Housing matters

It's mid-February and time to start thinking about weaning the last two litters born at New Year.  Just one small problem: Victoria and Truffle farrowed in the buildings we normally wean the little ones to. So, where to next?
We toyed with the idea of giving up one of the stables to pigs but that didn't seem a good idea - once pigs are in, experience has shown, they are likely to stay in; if not the same pigs all the time. I couldn't really see Rocco happily going back into his stable if it had been loaned out to the porcine herd for a spell!
So here's the new weaning barn: it's the old Coach Shed complete with brick floor and hurricane lamp alcove. I'm hoping these traditional features outlast the pigs' stay! Actually, it's rather nice to see it like this - for all the time we've been here it has been used as spare materials storage - posts, wire, ladders etc.etc. plus a load of rubbish that was never going to be useful! Thanks to the pigs, therefore, we at last had an excuse to have a good sort out! Who says they don't have their uses!

Another Season gone by

We started our fifth season of bush-beating in the middle of October 2012. It's fair to say we were a little bit anxious about how much work we'd be getting involved in. Our 'main' shoot in the local village (which folded at the end of last season) left us with a gap of some 30 days to fill. Throughout the past four seasons we'd been able to count on going there at least 2 days a week from late September/early October onwards. With 'our' other shoots only staging 6 or so events a season we were going to have difficulty matching, never mind exceeding, the 46 days we notched up last season.

Through putting the word about a bit during the summer we picked up two other regular fortnightly shoots and, as the season wore on, were invited to work on a further two. That gave us a total of 7 different locations - each with its peculiar 'culture' and terrain. In addition we were invited to beat for a shoot that holds just one event a year! 
Bush-beaters are a pretty whacky lot. Mostly men (on most of the above shoots I am the only female!) with an average age of 60 we turn out for 9 am every shoot morning regardless of weather and proceed to spend the next 6 to 7 hours trudging up hill and down dale, through plough, bracken, kale, bramble, bog and wood, over stubble and grassland  with our sticks & flags (usually half a plastic animal feed sack nailed to a hazel or blackthorn stick)  "tap, tap tapping" on wood "beat,beat bashing" on bush and "flagging up"  all with the purpose of pushing game forwards and upwards for the waiting guns. Most shoots will cover 5-7 drives each day, between which there is much banter, joviality, storytelling and, often, colourful language. Nor is it a day out for the fashion conscious: the main requirements of clothing are that they be water, wind and briar proof! Those of us with dogs (75% spaniels, 25% labradors) tend to be a little more reserved than those without - working a dog effectively demands 100% attention on that dog - any lapse and the wily chap will be off doing his or her own thing. Nothing spoils a shooting day as effectively as an uncontrolled or unruly dog in the beating line and most such creatures are tolerated for their connections rather than their contribution to a successful day.

However, I digress...
This season was going swimmingly: the Bestest Gundog and I were quickly into the swing of things on our regular shoots and settled seamlessly into the 'new' ones..... He was a little keen to get on with the job and obviously (!) knew a lot more than his handler concerning the whereabouts of birds. In a perfect world I'd have wished for him to stay a little closer but past experience is a hard lesson to disregard! His occasional transgressions were overlooked in light of his overall work standard. The greatest compliment was being invited to work on a shoot which, until this season, has refused our help because they "don't have dogs in the line"!

Then the dog limped to a halt. Our 15th day was memorable for a number of reasons: it was the Keeper's Day; he forgot his radios so had little, if any, control; several 'new' beaters joined the line and a number of them were extremely rowdy ('red indians' someone, who heard them in a nearby village, called them); a number of wrong instructions were given by and to various people on a number of occasions so birds were flushed all over the place and not nececessarily over the Guns; yours truly picked up the prevailing tummy bug and the Dog picked up a nail-bed infection. At the end of that day he was just a bit lame; the next day he was seriously limping and the following day, having stayed away from 'work', he was unable to put the foot on the ground. A course of anitbiotics and anti-inflammatories helped and 10 days later he seemed OK, although the nail was glaringly red, so I made the mistake of taking him to work. He enthusiatically set off in the morning but winced when he jumped out of the car after lunch break: there was no way he was going to work that afternoon with only three good paws. The next day he was fine so, reluctant to let him be thought a 'wimp', we set off a couple of days later to the Shoot I mentioned which till now has not wanted dogs in the line - and that was his last day. His nail came off completely leaving the quick exposed. Another longer course of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and lead-only exercise followed with the toe bleeding every time it was stubbed on the slighted thing.

