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."

Merry Meanderings #15 What I did today - the thing up the drain

 "I was out helpin' Her feed the anipals their breakfast this mornin' when A Very Interestin Smell caught my attention.
I did follow the smell and I did come to the drain by the steps that do go down to the Church Field. It's called the Church Field because the peeps did buy it from the Church when they first did move here cos they needed more space for the anipals - but that's not this story.
I spent quite a lot of time sniffin' up the drain tryin to work out what was up there... it was a very strange smell indeed and did tickle my

 interest exceedingly.
She did come back and seein' what I was up to She did tell me to "Leave"
But quite honestly chaps, it was that interestin' I decided to risk bein just a little bit deaf.
So I carried on. But in order to get closer to the interestin smell I had to move a red pipe thing first.
That didn't take much time - I scrabbled my paws very hard and fast and the red pipe thing did fall away.

She was watchin' me.  She could see I was serious. This what make me a best gundog - once I smell somethin I not give up till I finds it. I am a very dogged gundog.
The smell was still up the pipe. A long way. I decided I needed to dig around the white pipe to get closer..... I did dig a lot. She doesn't like it when I dig:
"You are not a digging Dog" She do say when I dig. But I carried on diggin' anyhow.
She was gettin' into the spirit of the 'chase' now though and did

 offer some useful advice. Well, She did think it was useful. She did say I should stand back in case the thing did come runnin down the pipe and straight into my face.
I stood back.
And looked.
Nothin' came down the pipe.
I looked very long and hard.
But still nothin' came down the pipe.

 I decided to get in closer to have another look up the pipe.
So I looked.
And looked.
I could see nothin' but I could smell somethin' very interestin'

"What is it?" She said.
Well, it smelled like rat or maybe rabbit.... I think it was rabbit. I did see some baby rabbits in the yard yesterday.

 Maybe they were up the pipe.
I started to tear bits of the white pipe away to get to The Smell.
She wasn't too happy with that idea.
"No" She did say "I've got another idea".
You will gather pals that She is full of ideas.
Not all of them good ones.
But this one did seem to have legs so I stood back like She said.
She did go up the steps and turn on the water.
And She did let it run down the drain to where I would have got a
face full if I hadn't taken Her advice and moved.
But no matter how much water she did let run down the drain, nothin' did come out.
"Can't be a rabbit" I thort to myself. They not like the wet very much so would soon scamper out.
Might be a rat.....
But nothin' did come out so She did go and turn off the water.

I went back down to the end of the pipe for another look.
Still the smell was there. But it wasn't any closer.
I looked and sniffed and looked some more.
But nothin' did come down the pipe.
Finally She did tell me to
"Seriously Leave It Gunner!"
Well, I not an experienced dog for nothin'; I know when my time is up. I left it. Nothin' more was gonna happen anyhow......

Know what I think?
The Thing is not in the pipe.
It's next  to the pipe.
So tomorrow, when She's feedin' the anipals, I is gonna do some more investigatin.............
Know what I mean....????"

Merry meanderings #14 Movin' Two Fat Ladies...

Keeping an eye on piglets - 2008

 "All my pals does know that my second most important job is mindin piggies: whenever there be 'things to do with piggies' goin on, you will find me there in the thick of it.
Yesterday was a case in point. The peeps was off to fetch two young ladies from what they calls a "custodian" - that is a peep who do love pigs and looks after them from when they leave their mummies till they go on their final journey.
There was no way I was gonna stay home, tho' She did try to make me do that. But the sun was not shinin' so I did win the toss and off we did go. It was a long journey, made worse cos of roadworks but eventually we did get 'there'. As usual, the peeps had told the custodian not to feed the piggies for 24 hours. Usually this do make the piggies more amenable to the idea of gettin' in the trailer - they gets bribed with food and we all know how powerful that is as a way of gettin us to do things we might otherwise not do.

