be a beatin dog?

This is another question a lot of peeps do ask. Just How did I get to be a bushbeatin dog? I mean - a number of chaps might say "I want to go bushbeating" but, to be honest, I has never heard that. It is not a thing that a dog does think.

Not quite the finished article - yet

Well, one day when I was still young & had not nearly finished my schooling She was takin' us - that's me, my Pal Lancer and the Bossy Pilot, for a run across the fields. To be honest, Pilot wasn't really with us. He never was when we went for a run; he did do his own thing, keepin' an eye on where we all was and managing to go in the same general direction. Lancer, being a Good Example, stayed close all the time.
Anyway, we was goin' across a big field near the road what does go into the village and a car stopped. A strange, ruddy faced roundish sort of friendly man did call out:
"You ever do any pickin' up with those dogs?"
She was very surprised.
"Might do one day with the youngster" She did say "but he's not finished his trainin' yet, so I don't know"
"Well, if you want to give it a try, give me a shout!" and off he did go.
We didn't see him again for ages.

Waiting for the off......

Some of our 'mates' waiting for the off

Time and my schoolin' did go on.

Then one day, I was practisin "heel" walkin' along the road with Her and the same man did stop by in his car.
"You thought any more about what I said"
"I have" She said "This one's quite a steady dog I'm told, so we might be able to do something?"
"I'll let you know when we're starting and you bring him with you up to the yard"
And that was it really.
I don't know when he did tell her when was the right time but Winter did come and one day we did go up to the Yard.
It was all very strange; for Her as well as for me. The ruddy faced friendly man was there and did thank Her for comin; I heard someone call him Plum - later I did hear peeps call him a lot of other names too. I soon learned that he was the keeper and was 'in charge' which meaned he did do a lot of shouting and rude words.... but he was a good man and did also larf a lot. I liked him. He'd say:
"Gunner do this; Gunner do that. What you gonna do today Gunner!" and he'd larf....
She was the only one who wasn't a HuMan and I was worried. But all the men were very friendly men - they did try to fuss me but I soon showed them that fuss was not my thing. Then they did give me my space. There was just one that I did let scratch my bum; he was called Bob - you can just see him sittin' in the wagon in the second picture. He did go otrb two years ago now. He was a funny man - a lot like my pal Tony - always jokin and makin the other peeps larf. She did get on well with him once She did get to know him...
He did say to her one day soon after we started 'workin' with them:
"I'll give you 25 quid for that dog of yours!". She did get annoyed! That made him larf..... Sometimes if he did really want to "rile" Her he would say:
"Give you a tenner for that dog".....
He was my mate though; always if a bird got lost he would say :
"Come 'ere Gunner" or to Her : "Bring that dog of yours over 'ere!"
"Gunner'll find it" he'd say to the other chaps "won't you Gunner"..... Usually I did.

Switchin off between drives

The peeps that did meet at that yard did all enjoy themselves and made a happy atmosphere. We did go there two days a week for my first 5 seasons. For the first few weeks it was our only workin' place but one day a man with a gun did ask Her if we could help him at his shoot. So we did go. It was very different; no shouting and games inbetween the work but I did like it because I was the only dog for a year or two..... On the first shoot there were always lots of other dogs and all of them were not very well behaved and they did larf at me for listenin' to Her all the time..... one or two of them did try to pinch birds from me when I did find them. Rude! I did put them down if they wanted to argue with me.... They used to run all over the place and not stay with their peeps.  She did get very angry with them but the peeps was the bad ones cos they did not stop their dogs being norty. The dogs was just havin' fun instead of workin. Wasn't their fault.

Best behaved, best looking, Bestest Gundog

Soon we went to work at another shoot and again I was the only dog - that was the shoot where I got the big stick stuck up my nose.... As the seasons went by I did work on more shoots; I was a very happy workin dog altho the Big Boss did often say She let me work too often. I not know what that meaned.
She always did say we owed it all to that nice man with the ruddy face and the loud shoutin voice.

We was sad 2 years ago when that shoot did stop because we missed all our old pals and the fun we used to have.  Not always easy bein' a workin' dog."