Charlies Chatter - MK.1

[smudge04]

This is the original section of Charlies Chatter. Kindly found and brought back to the forum by Shamykebab.

This section was part of the Gundog Club's fourm before that was shut. The posts that Sham kept will be posted below, its pretty much Wullie's posts only so apologies to those who did post & contribute originally.

I'm going to lock this topic to stop replies coming in as that'll make it hard to read.

Iain

[trekmoor]

Originally posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:44 pm Post subject: Charlies Chatter

I would like to start a sort of very informal "diary " mainly concerning the development and training of my newly arrived work bred cocker spaniel puppy. He is black with a little white on chest , throat and chin and is 9- 10 months old. (I haven't actually checked the pedigree )

I hope there is no objection to this diary but will happily stop if it isn't wanted.

His original name was "Teddie" I at once found this awkward to use. I have been in the habit of using the word "Steady" and since I've used it for more than 40 years I would find it very hard to change - it was easier to change the pups name. I picked him up last Saturday, by Monday he became "Charlie."

This will not be a diary in the usual sense, I invite comment and will try to tell as well and as honestly as I can of my triumphs and my tribulations while training him. I am certainly not any kind of "expert" on spaniel training and I expect to make a lot of mistakes. My hard gained experience with other gundog breeds will help at times but won't help with every aspect of training. Feel free to say so if you think I'm doing things all wrong.

This puppy knows nothing but 2 or 3 very short run in retrieves per week and how to chase rabbits. He is, so I am proudly informed by his breeder, very good at that ! He also came back readily to his name when he wasn't chasing rabbits . I wanted this and I've got it, a free hunted pup just ready to start work on.

I began assessing him from the moment I arrived home. What I first took for high sensitivity was not. It is more a case of too little contact with the world. He came from a cottage with some nice kennels attached up in the wilder parts of Scotland. There are so many things this pup has never seen or heard before.
People - he is at first wary then becomes friendly after a moment or two.
Other dogs - not nearly as interested in them as my other dogs are.
Motor vehicles - he's O.K. with the small ones he's seen so far.
Joggers - wary of .
Bicyclists - wary of.
Cats - has seen none yet - would expect a chase.
Birds - chases instantly - flying birds are even better - more fun to chase.
Water - he has never seen water
Deep ditches - wary of.
Nasty cover - does not, as yet , penetrate but will retrieve from the fringes.
Retrieving - he likes it
Hunting - other than a little test run or two starting tomorrow , I will be leaving hunting alone until I have good control over him - no more free hunting needs to be done. I have been both assured and warned of that !

I have spent the last 3 days teaching him a few basics. With no strong distraction present he will now - hurtle back to me in response to (A) Hand signals /body language. (B) Hurtle back in response to his new name but with hand signals cluing him in (C) Same thing again applies to whistle recall. He likes praise and he likes physical contact while receiving it. I give him a cuddle !

I began yesterday to teach him to sit. This command just has to be the foundation stone of spaniel training. Before I finish I hope to have him sit to the following. Voice, whistle, hand signal, flush, shot , fall of game. There may be others yet to add to that list !

After a 2 - 3 minute session yesterday and the same today but given 3 times during the course of the day (in house and in my very small garden) he will now throw his bottom to the ground just as fast as he can. He will do this to hand signal on its own, to voice on its own and is beginning to understand that the whistle means the same too but I am cluing him in by giving hand signals at the same time. All of this is off lead but is within 3 feet of me. Only very gradually will I expect the same response at longer distances.

At present I have managed to turn this obedience command into a game for him. A judicious (I hope) mixture of carefully and properly applied force accompanied by lots of praise and cuddles has him trying to win this game. He considers he has won, if his backside hits the ground BEFORE I complete the command. That applies to both the vocal command and to the visual command . The whistle still needs helped out by a hand signal.

I love this game as much as he does, he has picked up on this and has tried to do a bit of " freeshaping" he rears onto his hindlegs , does a pirouette and then sits ! This is all done at breakneck speed. It's funny to see but I have had to "break" that fast forming behaviour pattern. He sits for only a second then throws himself into me for a cuddle Did I mention he likes cuddles ? He has only just started with this , once he has it all off pat , I will begin to lengthen the duration of the sit before allowing the cuddle.

