The reason I have Coco started a while ago. In late 2007 when I was over in Scotland delivering Basso and Bess’s pups I knew that I was making a big mistake in letting both the big dogs go. I suppose the two guys that ended up with the these dogs thought I was shooting them a line of sales pitch but I wasn’t and at the time I couldn’t keep any more than the bitch that I had earmarked for myself, Gina.
Then in August ‘08 Eamon McCann, who owned a bitch by Jump out of other Glencuan breeding, came calling looking for a stud dog. Eamon’ situation was such that he was very keen to breed his bitch but she wouldn’t stand when he brought her and it looked like she would be out by the time he could come back. I couldn’t bring myself to let Eamon take Basso or Chris but I let him take Jalad home with him. Empty Head did the business and a small litter was whelped on 30th October with four pups surviving. I had nothing against the litter but I had no intention of taking a pup as a service fee if for no other reason than I didn’t want to part with any of my existing dogs and my kennel my is full, full, full at eight dogs.
Subsequently Eamon rang for details to register the pups and he asked me about what you called various colours. Yellow, orange or lemon, brown , liver and white. Sorry, did you say white? I have only ever seen one white self coloured pointer and that was at Verona Airport. I didn’t realise it at the time but I was being sucked in, I just had to go and see this white dog. Well it transpired that the white pup was in fact lemon and white, the first lemon I think any of my dogs has produced but there looking me straight in the face was this big liver dog pup and I knew that I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. I accepted him as my stud fee.
Coco will be seven months old on 30th May 2009. He hasn’t had quite as much one on one as I would have liked but so far he has proved to be an extremely fast learner. All the obvious stuff like making him happy in my company, and the sit command, has been done by the play/train method. Surprisingly in only two formal lessons Coco,has taught himself,(I certainly didn’t do it), to drop and to run on out the other side. In only his second lesson he effectively quartered the practice fairway. It wasn’t tram lines or anything like it and he didn’t turn forward every time but I was still immensely pleased.
Coco seems happiest on his own with me. He still would look to another dog if there was one available so for now it will be me and him, all alone, by ourselves with nobody with us.
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Coco, Cookstown Cocopop. by Des O’Neile 26th August 2009
