Day 40

I'm making some initial enquiries into possibly doing some gundog training with little Pickle. I've got no intention of getting to a point where we go shooting (staunch vegetarian household!) but I think the discipline and variation could be very good for him.

He's already showing me just how very clever he can be and just how well he can get into mischief if left to his own devices! Retrieving is also proving to be a good game, although at the moment he's displaying his drives as rearranging everything. He'll fetch shoes from the shoebox and place them all over the house - he's not bothering to chew them, just moving them to new places...

I spoke to a lovely friend who already does gundog training with her lab and she gave me some very helpful advice and suggestions, plus I've been Googling like a mad woman this morning.

I don't think we're going to be able to start on anything properly until next Spring which is perfect timing as it means that Bran will be that much older and I can have already put a good obedience foundation in place by then.

Of course, this may all come to nothing but it's interesting to read about at the moment.