This pup has a "thing " about cuddles and about "freeshaping" if that's the right word to use. He was being a pest in the house last night wanting onto my knee for a cuddle ( you would not think he'd been a kennel dog !)
I was occupied trying to read a book and kept pushing him off. He went off picked up a rope toy and jumped aboard with that in his mouth. I could not correct or shove him away. Not with a retrieve in his grinning little gob! He has remembered this little bit of successful freeshaping and has repeated it several times now .

I had him out yesterday and again today to the hill behind my house. It has several names around here, I'll call it The Law . There is almost no chance of finding game there , I intend to use it to give him the chance to free run - NOT free hunt. I will also use it to improve his retrieving.

I was keen to assess his strength of retrieve instinct - an instinct I value very highly. Had I noticed a lack of retrieve interest from him I would not have bought him. To my way of thinking a dog that is happy to go for retrieve after retrieve is an easier dog to train. The downside to this is that this type of dog is often more difficult to train for steadiness and some of them become noisy when frustrated in their desire to retrieve.

I gave him 4 marked retrieves and one memory (he's never done these before ) yesterday. Today he got two marked retrieves and 4 memories. He will now do these to at least 50 - 60 yards over easy ground (no cover.) Alls well so far but he does like to run past me with the dummy before coming in for a cuddle. I dont want to be too abrupt about stopping that. I will take as many deliveries as possible with my back to a fence or similar to try to "cure" that irritating little habit.

I am a complete beginner on computers and I am a one finger typist so I think that will do for now ! I'm off to dip my typing finger in a glass of whisky - a well known cure - I'll try not to waste what's left.

Wullie

[trekmoor]

Originally posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:58 pm
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I was out this morning with a lady with a young cocker bitch. I took Charlie with me to assess him a little more.
He wasn't too impressed by the bitch, he doesn't bother much about my other dogs either , he seems to be a "person " dog. We had gone to an area frequented by deer, rabbits and an occasional pheasant. I wanted to see what he hunted like --- Not too many problems there ! He does tend to get his nose down and follow it, I'll have to watch that.

Today showed me the other side of the free hunting coin. The cocker bitch has been unknowingly free hunted. She just loves flushing, rabbits , pheasants or anything else - and chasing it right out of the county !!!
Her retrieving is suffering due partly to this she likes to find the dummy but then gets bored with it, runs off with it into cover, dumps it , then comes flying back wanting another dummy thrown !

Charlie was pressed into service to look for one of these "blinds" and found it 25 - 30 yards from where it had been originally picked up.
He really enjoyed his retrieves today. Apart from the rescued dummy mentioned he also did one memory into the edge of some woodland at about 40 yards and two marked retrieves one of 15 yards and one at 30 yards (ish !)

I have continued to get him to sit when very close to me. So far the only problem encountered has been my slowness - I can hardly fault his speed - IF he understands what I'm asking for.

Wullie

[trekmoor]

Originally posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:15 pm
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Call me whatever you want Jan - everyone else does It was started to avoid confusion between me and myself and yet another Bill

Hi Eleanor, I am probably Keith Erlandsons oldest fan I have his book right beside me here. The pages are yellowing now, it isn't the first gundog book I ever read but it is the first I ever bought. I still think it is the best of books ---- IF you can read between the lines !!!

He told of a cocker in his book nicknamed "The Undertaker." This dog had a "take it away and bury it" habit but was so good in so many respects that it was used a lot at stud ---- no wonder so many present day cockers have a similar habit !

Keith Erlandson was the man who gave me my key to training gundogs - it was the same key he'd needed given to him. This is not a quote but is near enough I think. "If the dog doesn't do it, get after it smartish , drag it back and make it do it !" These words transformed my gundog training efforts. I went from being "Joe Average" to being a person who won field trials with labradors and with H.P.R.'s.

It is now a bit late in my life to do the same with a spaniel but I'm going to try. My one big detestation is a non - tryer whether it be dog or human !
Die trying first -- THEN complain about it !
I think my biggest stumbling block will be a lack of places with game to practice in and the fact that I can no longer shoot. Difficult to train gundogs without much game and without shotgun bangs !

In later years Keith Erlandson and I were in touch with each other by letter. We got on well which is surprising for he was not a man who suffered fools gladly ! He remains my favourite gundog author, I read and reread his book and still sometimes manage to pull out something new from between the lines.

This morning I took Charlie up The Law , I walked about 1mile to 1 1/2 miles through woodland and through rough grassy fields. There is next to no game up there, so not much to excite him or get him into trouble. It is an area where he can "be his own dog" I allow him to get 30 -40 yards from me up there --- but nowhere else !