Two fat ladies 24-7-15 Wrong side of gate as usual

Well it did not look good.
The piggies was asleep in their ark when we arrived.
"They do sleep a lot" said the custodian as she went off to fetch the feed-trough; "but they always come when they see food!"
I settled down to watch the fun. "Those pigs goin nowhere fast" I said to myself.
I was right.
Linda did go and give them a nudge and slowly they did lumber out of their ark; and slowly they did lumber after the trough.
I larfed tho cos they did not want to get into the trailer - food or no food.
My Person did not larf: she did look at the piggies as if She not able to believe her eyes:
"Goodness, they are huge.. they are so big they look just like the old Lincolnshire Curly Coat pig!"
The custodian lady did look a little embarrassed at this: "Are they really too big?" She did say. She did not get an answer - least not that I did hear and there be nothin wrong with my ears.....
The hairiest lady did lie down and go to sleep; she clearly was not hungry. But the part-still-woolly one was clearly even more not-hungry cos she did drift away, thinkin' to go back to sleep in her ark.
She was not allowed to do that. The peeps did gather hurdles and 'encourage' her to turn back in direction of the trailer. She was very slow to do so.
The hairier piggie, in the meantime, did decide maybe she had room for a little morsel and did shuffle slowly in the direction of the trailer.  Her sisfur did decide to go with her. But when she got close she did change her mind and swing away again leavin the hairy one to shuffle into the trailer, where she did happily spend a lot of time slowly eatin' her food.

Trailer looks a bit small......

And then it did get interestin cos the not so hairy one did not want to go to the trailer. I think I could have herded her in but the peeps not let me (a) cos these piggies was huge (did squish Linda's foot when it got under a trotter) and might flatten me and (b) cos She not want me runnin around on account I runs out of breath easily these days.
The big fat piggie could not run, but if a pig don't wanna go - a pig don't go. And this one not wanna go nowhere. I did watch as the peeps did make a hurdle pen round the piggie and gradually persuade her that she really did want to go into the trailer. It was a very slow  thing to do but nothin faster could be done cos the piggie did take much persuadin.

Two fat ladies finally together in the trailer

If you wanna know what piggies do teach peeps it is Patience. That also why I able to sit still and wait so well - I has been tort by the piggies these past 8 years. Never chase a piggie - it never do what you want then.
I digress.
Back to yesterday
After very much slow patient urgin with the hurdles the fat piggie did get inched, and I do mean inched, into the trailer - without takin a grain of food. The hairy pig had got so fed up, in both ways, that she had long ago lay down and fallen asleep.
The peeps was much relieved when the 2nd piggie did get in the trailer and they did shut the doors.

Just had to check they was both inside.....

I went to make sure they was both inside - the second piggie was lookin to see if any food was left now but the first piggie did hog the lot. Not a grain was there. No wonder she was fast asleep.
So the second piggie did lie down - it was a tight squeeze - and go to sleep too.
Good thing it summer otherwise I don't think the Big Boss could have got that trailer out of the field with all that heavy pig in it....... Anyway, we did all get back in the car for the journey home with the piggies snorin away in the trailer......

Job done - Goin home now.....

It was a slow journey and the peeps did keep their paws crossed that the Big Boss did not have to stop on a hill cos they did not think the car strong enough to pull up from stop... ! But we did get home safely.
And when we wanted to let the piggies out of the trailer to go into the barn... they did not move. When I went with Her to check the anipals before bedtime, they were still asleep. And this morning they were still asleep. And this afternoon too.....
Their custodian lady was far to kind to them - she did feed them till all they want to do is sleep.  And then sleep some more.....
Not like all our piggies here ... but that another story......

Merry meanderings # 13 Not that kind of dog

All the essentials in the boot 5-4-09

 "Now.. you has all heard the talk about my Boy Bugler and The Understudy goin off and doin Workin Tests. They's both been pretty stuck up about it - my Boy Bugler even get a bit big -headed just cos he got papers. (OK I know - I am a proud daddy and he is a chip off the old block but I ain't let on to him about this little story or he'd be tooooooooo much).

Gettin a pep talk 5-4-09

Off to the 'off'