 It was most distressing. The Dog took to howling when I went off to "work" without him and I was doing the job with 50% normal enthusiasm. "Bet you're missing your dog?" or "Not the same without the dog is it?" colleagues kept saying. Quite!
I shall add "the least enjoyable season" to the list of other headlines for 2012 ("wettest", "dullest" etc). Our stats for our five seasons so far are:
Season 1   Total: 34 days  Dog 26.5 (several weeks lost owing to having tail amputated)
Season 2   Total: 39 days  Dog 39 days
Season 3   Total: 36 days  Dog 33 days
Season 4   Total: 47 days  Dog 46 days
Season 5   Total: 31 days  Dog 16.5 days
To end on a positive note: two of our 'new' shoots this season have invited us to join their team on a regular basis next season - and one of them is the one that "doesn't have dogs in the line". Well done that Dog - he won them over in just one day!
                

The weight of responsibility....

"By now, everybody knows I have an Understudy. My 6th (that's 42nd in dog years) birthday is coming up in March. The Understudy will be 6 months old (or 3 and a half in dog years) by then. It'll probably take him till he's 2  (14 in dog years) to learn to be a gundog proper but by then I shall be 8 (56 in dog years) so he'll have to be fit to work by then to take some of the load of me -- She who must be obeyed tells me this and I suppose I have to believe her since I only know what I know now. Based on today's experience however, I think he's gonna be a serious member of The Bestest Gudog's Team well before that. It's my job to guide him in the right direction to achieve that.

 He's just a few days over 5 months old and till today has never left home territory. However, I had to go to the Vet to have a check-up on my sore paw so we took him along for the ride! Well, he needs worming and for that needed weighing and She thought it was easiest to use the vet's scales to do that.
She was a little worried about his lead behaviour: at home till now he's always wriggled and squiggled and fallen flat on the ground after a few steps. Well, he sat in the back of the car and waited as told till She put his lead on and then he got out and walked beside me (like I told him) all the way to the Vet's in a totally straight line. Then he sat still in the waiting room(beside me like I told him) as if he'd been there boring times before. After being weighed (14.65 kg , - and thanks for asking, my paw claw is healing up nicely as long as I don't go back to work this season... but that's another story) we took him for a walk around the market place and - apart from staring at some strange looking people (well, he's too young to have learned discretion) he behaved (following my example scarily accurately) like a Grown Up Dog. After that he was allowed to go into the animal feed merchant store without me and, again, he behaved (and he found some goody treats someone had dropped on the floor so now he thinks that's the reason for going into the store.....).  He won't carry on learning at this speed - that'd be too scary - but for now She and Me are both optimistic that he's gonna be worth having around for hunting, flushing and 'trieving. The best bit was, cos He was so good, She bought us both a Special Treat (him for behaving so well and me for showing him so clearly). Being a Mentor to the Understudy is a big responsibility but a chap could get used to this.
Meanwhile, he starts proper school next month.... then we'll see what he's really made of...."

Deja Vu?

Snowy yew

Last week we had snow. The food delivery man couldn't get to us because he was stuck in the snow somewhere. This week we have snow and the food delivery man can't get to us again... this time because he couldn't get down our drive.

This had better not continue!

United front

Last week the snow didn't stop the veg. collection. Subsequent snowfalls and freezing nights since then, coupled with driving easterly breezes, have now made our drive impassable. So - no vegetables this week- yet.
As you can see, the pigs are not amused.
Luckily we stocked up on hard feed in anticipation. So they won't starve.

What a Boar!

