Today we went to the woods in search of woodcock.  Having found an area that held them it only seemed sensible to let Archie have a go and test out his bird handling skills.  Within a minute of reaching what I believed was a promising area they both put up a bird with no indication or forewarning – in fact I think it took them both by surprise.  About ten minutes later Archie went on point adjacent to a pile of brash.  He was obviously on top of the scent as he couldn’t get his nose and body closer to the ground.  I crept up on him and clicked him forward, which he did in a series of short, sharp jerks, then suddenly ran forward seeming to lose the scent.  He then ran about obviously hunting again so I called him back.  As we walked back past the spot he had pointed a woodcock got up from a position behind where we had been.  I can’t see that it had been there all along or I would have literally trodden on it, so can only guess that it held very tight, then moved to another spot…do woodcock do this?  Anyway, we missed it.

A few minutes later, with no dogs in sight, I caught a glimpse of a rabbit moving fast around some vegetation ahead of me.  This was closely followed by Grace.  Archie appeared from behind me and ran towards the commotion so I dropped him.  Grace however went after the rabbit, yipping like an idiot.  Not a good end to the session.  Needless to say the rabbit escaped unscathed.

I took both dogs into the forest this morning in the drizzle.  I really wasn’t in the right frame of mind to take them onto the hill on account of a busy day ahead with little time to spare.  Both dogs leapt from the car and milled around me while I locked doors, checked for the whistle, tucked the leads away, zipped up my jacket and so on before I told them to get on.  Archie ran ahead a little way but really didn’t run very hard and Grace put a bit of distance between me and her then proceeded to plod along at the pace of a labrador.  It really looked like we were all going through the motions rather than enjoying an hour in the outdoors.  I decided that we must be bored.  To counter this I turned left into the forest and proceeded to walk a route through the trees that had no formal path.  The moment I turned off the normal track both dogs went into overdrive.  I can honestly say that I haven’t seen them run like this for quite a while.  They were both hunting very hard.

We walked through the conifers to emerge in an area of mixed conifer, willow, birch and bracken.  It was very wet and keeping track of the dogs was tricky.  Archie went on point and we produced a nice fat woodcock which was great as this was his first woodcock.  He dropped to the whistle without even attempting to move forward as he watched it away.  Later Grace went on point and then put up two snipe alongside the path.  The dogs had a great time running flat out for about an hour. 

I later came into another clearing that seemed to be dotted with children’s camps.  They were very well built camps surrounding a few very carefully constructed fireplaces.  This woodland is too far from the village for ‘modern’ children to walk to so I can only assume this was a Forest School site where the local school children come to learn how to build camps and make fires.  If this is not the case the only other explanation is that this is where city bankers come, paying good money, to find their inner self…no doubt at some cost.  I really hope it is the former.

I know Grace isn’t old, only turning four in January, but I have an inkling that she may have backed Archie today.  Under normal circumstances if she came in and pointed behind Archie I would put this down to picking up the same scent, but this time was slightly different in that a) whenever Archie repositioned she did too (without attempting to overtake and steal the point), and b) the point came to nothing more than ground scent, or a running bird that I didn’t let them follow.  I know that Grace wouldn’t point normally unless she was sure, and I know that Archie is working it all out at his age, so I have to come to the conclusion that Grace backed Archie.  I will see if it happens again.

We walked through the forest before heading onto the hill and whilst it wasn’t bitterly cold the air contained a few large snow flakes.  The light was wonderful, really showing up the colours in only the way that low winter light can.  I ran both dogs separately to begin with and they both ran very well.  The wind was swirling about so it was not worth correcting their beats on account of my perception of the wind direction, as this would probably be wrong so I let them work it out for themselves.  My confirmation that this was the right thing to do came when I ran both dogs together and whilst they ran a fair distance apart still worked what appeared to be the same wind.

Grace ran very well, keeping very flat.  Archie did ok too.  They must have had a good forty minutes running each, not including the exercise they had getting to and from the site.  Whilst the light made for a nice view it really showed up Grace’s ribs.  Both dogs will go on increased rations as of today.

On the way back we walked through an area of regenerating conifers.  Grace went off ahead but Archie swung on point ahead of me.  I moved him forwards and a cock pheasant lifted.  It didn’t make a sound and Archie dropped to the ’sit’.  Altogether a very calm affair.

