The Understudy comes of age

Jaunty came here as Gunner's Understudy. Frustrated at the lack of progress with Gunner's proposed 'wives', I decided in his fifth summer to go out and buy a puppy. Just like that! Well, no. I did a lot of research and eventually found two litters with the right credentials available - one in Norfolk and the other in Cumbria. Norfolk won simply because my mother lives there and I could combine puppy visits with filial duties!! Very scientific. With the pick of the litter, it took me three visits to choose Jaunty. I subsequently spent more than a few moments wondering if I should instead have chosen his quieter brother!
He was, however, a joy; as soon as we got him home he went into his crate, curled up and fell asleep as if he'd always been here. Not a sound through his first night - or any other. He quickly learned the toilet, and every other, routine. He immediately adopted Gunner as his best mate - a state which continued until the arrival of Bugler 8 months later - and I dreamed of my bestestGundog and his Understudy being an incomparable team for years to come.
One morning around the time he was about 4 months old I lost sight of Jaunty when I was feeding the pigs. One minute he was close by, the next he was nowhere to be seen. I heard frantic barking from a nearby field. The pup had gone exploring and found himself on the wrong side of the fence, unable to get home.
On reflection, I should have ignored him to scare the living daylights out of him. Instead, I went and fetched him!
We both learned a lesson: me, that I should never take my eyes off a young dog and he that he could run off on his own!
For the next two years and more he was the ideal Understudy in all ways but one. He learned his lessons quickly; but everything was a game to him; running round me when returning with dummies, squiggling on his back when I told him to 'stay', jumping up & down crazily whilst walking to 'heel'. Frustratingly, he would hunt keenly, happily and relatively close but when the urge came upon him, his hocks would come under him and he would bolt off into the distance....  deaf to any shout,whistle or call I might make.  I was never really relaxed with him, always waiting for that moment when he would 'go'. He always came back looking thoroughly chuffed with himself. Various remedies were suggested by Him-the-trainer and numerous learned authors. None solved my 'problem'. I despaired. I had a brilliant pupil with a mind of his own. Not the ideal follow-on from my first and BestestGundog. I read everything, tried everything, consulted everyone..... still the Understudy hoolied off. "He just loves to run" said Linda. Well.. that was obvious. I wrote off a possible career as a Bushbeating dog. Jaunty was hard wired to be the dog most gamekeepers hate - the one that jumps out of the wagon and runs straight through the cover for the hell of it! He is so full of life that he just wants to bounce, run and roll around in the long grass....
'Sit still!' Why?
'Stop!' Why?
 'Jump!' How High?

 High on energy with a low boredom threshold.... Agility was an obvious route. We signed up for classes last summer and he took to it like a duck to water - when he wasn't looning about.... even it  was too slow for him at times. Jess, our 'teacher' quickly dubbed him "Rockstar" - which kind of sums up his approach to life. We've just joined another group to train for competitions and the only thing holding him back is his handler!

However, I was determined not to write off his gundog chances. He'd done two or three days with Gunner last season and not disgraced himself. The keeper on our local shoot agreed that I could take Jaunty along through the Season and 'train' him in exchange for no fee and on the understanding that I take him straight home if he ran amuck!!!
We were out just 6 days in total. On the first one, whilst he didn't disgrace himself, he spent a great deal of the day on his lead, standing up on his back legs whenever a bird went over his head. When the drives were over and he was asked to find the birds, he mostly charged around the woods having a good time. I think he just couldn't believe his luck! He was a little more relaxed on the second day and by the third cottoned on to the idea that he should bring me any dead birds he might stumble across; on the fourth he actually went out looking for them and for the last two I found myself relaxing and actually enjoying working with him. His boundless energy found an outlet at last! In between drives he was calm and quiet, waiting patiently for the shooting to stop and his 'fun' to begin. There was nothing he wouldn't crash into, through or under in his search and runners didn't stand a chance!
For the first time in his 3 years he was actually tired at the end of the day!
He received lots of compliments through the season for his looks and manners but when the keeper handed me some money for his work on the last day I felt he'd finally come of age! Gunner would have been proud of his understudy!
And I can look forward to working him next season without the fear and trepidation that I felt at the beginning of this one! He hasn't bolted for the last three months either..... has he really grown up???