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  1. I recently retired, and promised myself that I would get a dog again after several years. This one I was determined would be a doggie icon of steadfastness, obedience and instant reaction to my command. After all, the last one was a source of endless jokes, shame and ridicule, and I put this down to the fact that I got her when she was 10 months old, and well past the training age..... The kind of excuses that all owners of ill-behaved mutts make. She (Bella) is now 5 months old, and I have had her for 2 months. She sits to command, doesn't steal food, and is a real character. For all non-owners of cockers I would state that the best description of the breed is that they are 'independent'. This means that they know best, and if in doubt will follow their natural instincts. Springers are docile by comparison. I don't know why I got a cocker again after the last 14 years of trauma, and that goes to show how it is a body's natural tendency to squirrel extreme pain and anguish away in the deepest recesses of the brain. A bit like ladies endure during childbirth I suppose... I keep on telling myself that she has to enjoy being a pup, and not to rush her training, but overall, on the right day, she is doing very well. However, she has transformed the garden to a quarry, with piles of earth and holes everywhere (the last dog didn't dig, and so this came as a shock). The wife complains about 'her' destroyed flower beds and shrubs, but what the heck, as I do all the gardening anyway. Bella has the knack of racing about the garden at top speed, snatching off the heads of flowers in the process. A great game, especially if the wife sees her and shrieks at her to stop... Anyway, the last source of shame was last week when I took her for a long walk along the local canal to tire her out. These walks are very character building for her, as I alternate between walking to heel (off the lead !!), and then 'walking on', and recall to the whistle; stop to the whistle etc., etc. We approached a fisherman 100 yards away, and I instantly called her to heel. Immaculate! The fisherman had a couple of young lads with him, and as we got closer I heard him say to one of the boys "Leave that poorly pigeon alone!". Even closer, and Bella was put on the lead, as she tends to regard all fisherman as deepest friends, and has been known to jump all over them, treading in the boxes full of maggots etc. Sure enough, as we got 5 yards away there was a pigeon on the side of the towpath, looking very sorry for itself. "Leave", I commanded, but I could see that she had clocked it by the gleam in her eyes. Still, she didn't break stride, and I was very pleased at yet another lesson learned. After a couple of hundred yards we retraced our steps, and with Bella off the lead and to heel we walked back past the fisherman. Not a hesitation on her part, and on we progressed with me pleased as Punch. 100 yards further on I commanded her to 'Walk on'... The little sod streaked back towards the fisherman, with me blowing recall and stop commands on the whistle like a guard on a steam train.. She screeched to a halt, grabbed the pigeon, and trotted back to me with the pigeon feebly flapping a wing in her face. Humiliated beyond description I told her "Dead" in the sternest voice and she dropped said pigeon into my hands - it was still alive, but somewhat further traumatised. The little lad walked up to me, and after hearing my command enquired in an anxious voice "Is it dead mister?" Bella sat there with a mouth full of pigeon feathers, with a look of smugness on her innocent face. "No", I said, "It's quite all right" and I carefully placed it underneath a bush on the towpath and hastily retreated with my mind in turmoil. My feelings were mixed - her first retrieve of game (dead or alive) was, in retrospect, beautifully performed. She obviously doesn't have a hard mouth, and brought it straight back to me. However, there was obviously the matter of a clear and wilful ignorance of the recall and stop whistle.... One cannot 'punish' her for this for obvious reasons, but there is obviously a need for more endless training with the stop whistle. Cockers - who would have them!
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