Home alone with Diana away concentrating on training Sam taking account of the working test feedback, with pigeon shooting and water training to the fore. To bed quite tired after helping Debbie with her school project for much of the evening
Our first full day without Diana and we managed well enough by all mucking in and doing something. I was awake early and so could ensure that everybody got up all right and then they all got themselves ready and were out of the house in good time.
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I took Sam for a short walk to relieve himself and then cleared my slipway to do some water training with him. I had considered the results of the Leicester Working Test and drawn up a list of priority tasks to work on. These included doing more of the dummy-work in game-holding land and cover and at greater distances and then ensuring that he was not distracted or messed me around during the retrieves.
Then I resolved to really get to grips with the clean and unfussy entry into water the first time without delay and so today I tried him first in the slipway, morning and afternoon, and then at the gravel pits and I think that I saw an improvement. I have definitely concluded that he is not nervous of the water and that it is genuinely him being awkward and disobedient and find that strictness helps. As the whole family was off for the day, I opted to try decoying some pigeons again on the field opposite.
The weather was so mild today that I got quite hot just carrying the bin, decoys etc. over and setting up. I had no luck with the decoys and came back at lunch time; settling for a couple of hot dogs from the Market Square stall for my midday meal. A rest for the early part of the afternoon and then out again doing more waterwork and retrieving. I tried very hard to improve Sam's dummy-carrying and presentation and made slow progress. To bed quite tired after helping Debbie with her school project for much of the evening.