Ghillie's Report Card

[trekmoor]

Then I got a nice surprise with the road tax too.... £30 a year instead of £320 !!!

Shouldn't that have a 1 in front of it Unless there is nothing in the engine compartment and the driving pedals rotate

Nope Peter, it definitely is £30 per year instead of £320 per year ! Feckin brilliant ! .... I'll be able to buy myself a new fishing rod , I've only already got about 16 of them .....and no I'm not kidding ! I'm a tackle tart !

Wullie

[ips]

Yep, my citroen is 30 quid. But my 4x4 is 300 plus

[trekmoor]

I am feeling very downhearted at the moment. I "moved Ghillie on" yesterday. After several months of thinking about it while not being physically able to take her out training or take her to shoots, I finally decided she'd be far better off with a more active owner.

I had never met or heard of the man who contacted me about buying her so I deliberately greatly played down her abilities as both a pet and as a gundog and over exaggerated her few and far from disastrous "faults." I wanted to discourage a non serious buyer.

When the man and his wife turned up to see her yesterday they got a bit of a surprise when they saw how much she could already do and how minor her faults really were. They'd been "sold a pup" when buying their previous lab as a trained gundog .....the man has just finished phoning me to say Ghillie is an utter delight and is far advanced on that first lab.

The man and his wife live on a farm and he let Ghillie off lead in a well enclosed field right beside his house this morning and gave her some heelwork and a few retrieves. Ghillie had easily done all of those basic retrieves and had remained completely steady.

I sold her on for less than half of what she was actually worth and I think the man is beginning to appreciate the bargain he got. She is on a one to two week trial period at the moment but I don't think I will be getting her back any time soon ! The man is already talking about doing field tests and trials with her !

I have been invited to visit her whenever I like and the man is already asking for advice on how to even further advance her training. I sold her with the same conditions attached that my brittany "Libby" had . She must not be moved on or sold on . If for any reason she is no longer wanted she must be returned to me.

I think , that by looking for "the home" first instead of the money, I have put a square peg into a square hole. I certainly hope so for I am already missing having Ghillie around.

I feel very down in the dumps.

Wullie

[Stacia]

I am sorry Wullie, you must be feeling pretty downhearted at the moment, but you did do the right thing. Ghillie sounds as if you have found her the perfect home which must be some comfort.

[Naj]

Sorry to hear you finally had to bite the bullet, Wullie, but sounds like you’ve found a fab home and done the best for her.

Naj

[nanalander]

You did the right thing for the dog, not yourself, which is commendable.
You must just be happy for Ghillie and think about that. It sounds as though you can still be involved if you want to with advice about training. He sounds a nice bloke so why not? I would see it as a perfect solution, plus if she ever has to leave her new owner she comes back to you - what's not to like ?

[ips]

Sorry to hear it wullie but i am sure you gave it a great deal of thought and did what was best

[trekmoor]

Ghillies new owner phoned me again today and told me "she is an absolute delight." He had one problem with her retrieve deliveries. She was moving past him before coming in to present the dummies. I told him how to cure this and he did it and had no more problems.

I think the problem would have eventually cured itself as I suspect it was caused by her being a bit uncertain of her new owner but I advised him to simply back away from her as she approached him and that was all that was needed.

He says she is causing no problems at all in his house and has now been walked by him and by his wife while always remaining easy to control. He again invited me to visit him at any time so all seems to be well for Ghillie.

Wullie

[Naj]

Great news, Wullie.

[CockerCanuck]

Good for you Wullie, it must have been hard but probably best for her. Since you still get to visit and stay involved with her career you can still enjoy the fine results of the work you put into her.