Black Mountain.
15.5c. Swirling mist tending towards drizzle (that fine rain that wets you through) <3> NW.
Took Chris, Jalad & Roxy in an attempt to miss the forecast heavy persistent rain. I managed that but that was about all. The wind meant no surplus walking but as I put my leg over the fence the only good thing I could think of was that although this wasn’t a great training day it was a particularly good getting fit day.
Worried about Jalad’s loss of form I decided to run him with Roxy to give him a a bit of impetus. This worked and I ran them for fifteen minutes. They did exactly what I asked of them. Because I started off walking on a down wind, cheek wind, the pattern left a lot to be desired but the dogs did just what I asked of them. They ran away out across the wind to my right but my path meant they ended up behind me when they went to my left so I would call them back to me and send them right again. Roxy coped with this better than Jalad but both of them pleased me with their work rate and desire. I don’t believe that Jalad ever fronted Roxy so he still needs plenty of work and I will cut back on his grub a bit, at least until he reaches something like full fitness.
This left me with the width of the main piece of ground to do with Chris but we could now run completely straight into the wind. Every once in a while you get a top performance, out of the blue and this is what happened today. I had decided that I would keep him in sight and this was more difficult than you would expect as apart from the topography I had banks of drifting mist to contend with. Even if a dog only gets a couple of long casts it can be difficult to curtail his future casts as the dog wants to go out to the distance he feels has been set for the day. Unexpectedly Chris turned every time I asked should it be fifty or five hundred yards. On a couple of occasions I even turned him in the middle and sent him back out if I became aware that drifting fog was going to hamper us. Added to this he was flat, no more than fifteen yards, and he was very even in the depth of his bite. I noted what time I started him at but I never looked at the watch again, I was enjoying myself so much. Not only does Chris have a good turn of pace he always runs with a spring in his step should the run be five or fifty minutes. I have seen him do it a lot but I still find it very impressive. He looks like he is really enjoying himself and I suppose he is. In addition he puts a bit of a spurt on when he’s crossing you and you tell him to “Get on”. It’s as if he was worried you were going to pick him up and is delighted that you didn’t. So I ran the big dog until we ran out of ground. I just put him on the lead and headed for the car. No free running today. Even on a clear day a dog can get disorientated and try to return to the car. Potential disaster awaits such foolishness on a misty day.
Back home at Beechfield it is a much better day so I’ll let down the bob wires in the loft and maybe take Coco for a find and or Lucky who could do with more running just now. The growth of both of my pups is pleasing we very much. Coco, at nine months is as tall as but not quite a well made as Chris and Lucky is a fine lump of a dog at five months, quickly closing the gap on Basso.
Later.
Took Lucky for a walk on The Practice. It is typical that with pups you are seeing things for the first time nearly every time you take them out. Today it was his nose. Even walking down wind he was drawn round into the wind all the time. I wasn’t, however, that pleased to see a slight nervousness about him with strange sounds. Today it was a dog barking in the distance. It distracted him every time it made a noise. I suppose he just needs more exposure to strange places and strangers.
