"Tantantara...ting.....boom.....Introducing..... Son of a Gunner

  So - here he is as last - the long awaited son of a Gunner....... In the weeks following his birth there was much debate on and around RectoryReserve concerning what the little chap should be called. Traditionally all our dogs have had names related to the Forces - Captain, Trooper, Lancer, Pilot, Gunner - so we wanted something along those lines. A long list was drawn up, names were deleted at intervals until in the end The Big Boss preferred Dragoon and She Who must be obeyed preferred Bugler. Finally, it was agreed - he should be registered as The Dragoon Bugler.   Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but there we are.... it provided ample opportunity for shortening to something more snappy!                                                   

As ever when something is long-awaited, the arrival date suddenly comes around and off we went to collect him on Monday. Meg (his mother)'s mum was delighted to see us! Even though Bugler's brother and one of his sisters had already left for their forever homes, 4 puppies running round her feet was driving her just a little bit crazy. The prospect of even one fewer was very cheering! She duly took us through the paperwork - pedigree, insurance, docking, microchip, change of ownership papers. All seemed in good order. Until I looked more closely at the pedigree....."What's this?" I said - "We seem to have the wrong name for the dog!" "What!" exclaimed Chris in alarm.... "Well, he was supposed to be Dragoon Bugler.....not what's written here. "Oh No - I am sorry..... I was certain I'd remembered it correctly!" she replied. Clearly the stress of having the pups had affected her even more than she was prepared to admit!  Now, as it happens, I wasn't terribly upset; after all, she'd remembered the principle of the name and the one she thought we'd chosen was one which was on our original list but was rejected because it seemed rather long for a young dog...... So, you ask, what is his name? In full it is Megun (from Meg & Gunner) Bombadier Bugler!  Rolls off the tongue rather more easily than Dragoon Bugler..... and plenty of B's in there for future use.... ...... .......

 "What's this you've brought home?"

After a little initial nervousness he quickly made friends with Jaunty although Gunner was a little more sceptical about the new arrival. There is a striking resemblance between the two though and not just in looks: at the vet for his first injection and check-up Bugler was calm about everything until his ears were inspected and then he went ape! Just like his dad! Needless to say, Pilot has hardly deigned to acknowledge his existence. When Bugler sidled up to him asking "Are you my friend too?", Pilot curled his lips, gave a barely audible snarl and the little one was left in no doubt what the answer was! They have barel entered each other's orbit since - nor will they if we can orchestrate it! He's still far too much of a baby to be terrified by the Alpha male!
That apart, he's settled in remarkably well; apart from a few minutes of complaint he has slept through the nights and has quickly got used to being in his crate for periods of quiet during the day. Jaunty's really taken him under his paw, happy at last to be able to play proper puppy games! And when he's left to his own devices he is into everything - he's definitely a livewire.......... which may or may not bode well for the future......................... time will tell......................

So, you ask "How's The Understudy doin?"

"He's gonna be 10 months old tomorrow so I thought I'd better give you all a quick update on my Understudy. After all, he was specially selected and arrived last October with a weight of expectation on his little shoulders.... The fact that we refer to him as The Understudy says it all.
He's certainly a livewire.... doesn't miss a thing and is always looking out for excitement. He's very good in the house - apart from when he's sittin' on me ( which is one of his worse habits - that and not sharin'his biscuits with me..... ).  I s'pose what I should say first off is that She (who must be obeyed) keeps comparing his progress with mine at the same age. But, as the Big Boss does keep pointin' out, She's got a very selective memory. Can't remember me ever doin' a bad thing - I don't mind that obviously but it don't bode well for Jaunty. You don't have to think too long to guess whose side I'm on in this debate.

"Anyway, let's just consider his strengths:
- He's energetic, always bouncin' and runnin' & on the go
- He's observant, always watchin' what's happenin' and never misses a trick
- He's quick to learn, pickin' up new things very easily - almost too much so because he's then easily bored (and inclined to go & do his own thing)
- He's quiet, never whines or whimpers or woofs without very good reason
- He's a bit soft, not a nasty hair on is body
- He loves retrievin' and is developing a good eye for a mark
- He's fast - fetchin' & bringin' back, though sometimes his speed takes him past the mark and past the Human on his return and he don't always give dummy up cleanly
- He walks to heel without his lead and can go for a long while though he do pull when on his lead.
On the downside:........well, there's nothin' really ... except.... one Big Thing...... He does like to Hooley..... He's learned his whistle commands and perfectly understands them. He'll hunt like a grown up dog for a little while, sometimes for quite a few minutes. BUT .......a good deal of the time he hooleys off .... into the wild blue yonder ... or just anywhere really. She (who must be obeyed) says it not that he don't listen.... it just he gets bored with listening and when his turbo kicks in he's off ... gone.... sometimes for a 60 metre circle, sometimes far further. He always comes back, grinning from ear to ear - usually sayin "That feels better, that was fun Mum, here I am -what you want me to do next? Stay close? Oh. OK. But hang on, I just gotta go hooley again................" .  Now, that really upsets her cos one thing we gundogs gotta do is hunt close and stay close and not hooley off - whole shoots are ruined by dogs hoolying off and upsetting all the birds in one go. A steady spaniel is worth his weight in gold. (*Ahem* it is said I am a positive treasure). What's really annoying Her is that the Understudy behaves when She takes him to Rory-the-Trainer (I have, of course, briefed him accordingly - long standing readers of this blog will know only too well the effect that He-the-trainer had on Yours Truly as a young dog). So, next lesson, Rory-the-trainer is coming over here to see 'the real dog'. We know it won't make any difference. The pup will behave whilst Rory is here and will then b....er off when She's alone with him.The Trainer has that effect on us dogs. We know he's serious but with Her we can sort of play around a little.

