Well, Martha survived her first shoot yesterday. I am pleased to say that she showed no concerns over gunfire, beating sticks or flags waving so I was very pleased. When you take a young dog on a shoot you have to be prepared as not every dog will cope with all the new situations that they have to deal with. It is also important as an owner that you are confident that the other dogs on the shoot are well mannered dogs as a young dog can easily be influenced and what you really don't want is your dog following the deer or rabbit chaser! or sniffing the butt of an aggressive lab or spaniel. However yesterday was perfect, we had a nice mix of labs and spaniels that were very dedicated to working, so ideal for Martha. If Martha had to sum up yesterday then she would say she had a crazy dog walk! I on the other hand see things differently as it was a pleasure to take a dog that was under control that had to face new experiences and the only time I lost sight of her was when she found the birds hanging on the trailer so she has potential :)
Martha is the fifth Barbet that I have taken on a shoot, so I am learning all the time about the breed as a gundog. I have seen very good handling of dogs and I have seen very bad handling of dogs and as I get more experienced I find it harder to keep my mouth shut when I see the bad handling. If my dogs are naughty I blame myself first as a rule, doesn't mean that I don't tell them how I feel though and if you have a good relationship with your dogs they know they have been naughty as you just give them a look.....they don't need to be thrashed to be taught a lesson. Anyway I am looking forward to Martha and I going to the shoot again, how she reacts when she knows where we are going will tell me how much she enjoyed her first shoot.