"Well, back in the day when I was just a young whippersnapper with no idea of what excitement my life did hold in store for me, I too did spend a spring doin "workin tests". She did say it was the kind of thing a would-be bestest gundog should do so off we went - Her & me & the Big Boss. As soon as I did get in the boot I smelled something odd: all those 'things' we were takin. Where were we goin? We did go a long way in the car and when we got to There it was just as I'd thort - a very suspicious place. Lots of cars and dogs with their peeps. All looking very serious.
"Not a good sign" I said to myself.
But She did tell me it was ok and that I should just be brave and be myself and all would be fine.
I went along with that. All us dogs and our peeps then left the cars - and we left the Big Boss ("Not my thing" he said - I grew a little uneasy when I did hear that.)
I did not know what was coming. This was not like anything I had done before in my time. I was very suspicious.
But I did go with her quietly.
I didn't see much of what was goin on 'cept a dog would go off with its person to do something and then come back and the next would go.
Soon enough I found out what they was doin tho cos it was my turn.
I went with her into the woods and she made me sit, then did take my lead off and give me my usual instruction:-
"Go seek!" She did say.
"Do what????" I said
Well, She did repeat Herself.
I looked around, at the wood ahead, at the strange human standin' next to Her, at the other strange peeps either side behind her - ahead at the wood again.
"You want me to go huntin' as if I'd not a care in the world and leave you? Here? With these strange humen? You has gotta be jokin?"
I gave Her my best serious I-cannot-do-that look.
But "Go Seek!" She did say again.
"Ahhhaa" I said to myself. She did mention Test when She was talkin to the Big Boss. This  must be the Test.
She was tryin' to see if I would look after Her through thick & thin, stick close to Her when there was Danger about.
Well, I was gonna make sure I passed that Test cos She my Person and I Her bestestgundog..... I stick with Her through Everythin......... There were a few smells of interest so I did just sneak a few paw lengths to either side of her - but no way was I goin' further than that. Didn't want her to worry about the strange humen.

Focus!

After I did pass that test a man did fire a gun; I looked; he did throw a dummy into the bushes. Well, I knew that She did love nothin more in all the world than when I did bring her somethin. So when She did tell me to "go fetch" I thort that since She was so stressed, I'd go get that dummy fast as I could and bring it back to Her and make Her smile. So that what I did. The strange human did say:
"He's got a good nose" and She did smile even more.
I s'pose I passed that test too then.
And then it was our turn to leave the wood. I was so relieved that I had looked after Her so well and not let Her down.
We did do two more tests after this one. Each time it was the same: long journey, lots of strange dogs and peeps and havin to do the things in the woods. I sensed that She was a little more comfortable with the strangers so, when She did say "Go seek", I did go just slowly a little way away from her for the second test; She said I was a good boy after so I spose I did judge it right. I trieved the dummys even quicker. The last time we went I thort I could go a little further away from Her when She gave me my instruction because She did look quite relaxed - but I not went far or fast cos I wanted to make sure I was still close enough to Her to keep my eye on Her and the strange humen. She told me again I was good boy and, again, I did please Her with givin' Her the dummys very fast.
"He'll make a good beatin dog" the judge did say when I finished my last test.
She was over the moon. I had passed all the tests. I was already a good beatin dog but now the Judge had told me I would be one She was really really pleased.
That's humans for you!"
Now - since I did pass all my tests and not bring home papers, just What Did My Boy Bugler get papers for??????
Obviously I not that kind of dog............................."

Merry Meanderings #12 Three mousies and two Weasels

"
When I was tellin you about the indoor huntin which Waifacat did provide for me I did mention the time she brought in many mousies and  weasels in one day. I gonna tell you that story now....

"You lookin at me?" WaifaCat 20/7/15

A few years ago the very Senior mother of The Big Boss was in a place where she needed to be looked after. The Big Boss's people did come here often to stay so they could visit the Senior mother.  One of these peeps was what I would call "a town person": she not one to pick up a fork in the stable (though she did pick up forks quite happily in the house) and help; I never did see her in those rubber boot things what my Person do wear all the time. She was not really a doggy person either though she was always kind enough in an odd way. Just always talked to us like we were 'foreign bodies'.
Anyway, WaifaCat did not have much time for the strange peeps and did mostly just walk through the room they were in and go about her business as if nopawdy there.
"One day as all the peeps was sittin at the table and eatin their first meal, Waifa did stroll through and drop somethin on the floor: the Town Person did see this and suddenly made a very loud sharp noise and point.
Well, that seemed to me a signal so I did go where she did point - and there was a mousy just runnin behind our sofa! I did catch it and give it to my person. And the peeps did carry on eatin and talkin.
A little while later WaifaCat did stroll through and put somethin down on the floor again. The Town Person did make the loud sharp noise again and pointed to a cupboard. I did trot over to investigate. I larfed cos there was another mouse in the corner.
I did catch it and give it to my Person.
And the peeps, after a little while of making silly noises, did settle down and carry on doin what they were doin.
I went back to sleep.

