Black Mountain.
20c. High cloud, dull. SE <>2.
Basso, Jalad & Judy.
Judy is a real trier and she was no different today. I got the ten minutes that I wanted even though she looked for water more than once, not that there was any. This is an improvement over her first outing but nothing special, by Judy’s standards.
Jalad gave one of his most complete performances for some time. He covered a lot of ground, handled when required and was beautifully flat. Only negative was he did it all in fourth gear.
Basso was easily the man of the match. This was his first outing and he only lasted eight minutes but in that eight minutes he was flat out. He was the one dog you would want to see again. He covered a lot of ground and was right across my toes. The hills around Black Mountain are the top of an artesian system and the ground is firm under foot and just the sort of place Basso was built for and today he made great use of the conditions and his own physique. Only negative was a tendency to false point which to me always comes when a dog is unfit.
When I say Basso only lasted eight minutes I didn’t actually pick him up. I just cast off the other two dogs and they all ran for another fifteen minutes back to the car each egged on by the other two.
The Pigeons are making a nest. I was down to four and released two more. The cock bird was knocking ten barrels out of one of them and likely to kill it and I got the impression he would start on the other soon too. In the event these two birds disappeared and probably just as well as this cock is a bit of a bastard but isn’t it interesting that the moment the pair are on their own they make a nest. It would be great if they produced this year and I will be very careful about where I use my birds if they do. Hopefully I will have pigeons this winter and more next year.
16:00 ish
The Signal Centre.
Coco & Chris.
Warm, 20c, sunny, wind still from the south 3>.
Same attack as last night. I kept Chris honest by relocating the launcher and giving him a lot less ground to work with round the bird. I let them both off together, in fact I let Coco off first to make sure he would never have to play catch up and it worked in that he didn’t give tongue but he was all over Chris and I picked him up before we got to the bird. Chris quartered the whole paddock which is just as well as he wouldn’t have got a chance at the bird if he hadn’t done all his ground. He had the bird well back which was good because each time Coco’s attention wavered I could get it back by sending Chris forward again. The dogs couldn’t see the launcher at the time that I triggered it and Coco just stood and watched the bird away and eventually sat, probably because Chris had.
20:30 hrs.
What a way to end the day. I took Coco on his own to the same ground as this afternoon. The whole thing was set up perfectly. It was still about 17c and we had a 2 -3 from the south. On a warm humid evening like this the scent cone would be heavily laden with scent. I have often had high expectations of dogs only to have them dashed but while my expectations for Coco had no foundation other than hope he has consistently proved his intelligence and natural ability with each new task. I just knew that he would do well at this and he proved me right. Everything just fell completely into place……well almost. I mismarked the bird again but I digress. I placed the launcher at the far end of the bigger of the two paddocks I have been using of late. It is hard flat ground with tall straggly shot rough grass. Great for hiding the launcher. I let him off straight away right at the car so as to give him as much time as possible to work to the bird. he ran about alright but as you would expect there was no pattern. We were about fifty yards down wind of the bird when one of those out of the blue things happened. You couldn’t write a libretto like this but just sometimes these things happen. He needed a pee. Now Coco comes from a long line of prodigious urinators. They could all have represented Ireland at peeing. Not only did Coco need a pee he needed it just exactly fifty yards down wind of the bird. The net result was that he stood steady right down wind of the bird for what seemed like hours but was probably less than 45 seconds. He started off hunkering down just like any pup but by the end he was up on his toes and he had the bird. He didn’t know what to do with the scent but there was no doubt he had it. When he finished he sort of cast about for the bird but that is where I got it wrong. I had reckoned that the launcher was a good twenty yards further on but when Coco pointed. Oh yes pointed, I was aghast to see the launcher a mere five yards in front of him. Almost in a panic, in case he drove in at the bird, I triggered the launcher. I fully expected wacky races but luckily the bird swung round behind me and Coco just swung round to watch it away. I blew the drop whistle and closed in on the dog to freeze him. He sat down. Boy did I do the praise big.I just hope nobody was watching they might have thought I was involved in bestiality but the dog liked it……………and boy did I like the dog. The Monster has had two chances to point and done it once. We’re one for two and that’s not big deal but Coco is quickly becoming adept at punching his considerable weight. I like my dogs the way Napoleon liked his generals, lucky! In fairness to The Coco Monster it’s a bit more than luck. It’s ability.