So, there we have it. The Understudy is learning all his lessons well (did I mention, he can already swim and 'trieve from water and jump obstacles on command? Smarty huh?). He just won't always listen to the whistle. Says he can't see the point really.
She's not giving up on him though. Says he'll come to hand eventually. Says She'll give him two years if necessary. He'll not be out with me this coming Season but maybe next one....
Meanwhile, look at this last picture.... see the Jaunty sitting still (you might just be able to see me there on his left if you look hard!) --- well he sits to command and watches her go off for hundreds of strides....... and then races up to her on command - now that's not bad for a flippetyjib puppydog is it? Nah. We'll give him time. He'll come good in the end.......!"

Little Victorians

Hallo - are you my mummy?

Ooohhh - what's that out there?

They were due on Thursday according to the Oracle (aka Linda). But things being what they are here, rumours spread and porkies are told - often late at night over the ever empty dinner bowl - so Victoria was well aware of what the herd expected of her (piglets must be born on Linda's day off). Lazing in her wallow over the weekend she did a quick calculation - well, it took nearly two days, but that's pretty quick when there's no pressure & no stress - and she came to the conclusion that whether she wanted to or not she was just going to have to bring the little ones into the World in Linda's absence since there was no way she could hang on till Thursday. She delayed as long as she possibly could just in case there was a chance that things might drag on a bit but in the event the piglets popped out sometime between dusk on Monday and dawn on Tuesday......
So there we have it - to Black Banana & Victoria 5 squiggling piglets. We might call them The Ascots since today is the first day of the Royal Ascot meeting and, in view of their speedy birth and haste to get a look at the outside world, that could be an appropriate name. We shall see.

Catching up - yet again

Another fortnight of non-communication... The connection was confirmed but still didn't work. So I spent a very pleasant (?!) half hour talking to a very nice young man in Calcutta (temp. 35 degrees, humidity 94% .... visions of the Best Marigold Hotel running across my mind) who sorted out the reason for the problem we were having:- "You don't need two filters" (but the BT engineer fitted them!).Today we are back in business and, fingers crossed, all is working again! In the intervening weeks not much has changed: Gunner is still trying to explain the Rules of Engagement to the piglets ... they all pretend to be pretty attentive and follow his every word..... 

 ...and then wander off.
He'll keep trying though.
They meanwhile are nearing weaning age...  running up to the barn for their feed - several times a day! It will be an easy matter just to shut the doors. The difficulty will be doing it when all 21 piglets are feeding in there..... I'm sure a strategy will emerge though. The boys (10) and the girls(11 - or is it the other way round) will then be separated and form new alliances so by they time they go back outside a few weeks later everyone will be 'friends'. It'll be a gruelling period with 21 of them inside...... but let's not think of that......
Much as we love seeing them free-ranging (visitors again at the weekend remarked..."Did you know you have piglets running

 all over the place?" with a discernable you-must-be-mad intonation!) it will be a relief to once more be able to leave doors open and equipment unattended without fear of "pigletting" and, I suppose, someone will get round to doing the gardening - there being no excuse not to any longer.... unless the weather reverts to foul... which, looking at the rain falling outside the window as I write, is possible.....                                                                             

However, unlike last summer, the older pigs have begun to moult so a better season must be on the cards surely? The grooming process has started and the 'wool sack' grows larger daily..... The girls appear to be shedding first so whilst they are eating their veg. in the afternoon Linda tries to gather what she can. Some love it and remain rock steady --- others hate it and constantly trot off or round in circles. Very frustrating.

There is also the challenge of the older girls who, whilst loving fuss and being very woolly, have liberal quantities of dried limestone mud hanging from their curls -- not exactly easy to brush through. But a way will be found!  Perhaps we shall have to put them under the shower first.................
Over a year old now, they are oblivious to our plans and happily munch away at their five-a-day! We have become quite fond of them whilst acknowledging that we very much look forward to the lard stocks they will provide. Ah well......