Soon I heard a little noise and the pesky cat did come into the kitchen again with another mouse which she did put down on the floor under the table where the peeps were all sittin.. This time the Town Person did jump up and she was angry and she did make much fuss and noise and did leave the room. I caught the mouse again and did give it to my person - again - and I did give Waifacat a 'Look'. She did pull a face at me, Honest she did.

Pilot oblivious to the peeps

Puddy Cat in sun puddle

Well the visiting people did go off to see the Senior person and the rest of us did go about as we usually do.
Later the peeps did come back and everypawdy did sit outside cos it was a lovely day.
The Town Person had become normal again and was talkin and talkin.
Pilot and Puddy Cat snoozed in the sun while the peeps talked.  The town person did talk about the mornin mousies and say how much she scared of them and then she talked about a cat from her town who fetched its person a weasel. WaifaCat was gone.

WaifaCat's weasel

Well, the afternoon did go on and then my person did see WaifaCat coming up to the front of the house where we was all sitting with something in her mouth - which she did take into the house and put down on the floor.  It did half smell - worse than anythin I has ever smelled before..... When my person did come in and see it she did be very surprised. "A Weasel!" she did say. And She did take it back outside to show all the peeps.The Town person did make sharp noises again. Lots of them.  Well, I did larf but WaifaCat was not pleased. My person did take the weasel away and Waifa wanted to take it further into the house to give to the Town person herself - she didn't realise everyone was out in the garden!
Well, WaifaCat was a wild cat before she did come to live with us. She not one bit stupid. She did disappear again. For a long time. All the peeps did go indoors and do indoor things and much later, much later indeed they was eatin and the Cat did come back from her huntin.
"You watch this" she said to me as she walked past with another weasel in her mouth - I know it was one cos it did smell as sharp as the first one. And I did watch that clever cat. She walked past me into the kitchen and under the table.
"Errrugh" said the town woman very sharply.... as WaifaCat did put the smell weasel down on the floor under the table where that woman was sittin.............. and that woman did make some very sharp strange noises again. I think she did not like the weasel.
Well, it was all too much for all the other peeps. They did larf and larf and cat did look so very pleased because for the first time the town woman did see the pressie which she had brought in for her.
"See" Waifa said to me "She make all that noise cos she is really pleased with my pressie... she know it special and she did say about that other cat who was so clever and did fetch a weasel. Well I a very clever cat - cos I did catch her two............"

She never did catch another one. She never did go near the town person again when that person came to stay. I don't know why and she not tell me, but I think I can guess..............!
Bet you all can too."

Merry meanderings #11 What is a Gundog?

Martin shoot 28-12-2012

"My twitterpal Winston T Whippett from Massachusetts US of A did ask a very good question the other day.
Such a good question that I thort I would make the answer the theme of my story tonite...
What was his question?
"What is a gundog? Can you tell me something about that please?" he did say.
"So, with apologies to all my pals who do know better than me, I tell you what I think a Gundog do be.......
"Basically it be a dog what does work for the 'Gun' - that is, of course, not The Gun what does go "bang!" but for the human or huwoman who do carry a gun and want to shoot something with it for sport - not cos they is nasty people. The somethings that they shoot are pheasants, partridge, grouse,duck, geese, rabbit, hare & sometimes - tho not in our part of the world - deer. They not do this all the time but only in what they call the "season" which do start on 12 August with Grouse and go through till 31 January.
There are many different jobs which a gundog do have to do and there are a number of different dogs which do work as gundogs.
The dogs is grouped into:-
Spaniels - which might be Springers, like #TeamGunner, cockers, Welsh, Clumber, Field (these v.rare now), and Water (also rarely seen), Brittany (rarely seen)
Retrievers - which are Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Flatcoat Retrievers, Setters - English and Irish
and 
Hunt, Point & retrieve dogs - which include Vizlas, English Pointers, German Pointers (which are either wire haired or short haired), Weimaraners and some others which don't come readily to my mind cos I not seen them about here.

