Gotcha!

Jaunty 23/10/2012

Jaunty 23/10/2016

Four years to the day since Jaunty came to stay. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge in that time! Since day 1 he has been the quietest, best behaved dog in the house and the craziest, bounciest madcap outside. When I went looking for an Understudy to Gunner I could not have chosen a more 'different' character. He's taught me a lot, frustrated me even more and angered me way beyond what is reasonable and I love him to bits! He shows more pleasure from the sheer enjoyment of being alive than any creature I have ever met - it's a real education being with him! No matter what, he is never down cast or dull..... he believes the whole world was created for his personal delight and that nothing in it can possibly hurt him...... he's totally fearless and bold  - not in an arrogant brash way but in a totally joyous, carefree manner. A friend refers to him as "the Rockstar" and that sums him up really. If he was chap, he'd be out on the town every night - debonair, charming, reckless and lovable...... breaking all the young ladies' hearts.
Happy Gotcha Day Jaunty.......

Agility Nut

 Jaunty is a lovely dog and one of the things he loves most of all is running and he jumps for fun. He has a great deal of energy, is fearless and always keen to try anything new. As a gundog he's a bit of a handful; if it's birds you want found, he'll hunt all day but if you need birds to be flushed out in a controlled fashion he is not the dog for the job!
I've always wanted to try 'dog agility' and last summer decided to give it a go with Jaunty - a bouncier, more energetic or willing dog is unlikely to come my way again!
Needless to say, he took to it like a duck to water and quickly picked up the basics. Jumping, climbing, scooting through tunnels, twisting and turning - what's not to like?
Only trouble was and is - if there is scent (of any kind) about - he is easily diverted.

However, we joined a 'proper' club at the beginning of this year and a few months later started having one-to-one lessons once a week. The boy has done well and his handler (!!!) has become a bit fitter!
We had a 'go' at a fun agility competition in the summer. Suffice to say, Jaunty had more Fun than Agility on his agenda. However, there's no point doing weekly training without some goal so we are signing up for the winter series of competitions with 'Agility Nuts' and today went along for our first 'event'. Ever the optimist, I entered the Agility and Jumping events. We spent all day at a superb venue surrounded by Agility nuts of all shapes and sizes (and volumes) and came home, exhausted, with the certain knowledge that there is a lot more to this business than meets the eye - or the nose......
Undaunted, we will continue. The Winter Series runs monthly till March. I am optimistic that by then we will actually be completing the course as laid out rather than as mapped out by the spaniel's olefactory glands.......

October in Gunner's Calendar

'Cocking Day' - Woodhall Spa 2014

I can't help but smile at this photo!

Gunner always had a keen eye for the birds and there was no way one was going to drop in the woods without him keeping his eye on it!

The photo was taken on the last day of the 2013/14 shooting season.  Traditionally this is known as 'cocking day' - when, as the name suggests, only cock birds are shot. It is also the day when, not all, but a number of, shoots  will reward their beaters and pickers-up with the chance to carry a gun. A 'normal' shoot day can be quite stressful; the keeper is under pressure to present the birds, the guns are under a certain amount of pressure to shoot well, beaters need to watch their orders and drive the birds gently in the right direction (those with dogs ensuring their charges work efficiently and under control!.... not always a given), pickers-up have to be sure to gather up all the fallen and, particularly, running birds....... On Cocking Day, however, the pressure is off.  There are no clients or customers and everyone can have a relaxing and enjoyable day....

On this particular cocking day we were at Woodhall Spa - home of the National Golfing Union HQ as well as some rather beautiful woodland. We had some memorable days beating in those woods. The undergrowth was largely composed of dense, tough brambles. Enough to test even the most determined beaters. One year they were so bad that a number of the older men refused to return after the first day of the season. Fuelled by adrenalin, Gunner was unstoppable. Invariably though he ended up splattered with blood from where the brambles had caught his ears, tongue and other more sensitive parts. During the 2010/11 season, memorable for its freezing temperatures & huge quantities of snow, Gunner achieved the dubious distinction of rarely coming out of those woods without having 'found' at least one hare under the snow covered brambles! Not that he was supposed to be looking for hares of course! I loved going to Woodhall with him; he was in his element in those dense, game-laden woods.

Our role on this particlar cocking day was to alternate flushing the birds on one 'drive' with picking them up on the next. Gunner had the time of his life and, as I said at the beginning, was not going to let a single bird get away.

It was a truly wonderful day, made all the more so by the fact that the weather was mild, sunny and dry...... a day to treasure.