anser2 Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 (edited) I nearly did not post this after reading about Steves recent loss , but the cycle continues and in time you look forward to a new dog and new adventures to come. My old black lab Meg will be 13 years old this coming season and most wildfowling will be beyond her soon , though she will have the odd easy day in a pigeon hide . Two years ago I got a rescue black lab Pip, and I had high hopes for her. Alas before I got her previous owner had let her run riot with almost no discipline or borders. She was the most magnificent looking black lab I have ever seen , but she was never going to make the grade as a gun dog and was almost uncontrollable at times. Unable to trust her to be free if there were other dogs about. For most of her walks I had to keep her on a lead when walking her. I had to watch her as if my attention wandered she had the habit of pulling very hard and on 3 occasions pulling me over once damaging my shoulder so badly that took months to recover and even now I have the odd twinge of pain from it. I persevered with her for 2 years but despite both her parents being working dogs it was clear she would never make the grade as a gundog and much as I loved her she was going to have to go. before she did me some permanent damage. A friends daughter with 2 teenage sons took her off me and as she settled into a new home she has prospered. It was hard to see her go as I got very attached to her over the last 2 years. Pip had always been a very dominant dog and totally dominated Meg. Almost as soon as Pip left Meg came out of her shell and i have never seen her as happy as she has been over the last month. A new season was coming in 5 months and with Meg being semi-retired I had no time to train up a pup. For months i have been scouring the ads for a local lab bitch over a year old , but very little suitable has come up and any bitches that were gone almost as soon as the Ad came up. At last a 20 month old fox red bitch , part trained was advertised 50 miles away and yesterday I drove over and had a good look at her. She walked to heel well and did a number of retrieves and though her price was well into 4 figures ( she has a super pedigree with 25 field champions ) There are only a handful of ancestors who have not been FTCs). I decided to have her and so Sandy has come into my life. I have only had her 24 hours , but already she is transferring her affections to me and I can trust her to walk to heel off the lead. Meg seems to be getting along much better with Sandy that she did with Pip , though its early days. Megs trouble is that through her life she has always been at the bottom of the peck order with other dogs and will not stand up for herself. I will give Sandy a few weeks before we set about finishing her training, but with luck it looks as though I have stumbled onto a little cracker and she will with be my last shooting partner for the next decade by which time I may have hung up my guns for good. Old age catches up with us all in time. Edited April 23, 2018 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 A very honest account, thanks for sharing. Hope the new dog works out and the old girl enjoys her retirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 Very nice read, we all go through things and its good to read of others trials in life. Hope it all works out well for you and your dogs. By what you have written she has great potential to be the best dog ever for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted April 23, 2018 Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 Hi Robert , nice to have you back amongst the fold , was beginning to think all the cold sessions chasing wildfowl about over the years have finally caught up with you , glad that's not the case and hope you will more success with the new pup than you did with Pip . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted April 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, marsh man said: Hi Robert , nice to have you back amongst the fold , was beginning to think all the cold sessions chasing wildfowl about over the years have finally caught up with you , glad that's not the case and hope you will more success with the new pup than you did with Pip . Thanks Marshman, good to be back. It is my old problem with Pigeon Watch where it will not accept my password and will not let me change it for months and then suddenly all works again. Do not be surprised if I vanish again in a few weeks. I will be down your way this week , my house hunting goes on. It is proving hard to find a place suitable for me and the dogs, close to a town , but still in the countryside and not too far from my shooting. Edited April 23, 2018 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushandpull Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 Good news. It's about time you had a few things go your way Robert. Best of luck with house-hunting, and hope to see you stumping around the shows this summer. When are we going to see that book ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted April 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 The book is finished, but a few copywrite permission complications with a couple of small sections taken from some of my magazine articles, house hunting and a lot of other things going on in my life at the moment its taken a back seat. I will aim to get it to market by Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted April 24, 2018 Report Share Posted April 24, 2018 1 hour ago, anser2 said: The book is finished, but a few copywrite permission complications with a couple of small sections taken from some of my magazine articles, house hunting and a lot of other things going on in my life at the moment its taken a back seat. I will aim to get it to market by Christmas. I look forward to that and one that I shall ask the Mrs to add to the Christmas list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve0146 Posted April 25, 2018 Report Share Posted April 25, 2018 Im glad it's all worked. I look forward to getting a new pup, next season now though, dont want to rush it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted April 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2018 (edited) Steve it hurts when you lose a dog and we all cope with in our own way. For me getting a new dog as soon as possible helps and its surprising how quickly I transfer my affections. I never forget the old girls and even now years later I greatly miss my old golden retriever, Penny , but a new dog eases things.. I have to confess I found it impossible to resist a few dummies with Sandy and she passed with flying colours. After a few single retrieves, I tried a couple of doubles and she again had no problems remembering where they fell and then I did something that perhaps I should not. I dropped 2 dummies side by side and we walked on for 100 yards before sending her. They were easy for her to see, but I wanted to see her reaction when confronted with 2 dummies as many dogs become confused with several birds down dashing from one to the other and making quite a hash of the retrieves. Sandy raced for the first and without hesitation picked it up ignoring the other dummy 3 feet away and dashed back and sat beside me offering the dummy to me. I took it from her and let her catch her breath for a moment and sent her for the second which again retrieved with no problems. Then back to the more mundane training of sit and stay. She switches into a higher gear when retrieving wanting to please me, holding the dummy high and she gives it to me, I do not take it from her. She then sits her ars* tight on the ground staring at my eyes as if to say " yes sir, was that right sir, what can I do next sir". Beginning to think I have a little cracker here. A few minor things need sorting. She does not like friends dogs getting too close to me , though accepts my old dog doing so and I can't trust her if there is food human or dog food within reach. She could eat for England and bolts her meals in seconds. But I guess that's a result from being a kennel dog where if she hesitates another dog will take her food. I introduced her to water too today , just paddling about in a few inches on a ford in the river. She splashed about and enjoyed it and once with no biding from me went out to the deeper water , where she had a few typical inexperienced dog paddles before turning back to shallow water . Yesterday I visited a friend and she mixed with his 12 month lab , but she seemed to have no idea what playing was and quickly returned to my side while my older dog Meg and my friend's dog had a whale of a time. Sandy after a quick sniff quickly returned to my side and watched from a distance seeming more interested in humans than other dogs. I cant take credit for much of her work as she was part trained when I bought her, but she is coping very with the new challenges I give her and most of the work needed is to smooth off a few rough edges and finish off her training with a bit of polish. Though she is going to need the experience of real wildfowling which I cant give her this time of year I am sure she will be useful when the season starts. I will be slowing things down for a while, back to the basic stuff for reinforcement sit, stay, heel, but only having had her for a week, I have stretched her and she has coped well. Edited April 26, 2018 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riptide Posted May 5, 2018 Report Share Posted May 5, 2018 Hi Anser sounds to me she has had a good early trainer were holding and offering dummy came first before the retrieves as once you find out how to do it it makes for a easy life as the dog holds it up for you bit less bending to do also will bring close to you on marsh , saves having to show yourself from the hide ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted May 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2018 (edited) She had all the basic training before i got her except water work. But I am putting that right now. She loves water until she gets out of her depth and then does the typical panic dog paddle until her feet touch bottom again. She just needs more experience in water. One good sign, she has made a bit of a hash of picking up a dummy in water about 2 feet deep, treading on it with her paws , but on her last 2 retrieves she put her head well under water and grabbed the dummy before it resurfaced. I usually have to teach a dog to pick up a dummy from underwater with a weighted dummy in shallow water, but this looks like being unnecessary with Sandy. Edited May 5, 2018 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.