Greetham Shoot 15-12-2011

The Retrievers' work is the easiest to explain: when a bird is shot, wherever it do land (dead or still alive & runnin - which is often pretty darned fast considerin how it got to its legs from the air) it is the job of the retriever to find it and bring it back to the human - quickly and cleanly (it not very good form to find the bird and then go on a little exploration with it.... not good form either to taste even the teeniest bit of the creature)

 Same applies to ground game - rabbits and hares. Tho' they never do drop from the sky! But they can still scarper pretty quick when they is not well shot...
Until the creature is shot, the retriever don't have nothin' to do but sit quietly and wait. It must therefore be a very patient dog. When it is not sitting and waiting but is walking somewhere with its human it must walk by that human's side at all times. Without a lead.
The job of the Hunt, Point & Retrieve dogs is to hunt over a broad area of land - think of a 5 acre field and the dog might be going from side to side in a pattern not  many miles away from it's person. When it sniff game (that's the birds and 4 legged ones too) it must stop instantly and lift one front leg to indicate where the 'game' do be. It then must wait till the 'Gun' do come close to it - which might take a while depending on the conditions underfoot - and then, on command from it's person, must flush that game so the peep with the gun can shoot it. When given the instruction it must then go and retrieve that game - the same rules applying as to the Retrievers mentioned above. Simple really. *Rushes & hides under table in case any HPR pals comes to beat me up for gettin in wrong*

Waiting for the 'off we go' Fulletby shoot Dec 2011

The job of the spaniel is to find all the game for the peeps to shoot, in every kind of terrain and weather. It must hunt methodically about 10 yards or so either side of its person sniffin out the game wherever it do be and when it find it, it must not chase it but must  'see it away' and then get on with findin more game. When it do come across shot game which has dropped in the area it must pick that up and take it back to its person - uneaten. It must do this for as long as it is told and then must stop and stay with its person till the next 'hunt' begins. Quite often it is asked to help find lost game which the retrievers can't find or if they are not anywhere near where the game is lost.
That be it basically.
The way I sees it, we spaniels have the most work to do cos we is on the go most of the time and the hunting can be quite hard if there be lots of thick bramble and woodland to go through. We certainly does get very fit by the end of the 'Season'.
A steady dog - one that sticks to its job and don't get excited and flibberty jibbery and chase everythin' is worth its weight in gold. I have always been a very steady hard worker which is why I is called The Bestest Gundog."

There you have it Winston - that's Gundogs in a nutshell tho I happily answer any questions chaps might have. About this or any other subject on which I might have some knowledge......."

Merry meanderings # 10 Health check

Gunner June 2014

It'll be two weeks on Tuesday that we got the diagnosis of Gunner's cancer.
On the drive home from the vet that afternoon I was certain that Gunner had only a very short time left with us. The vet almost said it would be kindest to put him out of his misery there and then!

Gunner 19 July 2015

What a good job I suggested
bringing him home for what little time he had left! The following day, having checked with our own vet that it was OK, I started Gunner on 5mg of steroids once a day, a few days later upping the dose to twice a day. Since then he has perked up to the point where, if I hadn't seen the pictures of his insides for myself, I would not believe how 'ill' he really is. For the past 4 or 5 days I have more or less had to restrain him from doing too much because it affects his breathing if he runs around too much! His lungs occupy only about a quarter of the space they should. He doesn't actually want to run but he certainly trots very quickly from A to B and his interest in just about everything else in his world has increased almost to where it was before he felt poorly! He even insists in joining in with the youngsters for "group training" where he patiently waits for his turn and if I try and give him something 'easy' to do he gives me a very knowing look and moves exceedingly slowly in the direction I have asked him to go! On the other hand if I give him a 'normal' task he goes with utmost speed! He never was a daft or lazy dog and he's not going to start being one now!!!

Gunner & Bugler 16 June 15

I know that he isn't actually well but it is difficult to reconcile his much improved state with what I know to be the true state of affairs.

Gunner June 2014

Four weeks ago his appetite, to give another example, was definitely suppressed - he would approach his food with little interest and eat maybe a half of what was in his bowl. The difference in expression between June last year and June this year shows how depressed he was just a month ago. Today his appetite is such that he gladly ate twice the ration he would have eaten this time last year and was still looking for more. This is a well known effect of steroids but since the cancer 'eats' away at the flesh and he is beginning to look rather bony, I'm happy for him to eat as much as he wants!
He can hardly believe his luck. It's almost a case of :
"Ask and you shall receive........."
All I'm really saying is that, thanks to the steroids, the dog does not appear now to feel ill. I've never lived with a cancer patient before so I don't know how typical this is. It does, however, create an amount of emotional turmoil. Part of me is relieved that Gunner is 'relieved' and wants to believe that actually he is going to be fine. Yet I know that is not the case and it's only a matter of time. More turmoil because how much time? I can't forget how 'sick' he is inside but I'm certainly not going to let that colour the rest of his days/months/years with us - particularly when he is being such a bright little button himself.
As a big "thank you" to Gunner for being the dog he is I am going to try my damnedest to treat him like the dog he has always been. That way he won't know the difference - and he deserves that ....

