This has not been a great winter so much so that I was at the point of hanging up whistles and calling it a day. Well spring has reared its head like an exuberant puppy and the phone started ringing and the e-mails started coming. First a judging assignment , then a retriever training day for a Hunter and Angler group, people who want to begin playing the retriever game and then 3 friends that have puppies and one that lives far away and got a puppy and calls every other day because she is training alone. Yesterday there were a herd of people here with quite a mixed bag. We had tollers, a golden, a flatcoat, the usual batch of labs and a Weim plus two12 week old puppies. Happy to say by the time the day was over all of the new comers had their dogs picking up. I noticed one gentleman sort of hanging back so I went over to speak to him and tell him to get his dog out. It turned out that he had a Pudlepointer and was simply waiting for a friend to come so they could train on some chukurs. When the group was finished we let the dogs have a play time so I invited him to let his dog join. He said he wasn't sure how she would react as she had been attacked by another dog but got her out on leash let her watch and then let her go. She had a great time and he was so happy. He does a lot of training alone and socialization is hard. I told him he was welcome to come at any time as we always have some group here training.
Today I had M out and we reviewed the W drill. She has not lost anything over the winter as far as get up and go even if I have. Guess the whistles are good for another year. Hubby even said I could have a pup next year. Will have to start planning.
