Horses for Courses – 4th October 2009

Today was a typical October day.  You could feel a chill in the air but the sky was blue and the sun still had some warmth in it.  In addition, it was a Sunday which meant that I had a bit more time to spend training the dogs.  Because of this I elected to take the dogs out separately.  The colours in autumn are quite special, particularly when the vivid red of rowan berries are set against a backdrop of blue sky.  There are days in the winter when I would rather not be out with the dogs.  This was exactly the opposite.

I came home from the last outing today with a clear picture of the way ahead.  I have a Land Rover and an Audi.  The Audi is quite capable, with careful driving, in reasonable conditions, of making it along a rutted farm track.  It is possible with the Audi, but the Land Rover does it better; much better.  Likewise, the Audi is very comfortable sitting at 80 mph on the motorway for hours on end.  With the wind behind me I can get the Land Rover up to 80 mph on the motorway, and given favourable conditions, it can sit there for a long time.  It is possible with the Land Rover, but the Audi does it better; much better.

I took Archie out onto the heather today and ran him for quite a long time.  We were out for well over two hours and I guess Archie had about an hour of free running during this time.  I was about 200 yards from the Land Rover when I realised I had forgotten the long line so decided to take a risk and run him without it.  To cut a long story short I ran him in various depths of heather at various angles to the wind and he did very, very well.  In the shorter heather his beat was comfortably wide and his speed was consistently high.  He turned on every whistle and dropped both to the whistle and the raised hand.  It was an absolute pleasure to be out with him.  I chose a patch of moorland that was extensive with good visibility, meaning that I could let him get out a good way and see how he responded to my direction changes.  He was really good, turning in response to my turning.  We found no birds but despite this I was really pleased.  I daresay that he will sleep soundly tonight.

I have worked really hard with Grace to draw out of her the best performance I can manage.  She can run well when she chooses, has a great nose and will definitely find birds if there are any to be found, and by and large she handles pretty well.  Her recall is really good, her turning is really good.  Her dropping to the flush however is still an issue.  She is my first dog, and I have had to learn, often the hard way, how to do or not do things. All in all I don’t feel I have done a bad job with Grace but as my school reports will testify…I could have done better. 

There are fundamental differences between Grace and Archie though.  These differences I believe are inherent.  They correlate with the breeding but as I was taught, quite rightly, that correlation does not equal causation, I realise I would be on risky grounds making any assertions on breeding when the variables are so numerous and the sample size so small.  When I cast Archie off he runs.  Not just a comfortable gallop into the heather but a powerful, determined, thundering charge.  He then keeps an eye on me. looking for a signal to do something different whether that’s change direction or drop.  If I casually call him he will come back and drop next to me until I set him up and cast him off again.  I feel very strongly that he wants to do what I want him to do, and he knows I want him to find birds.  When I set Grace up to cast her off she whines impatiently.  She always has and I don’t believe she can help it.  I have tried many ways to stop it, all fruitless.  I cast her off and she will run well.  She doesn’t run, however, with the same determination as Archie.  She does well, but she isn’t a rocket.  She handles well and recalls well but often doesn’t look for direction.  If she gets the scent of a bird she does exactly what she wants, which to a point coincides with what I want her to do, but only a point.  She will totally blank me out, deciding to chase the bird rather than drop.  I genuinely believe that she works to please herself, which often also pleases me.  I really feel that Archie works to please me, which also often pleases him.  The difference is maybe quite subtle, but its impact is not.

Having come to this partial conclusion I decided, once Archie was home and kenelled, to take Grace out for a walk.  No frustrating training.  We went down by a different section of the river only 5 minutes from my house, then up the valley side into the sunshine.  It was a wonderful walk.  Grace trotted ahead of me, sometimes disappearing from view, but more often than not only 20 yards ahead of me.  I could think about other things and just take in the walk, rather than worry about whether Grace was onto a bird, or about to flush one.  I guess this is what dog walking is all about.  We met a few other dogs and Grace had a hop about before dutifully coming away from them and walking with me.  I would call her in to heel every now and again and she was happy just to be out with me.  We had a really comfortable, relaxing walk.  When I take Archie out I set him up, then cast him off.  If he doesn’t run hard immediately I drop him, pick him up and repeat the whole exercise, only letting him carry on if he runs hard.  If I walked him along this track he would vanish from sight within seconds.  In short, it just couldn’t happen.

I mustn’t forget why we got Grace.  We wanted a pet that I hoped would open the door for me to working pointers (my family had to be convinced).  She has taught me a great deal.  What I mustn’t lose sight of is the fact that she is not the same as Archie and I mustn’t get annoyed or disappointed that she responds differently to her surroundings and my training.  I am still trying to get her to drop to a raised hand.  It took me just two attempts to get Archie to do this.

I am sure the Working versus Show debate will rumble on forever, as will the Nature versus Nurture debate.  These two dogs are totally different – whether this is down to pedigree, sex, or me I will never know.  I would never criticise my Land Rover for its motorway cruising capabilities in the same way I don’t expect my Audi to come off unscathed should I take it up a farm track in the winter.

With regards the other photos, the spring that Archie is drinking out of was nearly dry.  This is the first time I have ever seen this.  The river alongside which I took Grace was also really low.  We need rain.  The caterpillar, by the way, is that of a Fox Moth.  There were loads on the moorland today.  They eat heather.