Once more I was assessing and reassessing as we went. I will have trouble from time to time because he hasn't seen much of the world up to now. He is not an "instant friend " to people or to other dogs. Left alone for a couple of minutes he will make up his own mind and if he decides you're O.K. then he's all over you. Not ideal but I do like this wee dog, I can live with his little failing. I think he is likely to improve given time and exposure to different things.

I did a few retrieves with him this morning. Two short marks but into light woodland undergrowth. Two 40 yard memories , one on the pathway , the other just off it into a wood and two unsighted seek- backs at 20 - 30 yards, one on the pathway , one on very short grass with the dummy easily visible.

All of these retrieves went well, he does try to run past me but always comes back in for his cuddle He has no idea of steadiness and runs in from wherever he happens to be for the marked retreives and I have to leash him and DRAG him away from the memories ! He struggles in my arms as I take the lead off to send him back for the dummy, he cannot wait to get going ! I don't think I've ever had a pup of Charlies age before who wasn't at least semi - steady but I value enthusiasm very highly, I will chip away at the running -in rather than coming down hard.
A local man who helped me a lot with gundogs when I was just starting was a retriever trainer and an "A" Panel judge. On the subject of Enthusiasm V. Control he once told me , " Bill, I wouldn't give you tuppence for a dog that would not run-in !" I knew what he meant back then and I still think it holds true now. I am old fashioned enough to like a really keen dog that uses the things I haven't got to find game.
I have trained dogs to "handle onto a sixpence" but a good, keen dog doesn't often need that level of control. --- Bit of a rant there but never mind !

Back to Charlie, I am slowly building up the number of retrieves he will do without him becoming bored. He now does 5 or 6 very happily. If I can get him to keenly retrieve about 12 I will be happy. With that amount of retrieve enthusiasm to back me up I should be able to start doing "directed " or "clock - face" retrieves with him without him "drying up " on me. I have a long way to go before I begin training that -- he doesn't even sit/ stay yet !

Wullie.

[trekmoor]

Originally posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:56 pm
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Hi Terry, that was really stupid of me to assume a level of understanding of training terms that may be peculiar to me. Sorry Terry (and anyone else I'm bamboozleing !)

Memory retrieve :- A retrieve a dog/pup has seen placed or thrown , taken away from then sent back to. As the dog improves at this and shows its' understanding so the distance from the retrieve and the time lapse between the pup seeing the dummy and being sent for it increase. I do this on very easyground to begin with - public parks, golf courses etc. - even council football pitches ! I eventually walk through light cover and toss the dummy for the dog. This is a visual exercise that I use in preparation for later teaching a dog a blind retrieve. My dogs all find it easy to do , they love it - so much so that I sometimes use this retrieve as a reward for good work. A pup can really stretch its' legs doing these retrieves, it can really run , most pups like that ! My other "pup" is a 16 month old G.S.P. by the age of 4 1/2 months , over short grass , he would tear out up to 250 yards. He might have gone further but I didn't ask it of him. This is still his favourite retrieve. A memory and the longer distance the better !!! This exercise is a huge booster of a pups confidence in itself and in you. The pup begins to realise that if you "line it up " position it in a certain way and it goes that way, it WILL DEFINETLY FIND THE DUMMY ! No ifs , buts or maybes ! The distances and the time spans are kept short to begin with to absolutely ensure success and the accompanying increase in confidence and enthusiasm - nothing succeeds like success !

There are several variations possible when doing this retrieve but I'll stick at that just now or I'll end up writing a book !

The SEEK BACK :- This is an extension of the previous , basically it is an unsighted memory retrieve. A dummy is dropped WITHOUT the dog seeing it but the distance has been greatly reduced from whatever distance has been achieved with the MEMORY retrieve. It is done on short grass or on a pathway. When the dog is turned as you walk and "lined up " for the retrieve everything is the same except that the dog did not see you drop the dummy. I often just let it fall down the side of my leg. The dog is lined up , perhaps only 10 -20 yards from he dummy. As soon as you line it up the dog sees the dummy and is only too willing to go !!! The distance of the retrieve and the length of the grass is gradually increased . The dog has now seen nothing thrown or dropped but is only too willing to believe you and run out along your back track to find the dummy. Again you have boosted its confidence in itself and in your directions - if it "believes" you and goes where you point , it is rewarded with a dummy.
You are one stage nearer to doing blind retrieves.