The Mighty Mangal looks as though he might have a thing or two to say about the weather too. He doesn't realise that the snow perfectly frames his elegant proportions. Not a vain hair on his whole torso though (actually, there's not much hair on it at all!)..... He could tell the youngsters a thing or two - if only they'd listen. He knows it'll not be long before all the white stuff turns muddy brown again......

Water spaniel

Meanwhile, the Understudy has continued to attend well to his Gunner's teachings. He is still enchanted by the snow but finds it less tiring the longer he practises! His little nose is into everything and there's not much he misses.
He achieved his first live retrieve this morning - unofficially and self-determined. However, it proves that he's not averse to picking up birds and, more to the point, giving them to me!

 Jaunty's first (unofficial)live retrieve

Hopefully we will be able to harness this natural talent throughout his training.......

Snow tired...

We have had some snow. The forecast was right for once - it started Sunday evening, carried on through the night and, on and off, throughout yesterday. By nightfall it was quite substantial. The supermarket delivery van couldn't get here: "stuck in the snow" several miles away and today the organic vegetable delivery man didn't want to risk coming down the drive so left the box up by the road. Technically then we're snowed in! I can't count on one hand the number of times I slipped over whilst 'doing' the animals this morning....... great fun. Well, you gotta laugh haven't you.     

Jaunty provided more cause for laughter. He was fascinated by the falling snow: first he tried to catch it but was puzzled when it disappeared and left nothing in his mouth. Then he followed the flakes as they fell to ground and was mystified as to where they had gone - why couldn't he find them? He snuffled and dug and pawed everywhere but not a flake in sight. As I walked he watched the snow kicked up by my boots and tried to catch it as he ran backwards in front of me - amazing that we didn't fall in a heap over each other.
 He spent nearly all yesterday afternoon hunting

for flakes under the snow - Gunner just looked on with that "What d'you expect from a puppy?" demeanour. Come this morning I think Jaunty was determined to 'find' it --- he scampered all over the place, looking in every corner, under every lump and bump till in the end he'd completely worn himself out. When I called him, he didn't come. He always comes when called. I got worried & whistled him. He comes faster than The Bestest Gundog when I whistle. Still no pupski. I started to imagine silly scenarios and went hastily from field to barn -and got there in time to see him come scampering out and stand looking about as if to 'hear' where the whistle came from.
Relief! He was just tired out. He jumped up and down (Zebedee is his middle name) with glee, licked my hand on the way and ran back into the barn and jumped up on the feed sacks - one of his 'safe' places! He was just snow tired.
When we came in he ran straight in his 'box' and slept soundly for the next three hours! He may be growing fast but he's still a pup.....

New Mums - update

Victoria enjoying her dinner

Victoria has turned into a handsome sow and has taken very well to motherhood. As we'd expect from a first-timer she is very protective of her little ones; we don't get to see too much of them - just three sleepy little things huddled up on a pad of hay in the corner of the stalls. Clearly that is her instruction to them but I hope they'll develop a little more courage soon and trust themselves to run around whether humans are about or not.
Meanwhile, mum tucks into whatever food she gets with great gusto. It's not doing her any harm...... she has a beautiful blonde coat and is an excellent example of  the breed. I suspect though that she will need to go on a diet in the
not too distant future!

The climbing frame, commonly known as Truffle

In the Barn Truffle too has settled well into
motherhood - it's her third litter so she knows well what to expect. Her brood are far more lively and advanced than Victoria's. They spend a fair bit of their waking time clambering all over, under and round mum. Not only that but on Wednesday, at just over a week old, three of them were already finding their way under the hurdles, out of the barn and into the sunshine (Yes! we did have some that day). They must have scampered back and told their siblings about it because the next day there were 6 of them running around - but in the murky gloomy fog this time. It'll not be too long before they are wandering off on adventures and visiting all their extended family........

Welcome little ones!

... Here they are... at three days old... three little pigglies.... They are still very shy and Victoria, kind though she is, gets very fretted if I try and get closer ... so we'll just have to hang on a few days till they're a little more independent.
Truffle's young brood, meanwhile, are merrily trotting all over their pen and I imagine it will not be long before they are causing real havoc...... pictures of them to follow soon...