I’ve recently been sent this lovely photograph of six Fletchingly dogs at a working test training day run by Easthoath gundogs in Kent. I only knew two of the people before they had one of my puppies, and as always, I have gained some new friends, and they have got to know each other through […]
Rising star
Etive has just turned two years old and has started to run in novice working tests. She gained a CoM at the UGBA test a couple of weeks ago, which was a pleasing start.She ran well at the Usk Valley test yesterday, but came unstuck at the water test, which was a mark across the […]
Season’s end
It’s been my good fortune to pick up on a lovely shoot on the Welsh borders this season. The ground is hilly with steep sided valleys, making for high, fast birds and some challenging retrieves. The terrain can make for tricky driving conditions at times, and it was somewhat alarming when the vehicle I was […]
Riska on the sick list
Riska went down with a bad case of mastitis when the puppies were four weeks old (I have a background of working with dairy cows, and check the bitch’s udder daily); she ate her dinner and was fine at 7.00pm, then an hour later I thought she didn’t look right, took her out for a […]
Big strides for small puppies
The puppies are four weeks old today and up until a few days ago Riska was doing all the work of rearing them, while I provided a waitress service to ensure that all her needs were met. This all changed when I started the puppies on solid food, using a deep muffin pan to prevent […]