Even although I only picked Charlie up on Saturday and he had never done anything like this before, he already is coming to understand and to love this game. This is my preferred method for teaching all of the gundog breeds to do blinds. The dog is full of confidence , in its' mind ,how can it fail ??? You have pointed it in a certain direction and you are ALWAYS correct .

There are so many variations of these retrieves that I'd be all night trying to type them all out - remember I'm a one fingered typist !

Directional retrieves. This often involves using more than one dummy. I have heard the variations called so many different things that I get confused.
Basically there is a directional retrieve from the heel position. At its simplest this is two dummies several yards apart the dog to pick the dummy you indicate to it and leave the other one.

There is also the type of directional retrieve where the dog sits facing you at a distance. Imagine the dog is in the centre of a clock face and you, the handler, are at 6 o'clock. A trained dog will be capable of going in the direction in dictated by the handler towards any one of several dummies.

I have had dogs capable of doing 8 directions on that clockface according to my body language and hand signals. This degree of control was great to show off with in a nice manicured field but wasn't often much use on a shooting day ! Some dogs, originally keen, will become dulled or will even "dry up" while training this exercise. It is really only for the retrieve nutcases and I mean the dogs not their handlers !

I tend to vary this exercise to suit the individual dog. My basic need is for a dog to go on the clock face to 12......3........6.......9 o'clock. That adequately covers most shooting situations. A dog that does not show signs of freezing or dimming I might try to take further. But I.M.O. the loss of a happy enthusiastic dog isn't worth trying for anything too fancy for.

A dog should ONLY be redirected towards a retrieve from a sit position, I put that in because in over 40 years of trying to train gundogs I still see the attempted giving of directions to a still moving dog as one of the most common faults --- sorry if I'm preaching to the converted ....... 30 plus years of taking gundog training classes will tend to make you do that !!!!

Wullie

[trekmoor]

Originally Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:12 pm
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Hi Jan, you are not alone, this is caused by handler error, I can say that with certainty because my 10 year old G.S.P. does the same and has been doing it for 2 years now !

Two things are usually at the root of this I.M.O. .... The dog wants to go hunting again as quickly as possible and/or the dog wants to run out for another retrieve on a hot drive as quickly as possible.

You have to somehow make the retrieve to you more of a reward . It usually starts when the handler is in a hurry to get the dog out there again, perhaps after a runner. The only "cure" I know of is not to accept a sloppy retrieve even at a shoot and not to accept the dog tearing off again. Bring it into heel and sit it for a moment.

This is , of course, a counsel of perfection , it should apply to everyone except me and my dogs !!!

Wullie

[trekmoor]

Originally Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:34 pm
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This morning I was back up The Law with Charlie. A man with a dog came along the same pathway as us through a wood about 40 -50 yards behind us. Charlie didn't like that, he kept looking round as we walked, he was off lead but did not go to investigate the "strange" man and dog. I moved off path and let them pass by , Charlie was perfectly happy with them in front of us.

I threw half a dozen marks into the surrounding woods. These were very short retrieves , no more than 15 yards but the cover was thick, few, if any, brambles but lots of young saplings pushing up through a thick litter of fallen trees and dead branches with thick leaflitter covering everything.Charlie persevered well in there and emerged with the dummy every time. I did one memory at perhaps 60 yards. I threw the dummy a few feet off the path letting an on lead Charlie have a really good look at the surroundings as the dummy fell. I walked him 30 yards through the wood then another 30 out into a rough field. "Lining him up" for the retrieve was difficult , he struggled furiously to get going as soon as I took the leash off. I eventually sat right down beside him in the long grasses and managed to get him to sit for a couple of seconds before sending him. He found it easily and for once did not try to dodge past me as he returned , in fact this time he was so pleased with himself he took a leap at me from 5 feet away and the dummy was "delivered " right into my "6 pack" ( well it was that once upon a time ! )

We continued up this rough field and although I'd had no intentions of hunting it, the wind just happened to be straight into my face and wee Charlie was already quartering it so , what the hell I thought and did the rest of the field as a hunt. I need more practice at this , two things went wrong. Charlie was too often down wind turning. To remedy this I did as I would do with a pointing dog , I increased my speed and moved forward faster trying to make the dog turn into the wind rather than away from it.