I took Archie to the vets this morning for his boosters and a kennel cough vaccine.  This took me in a direction away from the hills so I ended up on the racecourse with both dogs relatively early in the morning.  There had been a sharp frost overnight.  I concentrated on directional work, sending both dogs into the bracken one way, then turning them another and it all seemed to go ok.  On the main track I decided to throw my hat over Archie as he headed away from me and drop him on the whistle.  The idea here is that eventually he will drop to the hat alone.  Obviously a dog that drops to flying hats has only limited use to anyone other than a frenzied milliner, but I rather hope that he will respond to the movement, rather than the hat itself, thereby training him to drop to the flush…well, that’s the theory.

I threw the hat three times over him and dropped him to the whistle.  On the fourth he dropped without the whistle – great.  I tried this a few times and he did the same – he dropped to the hat.  I really wanted to capitalise on the fact that I think he actually dropped to the flush the last time we were on the moor.  If I can embed this response I will be very happy.  As you can see in the photo, Grace ran on, ignoring the flying hat and Archie, preferring to tuck into the tasty morsels left by a passing horse…rather typically.

Later on, when both, dogs were free running I was concentrating on Grace.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Archie, flat out, bounding over the dead bracken in hot pursuit of a jack snipe.  I can only assume that the bird didn’t look enough like a hat to cause him to drop.

It was one of those mornings when toast and a cup of tea seemed far more appealing than taking the dogs out, not only on account of the drizzle but the fact that I could see the cloud base at about 1000 feet, meaning that visibility on the moor would be down to a few metres.  Nevertheless we headed for the hill.  What I couldn’t see from the windows of my house is that we had had some snow in the night above about 1200 feet as this was obscured by the low cloud.  It was cold.

Both dogs ran quite well, although it was difficult seeing either of them in the heather dappled with snow.  Before long Grace came on point.  It was a very solid point which was clearly backed by Archie who was following close behind.  I stood to take a photo before finding out that the camera memory card was full.  I then stood there in the drizzle and deleted photo after photo.  I must have stood there for a good five minutes before I was ready to move.  Both dogs duly stood there unwavering although this can’t have been comfortable for Archie who had backed in a now characteristic semi-dropped position.  The lens on the camera got wet, hence the blur.

When I was ready to move the dogs forwards something odd happened.  Grace moved forward from what was a solid point, flagged her tail rapidly, sniffed the ground then moved to the right as if to say ‘nothing here – just ground scent’.  She is usually right so I was surprised when Archie moved ahead and went on point, and even more surprised when a hen pheasant flushed from what must have been inches from the position Grace’s nose had been in earlier.  The bird rose and wheeled round over Grace’s head.  I blew the whistle, Archie dropped into a sit position and Grace chased the bird for a couple of metres before realising that this was futile.  We then carried on.

It wasn’t a bad session in that we had found game, but Grace is usually so accurate with her interpretation of scent this puzzled me.  Maybe it was the snow, who knows.

It has suddenly become colder.  The weather has been very mild and wet for so long now that cold weather came as a bit of a shock…we may have snow on the way, at least it feels that way.

I took both Grace and Archie up to the racecourse for some exercise as much as anything else.  They both took it upon themselves to leap on top of one another and I didn’t try to stop them and turn this into a formal training session.  Archie has the edge on Grace now so only now and again does Grace make a break for it and try to out run him.  It’s only a bit of fun but it does give me the chance to see both dogs in full flight and get a feel for their mechanics and differences in conformation.  The pictures showing them side-on I find interesting.  Grace’s croup is more sloping setting her tail a bit lower, and Archie has muscle in places where Grace doesn’t.  This may be down to the sex difference I am not sure but they both run differently.  Archie pounds the ground as he charges from one place to another in a very powerful looking way, Grace however, looks to take it all in her stride, moving rather appropriately in a very graceful manner.  How much of this is down to differences ini conformation I don’t know, but it is interesting (to me at least).

I never miss an opportunity to drop the dogs to either a flushing bird or a shot.  In a field adjacent to the racecourse someone fired a shotgun soon after we had walked by.  Both dogs swung around and I dropped them both, with Grace sitting rather than dropping…although to be fair she did this instantaneously following the shot, rather than responding to any command I had given.

Ok, so now it was Archie’s turn.  We headed up onto the heather between short, sharp rain showers to find the whole area waterlogged.  It is hardly a surprise really as we have had 245mm of rain so far this month, but it seemed to be all in the same place this morning – a great deal of which found its way into my boots.