Merry meanderings #9 Indoor huntin

Waifa December 2010

Waifa December 2010

"You all know my catpal Waifa? She not been here all my life but she certainly been around for a long time now. She was Pilot's pal when he still here but since he went she did adopt me. Like She did adopt the Peeps. We not know where she did come from but one day the Humum did see somethin on the bird table; and the next day there it was again; and the next;and the next. And then one night the stranger was in the hen house - and ran off quickly. But she stayed around and gradually over many months she did gain confidence & moved from the hen house to the shed to the porch to the scullery to ----- the rest of the house! Now she be the boss & go where she like..... pfft. We has spent a lot of time educatin her but before she did learn how to behave indoors she was forever bringin her playmates indoors. Least I

Waifa's rabbit May 2011

think they was mates cos she'd bring them home and let them run around all over the place.

It's behind there, honest

She'd bring them home and drop them on the floor and they would run all over the house. Sometimes they was mousies but mostly they was bunnies. Waifacat always when she do bring somethin indoors do give a special

No - it behind here now

squawk. Then the cry would go out:
"Gunner -  go fetch.."

Out with the pesky thing

And off I'd go, huntin' all over the house for the mostly rabbit. It would always go behind somethin where the peeps couldn't see it. I s'pose they was scared babbits cos they would run from one place to the other and I would run after them to try and get them and sometimes peeps did have to move the furniture but always in the end I did catch it and give it to Her and She would put the pesky thing out. I still  not know if Waifa did do it to give me some work to do - cos mostly it was always in the time when I wasn't 'really workin' or if she did do it just to be norty.
She still do it now but not so often..... there was a day when we did have visitors and she did bring in 5 mousies and a weasel in one day.... but that another story.
She a funny catpal....

Merry meanderings #8 Power napping

1/11/14 Woodhall shoot "Do I have to put up with this?"

1/11/14 Woodhall shoot "Just havin a power nap*

 "Any workin' dog will tell you that theirs is a funny old game.
Bushbeatin' is the strangest of all. Imagine havin' a whole week of exercise in one day - and then imagine that exercise includes covering all kinds of ground and, often, water too. There's a lot of sittin around and waitin' it's true but after the waitin' comes the runnin'. Now, I has been lucky to work on some big Shoots in my 7 seasons; some days there were only one or two of us spaniels in the beating line. We had to find birds in the thickest wood, bog, bramble and hedgerow with big ponds and deep dykes & ditches.

8/11/14 Langton shoot: "Found a handy bag.."

 "We might do anythin' from 5-8 drives in a workin' day in every kind of weather. A typical drive would be about a half hour. That's a lot of hard huntin'. And then there's the Boss peepin on her whistle tellin me where to go & what to do so a chap has to keep his wits about 'im. Can't just do what I like....
At the end of the drive we beatin dogs sometimes has to 'find' the birds what have got shot & lost along the way. There are pals who just pick up but they's often well away from us.
"Anyway, the long & short of it is that a bushbeatin' dog is a very busy dog. And you gotta grab your rest where you can otherwise a chap'd never last the course.
"On most shoots we get carried from drive to drive by some kind of wagon - we do call it the beater's bus. Mostly they's wobbly, rustic old horsetrailers or tractor-trailors what do jerk and joggle all over the show.

21/11/13 Mareham shoot: "Power nappin..."

"Very early in my career I learned that this was the only place a chap could get a bit of shut-eye. She do call it my power nap. Every time I get on the beater's bus (or a car boot, cos sometimes that what the wagon is) I does shut my eyes and drop off till the wagon do stop. Mostly on my legs cos then I can stand square and brace myself. Peeps do always larf at me; say I's like a 'puter with a stand-by switch.  Well, 'tis sort of like that cos the moment that the wagon do stop I wakes up with a start and is ready to go again as if it were the start of the day. Sometimes it's handy if there's somethin' to prop my head up on; a bag or a knee do come in very handy. Mostly I'd just shimmy close to the end of the wagon, stand square and drop off. Those little power naps were what did keep me goin...

01/02/14 Woodhall Shoot; Cocking Day: Resting a weary head