Catch up

One of Ginger's Finest exploring the sunspots

Beautiful though life up here in The Wolds may be, there are times when one hankers for the trappings of a distant urban sprawl. Not many I hasten to add. However, when a well known internet & 'phone service provider fails to live up to expectations and one is thrust into the chasm of a communications black hole, one can be heard to mutter such moral obscenities! Which is a long winded way of saying we've been out of 

Delila's paddling piglets

touch for 14 days through no fault of our own.
In the intervening period life has obviously continued. The piglets have been free ranging for some time now. Delila's have been out and about from 7 or 8 days old so now know the territory like the back of their trotters. Ginger's 7 were a little slow to leave Mum's side but are making up for it now, rarely being seen 'at home' and frequently messing about with Delila's lot. As for Mrs Merkel's 6 bouncing babes, they are quite the bosses of the lot.

Gunner explaining the Rules of Engagement to the mini Merkels

When they appear, the others all run back to their respective territories. Being the offspring of a Maiden mum they were well protected for the first two weeks - kept in the ark and fed on what, looking at them, must have been a half hourly cycle - they have a bloom to them that I have never noticed on our piglets before.... and they are cocky with it. They even thought they could get away with telling Gunner what to do - but he was having none of that. He's taken his responsibilities as seriously as ever and has spent quite some time explaining the Rules of Engagement to them...... not that they have taken any of them on board ..... there is no way of making a piglet do anything other than what a piglet wants to do..... And that's what it'll be like for the next three or four weeks - until they are weaned. They'll be here, there and everywhere - much to the bemusement of visitors and passers by. I used to be concerned about the effect of lots of little trotters and snouts on the garden but now I just think it's a good excuse not to get on with the planting! There'll be plenty of summer (?!) left to catch up when they've been weaned....................

Gunner - the next generation ....

 "I know I shouldn't admit to this because people might think I'm big-headed but I am the apple of Her (being 'She who must be obeyed') eye. Even though - and I must admit to having given Her cause to say this - I may no longer be quite the Bestest Gundog in All the World (having developed the confidence to make an independent assessment of  situations under certain circumstances). Regardless of this, however, I am (and again, I hesitate to say this for fear you might think I am being big-headed) still the Bestest looking Gundog in all the world. Over the years I have grown accustomed to people saying: "Isn't he handsome?" and "Hasn't he got the most beautiful head?" so it must be true. Anyway, put those two things together and it's clear why She (wmbo) has always been keen for these traits to be handed down. Since I first entered the Field, owners of suitable (and possibly a few not quite so fitting) working bitches have asked Her if there was "any possibility" of said bitch and I 'getting it together'. Some potential matches even got her quite excited. But, for various reasons, all came to nothing.
Then came Meggie.

The Meg(a) pups

Three years ago she popped into the frame. The first year we never actually met - her 'seasons' coinciding either with her people's holidays or the shooting season! Last year we met and, joy of joys, 'did the deed'. All the people got jolly excited and put dates in their diaries and She Who must be Obeyed started thinking of names and strategies and the future and goodness knows what else. And what happened? Yep - you guessed. Nothin... Meg was just practisin - she had a trial run phantom pregnancy! Well, I suppose you can't blame her - lots of stuff for her to sort out in her mind before committin to being a mum..... But clearly she was not downhearted about it (unlike the Humans). This spring the call came again: "Meg's in season: can we bring her round to Gunner???" and She (wmbo) - trying not to sound too excited  - said "Yes". So round here Meggie came - quite often really since humans are stooopid about gettin the dates right. Me n Meggie got to know each other pretty well - and what a flirt and bossy boots she is too! Eventually, just when everyone (but humans are really stooopid about these things, havin no sense of smell at all) was about to give up on us, Meg n me persuaded them that "today was the day" - and it was! And we done the deed. And (can you believe how excitin it was?) she had to come back again....... Talk about all your Best Days comin at once!!!

 "Now look what you landed me with!"

Anyway, here we are 63 days and three weeks later and the 6 Meg(a) pups are alive and well and kicking their little legs about.... Meg maybe not quite so impressed now cos they givin her (and her mum) a hard time!!! But in 4 or 5 weeks' time one of those boys (the one nearest the camera and the one who's one from the end) will be comin to stay. Then we'll show the Understudy a thing or two..... Wahay - me and the boy gonna clean up the show... . Here we come people, Gunner and the next generation....................

Introducing................

Ginger & Mangal's 12th litter.............. It's many years since Ginger surprised us with her first litter..... November 2007 . We're surprised in a different way about this lot.  She's now a middle aged mum and we wonder how many more babies she'll be interested in caring for.
She started building her nest for this lot yesterday afternoon - there was a lot of banging and scraping as she set about demolishing certain bits of her house - crucial to the nest no doubt.... and then she went about salvaging as many bits of twigs and sticks as she could plus one very large piece of wood........ came out for her tea and parsnips and then went back indoors.

Later on when I went out to check the animals for the night all was quiet. No piglets yet. But by breakfast this morning there were seven healthy squiggling little things that were clearly born early in the night...... and Ginger came out for breakfast - admittedly not in a great hurry - as if to say "There they are, job done, no bother. I'm hungry". After breakfast she went straight back to her house, sorted out the bedding and settled down to suckle them........  later in the day one of them was already wandering about outside, obviously disoriented but otherwise strong and happy.
Clever Ginger.
The little ones don't have a name yet......