Maybe I need to do this for longer but in the 80 yards or so that I hunted Charlie in this way he still was inclined to down wind turn only now he was crossing behind me rather than in front. A spaniel should not hunt behind the line so I was making things worse. I'm not sure quite what to do about this one, it probably just needs more practice..............any ideas ???

We continued hunting right into the next stretch of woodland Charlie was going well, at least he was to my inexpert eye. I saw him take interest in a low bush, normally he does not enter bushes , he sniffs from outside, then goes around them. This time he went in --- and out flew a blackbird !
This species of tweety bird may not be game but nobodies ever told Charlie that !!! Charlie burst out of the other side of the bush and set off in hot pursuit !!! I suppose a blackbird is a sort of Charlie sized pheasant.

I knew I couldn't catch him and I knew he was very unlikely to stop or recall to whistle so I didn't even try. I walked the opposite way to his last seen direction , hid behind a tree then called him. He came back and had a moment of worry, poor wee fella, lost in the jungles of deepest Scotland ! I called again and helped him to find me.
I feel it is a dogs job to maintain contact with its handler, the dog has better hearing , better nose and by the time you reach my age it probably also has better vision than me. It also has more and better legs , why should I go hunting for it ? As early as possible my pups learn to find me, since I've only had Charlie a week today he has never had to learn this before, he is learning it now. Keeping contact is his job , not mine.

We arrived at a flooded area in the woods , it looks a bit like a Louisiana swamp film . There are fallen rotten trees , big dead branches and live trees growing up through it all and through the shallow water and deep leaf litter. It even has sort of hanging mossy bits - very atmospheric !

I decided to try to use it for Charlies introduction to water. Charlie didn't want to know when I tossed bits of broken branch in just two feet from the edge. Even in the deep bits the water is still only about 18 inches deep but Charlie just didn't want to know. Mossy clumps and fallen tree boles lay in it and across it so I decided to cross over by them letting Charlie splash through.

He was better at the stepping stone game than me and easily followed my steps and little leaps from mossy clumps to dead fallen tree trunks. I came to the end of a fallen tree and was by now , out near the middle of the pond. A tree trunk lay across the pond in front of me with about 3 - 4 feet of shallow water in between my tree and it. Charlie was right behind me walking along the tree trunk. I had tried but he was just too good at playing stepping stones , he would not enter the water.

I tried once more, I did a little jump from my tree to the other one 4 feet away. I landed on it just fine but skidded on its mossy rotten surface and I slid right off the other side to land with an almighty splash in about a foot of water on the other side. I wouldn't have minded too much but my feet had gone up the way in mid skid so I accomplished splash down on my backside. Charlie leaped easily to the tree trunk and since his face and mine were now at about the same level, as I sat in my bath , he gave it a friendly and appreciative lick - he was enjoying the show ! With him now being the proud owner of a nutcase like me he must think he's landed up in cocker heaven !!!

I did the half mile squelch back to the car in double quick time - at least I didn't have to dry Charlie off - the little sod is still bone dry !

Wullie.

[trekmoor]

Originally Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:13 pm
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It's been a busy and tiring day. I took my other "pup" to H.P.R. classes this morning and this afternoon , utterly knackering ! Charlie had to wait until this evening for his little walk and training session.

We were again up on The Law and I let Charlie trot along through a wood while I occasionally threw a dummy for him. No problems except for the delivery, he is enjoying his charge back to me so much he usually gallops on by then turns and pushes into me with the dummy.

Near the end of the wood I did a memory with him. The dummy was tossed a short distance away and I walked him away on lead. After a struggle I persuaded him to sit after the lead came off but I had to hold on to his scruff, he really wants that dummy. The distance through woodland was 70 -80 yards approx. and he did it easily.

I walked up a rough field with a line of bushes and brashings forming one side of it and some thick mixed woodlands behind the bushes. As we walked with Charlie off lead I threw a dummy right over the bushes into the wood, it landed - somewhere ! I am making sure Charlie uses his nose by throwing dummies to where he cannot see them land - and neither can I ! He is a long way off doing blind retrieves so I couldn't help him anyway but I do like to make sure it is being done by the dog and not by me. I did 3 of these retrieves and Charlie passed that test with flying colours. I've no idea what he did in there or what he hauled the dummies out of but he certainly came back with them. Very encouraging.

