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.
