Next it was Esta's turn in Post Graduate Bitch with 14 entries
she was lucky enough to be placed first.
Lastly, but by no means least
it was the turn of dear Izzy, she did not get placed this time
but behaved very well for Gaynor.
Several other Braccanza dogs were being exhibited, Braccanza Maestrale
(Luigi) pipped Gino to first place in Post Graduate Dog.
Braccanza Salvadora (Cosmo) was also in Post Graduate Dog.
Both Braccanza Innamorarsi (Zak) and Bracanza Levante (Taz) had
qualified to enter Open Dog.
Braccanza Appasionata (Lorne) & Braccanza Amadora (Kiera)
were both in Post Graduate Bitch,
Kiera going on to take second place in the Good Citizen Scheme
class.
Many thanks to Linda Mayne
for standing there all afternoon(after taking Spinone pictures
all morning)
and taking these photo's for us. We really are very grateful.
On
Saturday 21st February 2009 a group of us, all with HPR
minority breeds, attended a training day in Ashdown Forest.
The event was organised by Lori Dempster and the Bracco
Italiano Society. Trainer for the day was Rod Johnson,
one of the most patient people I know! We were so lucky,
the sun shone all day and everyone had a great time.
The day started with hunting training. Each dog was taken
individually to an area of suitable ground and allowed
to do it's own thing. Virtually every dog quartered the
ground naturally although some of them had never been
taught to do it. Gino did this well until he decided to
nip off to check on Marcus and Cosmo who had walked back
to their car. Glad to say he came back to join us for
a little more training.
While we had lunch the dogs had a good playtime and all
got along very well.
After lunch we were asked to send the dogs out one by
one to retrieve pheasant. Again pretty well everyone managed
this, some getting the hang of it quicker than others.
It was good to see the dogs that were new to this and
initially not keen on the idea of picking up a dead bird
blossom into regular gundogs!
The final part of the day was spent round a large pond.
Dummies were throw in and each dog in turn was sent in
to bring back the dummy. Some did swim but a few of the
younger dogs were not so keen. Rod was pleased with the
effort from all the dogs and said that even if they did
not swim on the day as long as they managed to get their
feet wet it was pretty certain they would swim eventually.
All in all a great day thoroughly enjoyed by both dogs and
handlers. Thanks to those who made it possible.