We were walking in a sort of big circle and we now entered a parkland area. I did a final memory over the two inch long grass. I stretched this one a bit because the running was so easy. It was probably in excess of 120 yards. I think he would have gone much further , he made this distance look easy ! I just love watching his wee legs go and seeing his ears flying ! It puts a grin on my face every time ( not a pretty sight! )

A jogger came by and Charlie was at first a little worried then decided the jogger was O.K. and tried to get a cuddle - I wouldn't have minded one myself - she was rather tasty ! Anyway , poor wee Charlie had no better luck than me so we went home.

Two of the kids who live nearby saw Charlie get out of the car. They called him over and out of curiousity I let him go. I thought he would be frightened but he went right into them for a cuddle - this time he got it - in fact he got several 'cos other kids arrived, they were all getting a bit excited so I went in my gate and safely away from their boisterousness.

I am pleased to see he is beginning to accept some of these new , to him, things.

He is now playing with my ridiculously friendly G.S.P. ,he looks like a soggy black dishmop ! My G.S.P. can easily fit his entire head inside his mouth - and often does. Things can get a bit hectic in my living room when that pair start playing !!!

Wullie

[trekmoor]

Originally posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:36 pm
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Back to the Law with Charlie again and again I was working on retrieves. He is now doing at least 12 retrieves without becoming bored. I did at least 10 marked retrieves today and 3 memories - 4 if you include the double I laid out a few feet from each other at the edge of a wood. I walked him on lead 40 -50 yards from those two dummies then turned, lined him up, and sent him. His memory was spot on and he quickly returned with one dummy, the thing I was curious about was - would he remember the 2nd dummy ? He did and quickly returned with that too. The other dummies that I used as marks he ran in for from wherever he was standing or moving at the time. They were all thrown over bushes into varying degrees of cover. One dummy went over a broken wall about 2 to 2 1/2 feet high. It bounced off a young fir tree and landed 2 -3 feet up in some broken branches and brashings. There were no brambles around but plenty of other ground cover. I watched with interest as he worked it all out for himself.

He went to where he thought it should be and , of course, it wasn't there, he thrashed around the broken branches etc. and still could not find it. He ran off 10 yards or so downwind then turned and quartered his way back in. This time he caught a whiff of the dummy and moved up the scent cone trying to centre it. He succeeded and I watched as he went onto his hind legs to pull the dummy off its snag.

I was trying a different dummy today. The "new" one is 4 to 8 ounces heavier than the dummy I've been using , it is also covered in pheasant wings. This makes it both heavier and bulkier - Charlie responded as I hoped he would 3 times out of 4 he brought this dummy straight up to hand rather than dodging around me.

He saw another lady jogger today and wasn't all that interested, he is gradually adjusting to these new things and getting a little bolder. I have continued to work on sits to voice , whistle and hand signal. As yet he will only sit within about 4 feet of me and then only for about one second before he is up again. I've had him for over a week now and he trusts me, I think I can begin to be more insistent with him without him losing confidence in me. I will begin to "push" him a little harder being ready to back off if he becomes particularly bothered by this.

Wullie

[trekmoor]

Originally posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:28 am
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I have a lot of odds and ends needing done around the house so I took out Charlie and my young G.S.P. together early this morning. The G.S.P. is a really wide runner , at times he can be multiples of 100 yards out. The ground up at the Law is a mixture of woodland , open rough grass and gorse covered hill. I reasoned that while the big lad was off a good distance in the woods I could toss a couple of retrieves for Charlie. The G.S.P. is a retrieveaholic and he takes great interest in anything remotely resembling a dummy.

Charlie did one good mark into the cover and one good memory through 60 yards of light woodland cover. I was doing another longish memory along the edge of a wood when disaster struck. He found the wing wrapped dummy and had just started back with it when a black lab came out of the wood and bullied the dummy from Charlie, the dogs owner appeared but did nothing Charlie stayed near "his" dummy but was obviously now frightened. I cursed and went to get my pup and my dummy. Captain Marvel to the rescue ! Out of the wood came my G.S.P., he's a big lad and that lab had his dummy . He went straight to it and stood over the lab looking very imposing , the lab didn't fancy his chances , he dropped the dummy and moved off. The lab owner was not amused but it was just a case of "the biter bit."

Charlie is now reluctant to pick a dummy, but I think he'll be O.K, again soon. He is increasing in confidence daily , he is not nearly as wary of strange people now.

Wullie