HAPPY BIRTHDAY SKIPPER !

The little pup turned 2 yesterday

Skipper (Liver & White) with his two brothers & Mum 30.6.2015

...  with all the excitement of Jaunty & Nell's litter being born amidst the sadness of Gunner's illness - Skipper was destined to be a special chap.
He has not disappointed.
In many ways he reminds me of  the young Gunner - always eager to please, his own 'person' but in a generous, honest way. On the other hand, he carries so much of Jaunty's boisterous joy in the sheer pleasure of life that there is no doubting his parentage!
As Chris-the-trainer reminds me from time to time .... he is a trainer's dog and could be very difficult to handle if not kept firmly in his place! Ah well..... I do try.
He has had more hours of one-to-one training in the past 18 months than Gunner, Bugler and Jaunty combined! If he doesn't live up to our expectations when he enters the world of the working Gundog there'll be nobody to blame but his handler! Chris-t-t says he is potentially the Best Dog he's known... no pressure there then!

Springing through the meadow 16.6.17

It's a good job the dog doesn't know what's ahead of him! For now he is happy doing his school and homework, vyeing for pack leadership with Bugler and generally trying to put Jaunty in his place - something which Jaunty, since all he wants is a quiet life, is happy (usually) to let him do!

Skipper is always 'up' for anything and loves everything.... except wet.... wet anything. He doesn't like going out in the rain, sitting on wet grass or walking through puddles. So for his special birthday treat I decided to take him to the river so he could learn to love water!!!
Luckily, it was a warm day. Fortunate too that one of his favourite 'things' is retrieving - made all the more so because he gets to do very little!

Finally throwing himself into the water !

Armed with large yellow floating dummy and long cord we arrived at an appropriate access point on the river bank - a gentle slope down and not too big a drop from bank into water. At first I just dangled the dummy a metre or so away from the edge and, try though he did to reach it without getting his paws wet, the bank gave way and in fell the dog!! In trying to scramble out he fell back in and got thoroughly soaked all over! With a bit of encouragement he gave up scrambling and turned round to reach for the dummy, grabbed it gingerly - and then scrambled out! We repeated the exercise - each time throwing the dummy, on its cord, further out and after a few retrieves the dog was beginning to enjoy himself. He showed no sign of giving up or losing enthusiasm, quite the contrary. So off came the cord. No matter where the dummy went, Skipper happily fetched it; eventually realising that leaping in was much quicker than dropping in off the bank!


Who doesn't like water?

What was particularly pleasing was that he at no time left the bank until told to retrieve and each dummy was delivered straight back to hand - no messing, no dropping, no shaking. We ended on a better note still - I sent him into the river without having thrown the dummy and then threw it in over his head for him to retrieve... he didn't hesitate.

The dog who didn't like getting wet discovered he loved water ...!!!!!

What a lovely Birthday Surprise!!!

Ducks have done a Runner

Until quite recently we have had a mixed flock of 5 Indian Runner Ducks and about 15 Call ducks.
But it's silly season for ducks -  the females go broody and lay eggs all over the place and the males spend almost their entire time chasing around after the females the minute they leave their nests. It's totally chaotic.

Even more crazy is that three of the Indian Runner ducks trot around the fields whenever the dogs are not in evidence escorted by one of the male Call ducks. The male Indian Runner prefers to spend all his time by the home pond.... actually I think he is visually impaired - but that's another story!

 So, for most of the day, when the dogs are not in evidence, the three girls and their escort can be seen trotting hither and thither across the fields looking for tasty treats or just basking in the long grass.

Until a couple of days ago when I noticed there were just two trotting around...... and only 4 Runner Ducks waiting to be shut up at night.

Then Yesterday there were only three waiting to be shut up with the others......

So, the question is... where are the other two. Surely not brooding on a nest somewhere. After all, a Call duck would not mate with a Runner would he? And if he did and eggs that were laid actually hatched - what would be the result????   I don't think it is anything to do with Charlie Fox because he would have taken the lot, not just one at a time....
Have the ducks done a 'runner'?
Will they reappear as suddenly as they disappeared?
Watch this space....................................