As we stepped onto the moor it was clear that we had a tailwind, so the only option was to walk alongside the moorland until we had reached a reasonable spot, then work Archie back into the wind and back towards the car.  This bit was fine.  When we reached a suitable spot I set Archie up then cast him off.  He went out to the left about 20 yards before pulling forwards into the wind and heading away from me.  I dropped him, called him back and repeated the whole thing in an effort to get it right.  Eventually he did get it right, charging out to the left about 100 yards before I turned him on the whistle.  He then came across me, but not quite, veering diagonally out away from me.  I dropped him, called him back and recast him, this time to the right.  He did this consistently until all it took was a clear ‘no’ for him to drop rather than a whistle or command of ’sit’.  I wasn’t really sure what he was thinking this morning as he seemed quite wild.  I knelt down in the heather to get a feel for the wind direction at his head height but it seemed as if I had got it right.  In the end I thought well, go on, have a blast and go where you want.  I will watch to see if a pattern develops and I have got it wrong.  So, off he went.

He pulled forward on scent a little way ahead, then pointed before a damp flush.  I walked up to him and encouraged him forwards.  as I did two hen pheasants got up on from the far side of the wet flush (arrowed).  I blew the whistle to drop Archie but I do believe he dropped to the flush, not the whistle.  I don’t think I imagined this.  I was really happy…as indeed was Archie who when cast off again ran like a dog possessed. The only odd thing now was that he ran very flat and completely at right angles to the wind with no correction from me.  I have no idea why this might have been and no idea why he pulled forwards earlier on.  He was too far away from these birds to have picked them up and showed no sign of picking up their scent until quite a bit later. 

We then covered the last bit of ground back to the car, including a large patch of rush, but no more birds.  I was very happy.  The second to last photo is a close-up of Archie charging towards me.  He is really starting to look quite fit…even with the cartoon ears.

I am taking some annual leave at the moment, giving more time than usual to work with the dogs, and I am doing my hardest to make the best of it.  I took both dogs out separately again today.  Grace was the first to get a run, only this time she was firmly attached to a lunge line and I was determined to make sure that she did what I wanted.  We went down by the river.  I love this part of the valley, it’s so different to the moorland on the top with the two landscapes contrasting dramatically with each other. 

I often wonder, walking down here, how much of the adult there is in the child, or conversely how much of the child remains in the adult.  I have said before but there are a few books I read as a child that I would consider formative, one being My Side of the Mountain by Jean George, a book about a boy who ran away to the Catskill Mountains, and the other being The Little Grey Men by BB.  I cannot help but think of both books as I walk here and it takes me right back to childhood.  I wonder how much our childhood influences where we live as adults.

Anyway, with Grace attached to the lunge line we left the car and headed for the gate into the woods.  I made sure that Grace didn’t put a foot forwards without being told to do so.  So far so good.  Soon after I let her ‘get on’ I dropped her on the whistle.  She dropped ok, but it wasn’t quick.  The stop was ok, but the ’settle’ down into the dropped position wasn’t quick or positive enough so we kept practising until she got it right, which she eventually did.  I then let her have a good run, still trailing the line.  She turned and recalled every time without a problem.

I then set her up on a patch of grassland, walked away and at a reasonable distance recalled her, stopping her before she got to me.  She did ok, her recall was good, she stopped ok,  but her drop was a ‘hup’ rather than a drop.  I walked towards her and put her in the right position.  We can practise this one again.  The rest of the session was spent investigating the river bank and an old quarry that has, in the past, held woodcock.  Nothing today, but the cold weather that is promised may push them a little further to the west.

Grace did fine and we had a good walk.

I am beginning to suspect that Archie’s misbehaviour is inversely proportional to Grace’s, given the misbehaving that Grace got up to today and the sterling performance that Archie gave me (well, judged against my standards).  I took both dogs out separately today.  Archie up onto the heather and Grace down by the river.

