Having had a whole year out of the field to concentrate on competitive obedience, to say I was nervous about our first time out working on our local shoot this season would be an understatement. Faith did so well last year at such a tender age that I feared we could only look bad this year.
Thank goodness, thanks to a kind shoot who allow you to bring your dogs on as you need whilst they work, and to Faith being such a good girl or at least always trying to be, it went really well!
I wasn’t sure what she would make of the new beaters wagon, having experienced it myself with Rhea last shoot but she took that in her stride. She was eager and excited to be back and definitely remembered what we were there for.
First drive I kept her on leash, let her get a feel for things, get the initial excitement out of the way and let us find our feet. I have to admit I was glad I did as we happened across so many hares that first run, including one that shot past us going the other way. Thankfully during the rest of the course of the day she was off and doing some nice work, she found and flushed, was steady and did not give chase except for one very short one of a few paces but recalled and continued to work immediately as directed and best of all when we had to hold back on several occasions she sat on command at a distance and mid hunt and waited for me to release her to continue. Proud as punch with her I floated home. Now praying the rest of the working season continues positively for us.