I walked Archie up onto the heather face on into a stiff north wind.  Stiff really wasn’t the word as it was actually difficult to breath at times.  We went to a rather predictable area, in that the heather is good for running and the grouse are usually somewhere to be found.  I cast him off to the left and he ran flat, turned him on the brow of the ridge that ran south-north and brought him back across me.  His quartering today was excellent.  He was really on the ball with the whistle and ran very flat consistently.  This patch of moorland has the advantage of having a footpath that runs up the middle of it, meaning I can work the dog across me, without having to stride my way through heather.  It’s a bit of a luxury really.  Anyway, as Archie crossed the path he obviously caught a whiff of bird and started roading up the path.  I called him off the scent and sent him out again.  He quartered well covering good ground, nice and flat, and sure enough when he crossed the path he signalled scent again.  I sent him off to the left and he went out well, turned on the whistle and on his way back across went bang on point.  The stop was dramatic; so dramatic that he dropped flat down, nose held high into the heather.  I walked over and as I got within a few metres flushed a nice fat male red grouse from in front of him.  It flew off rapidly letting out its characteristic cackle.  Archie didn’t move.  He didn’t even stand up, he just watched it away.  I made a real fuss of him and we carried on quartering for another 15 minutes before heading home.  A good session that worked.  Thanks for the advice Des.

I then took Grace to the river.  I let her through the gate into the woods and told her to get on.  She did, after a pheasant.  She didn’t drop to my whistle – in fact she didn’t even appear to hear me.  I ran after her, put her back on the lead and brought her home.  I am going back to basics with Grace, starting tomorrow.

I set out late this morning with the intention of spending a few hours on the heather.  The weather has been appalling with what seems like a week of solid rain, and today was no exception.  I set off, waterproofed to the hilt, and at the edge of the moorland cast Archie off, keeping Grace on her slip lead.  Archie ran ok, but we were up against a fence on one side and as the heather was very deep  he couldn’t really get into his stride.  The second photo though shows a peculiar problem that I have just discovered and shall have to work out how to overcome.  In an effort to ensure Archie didn’t take too big a bite at the end of his beat I would recall him towards me then recast him out across me again, but this time from a much closer position.  This has worked out fine until today when I had Grace on a lead at my side.  As Archie gets close, he sees Grace standing still, and backs her.  The first time this happened I thought he had a scent so moved forwards to encourage him to flush the bird.  It was then obvious that Archie was watching Grace, not pointing a bird.

I cast Archie off again and he did, very soon, pick up scent and roaded forwards until he reached the fence.  Because there was nowhere left to go I had to whistle him back which wasn’t ideal.  I moved forwards and cast both dogs off giving them very little instruction.  Grace worked the strong wind really well, keeping her beat nice and flat.  Neither dogs found a bird, so I picked them up and moved to another section of moorland.

I cast Archie off to the right and immediately to the right of me two jack snipe lifted.  I dropped Archie who only went into the ‘hupped position’ – note to self – this needs more work.  I have never come across jack snipe until this November but now seem to have seen a few.  Archie watched them flit away before I recast him.  We practised quartering and he did ok really although I really must bring him closer to me as he crosses (the white specks in the photos with the arrows are Archie). 

The wind was very strong and occasionally he would be pulled forwards.  At one point he really seemed to signal birds, but didn’t seem confident, so I dropped him and cast Grace off to see if she would pick up a scent.  She stopped in exactly the same spot and when I tried to send her out to the right looked back at me as if to ask why I was being so stupid.  I picked her up and decided to let Archie road in and find the bird as I really wanted him to get a bird under his nose for himself.  I cast him off and he ran out, turned then on his way past me, hesitated then started to road forwards.  He went a long way forwards then ahead of him rose a load of jack snipe (probably including the two we had flushed earlier).  I counted six but there could have been more.  I cast both dogs off to work out the area on the moorland edge and Grace flushed a snipe.  I dropped both dogs. 

I then decided to walk back up the hill over the ground we had just covered and work back down the hill into the wind again but a little further along.  That was the theory anyway.  In reality I veered off to the right and put up yet another jack snipe.  Neither dog was close enough to notice at the time which was a missed opportunity.  When we had moved far enough up the hill I turned and cast Archie off again, intent on improving his beat.  He did ok, and I followed him with Grace on her lead.  One thing I did notice though was if I stopped and Grace was standing leaning forwards against the tension on her lead Archie would stop and back her.  I really must ensure he works comfortably on his own and doesn’t start to rely on Grace to find the birds.  I don’t think this will be an issue but I need to ensure I do all I can to make sure I don’t inadvertently encourage this.

To think that I once wondered how I would ever train a pointer to back.