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Our
journey first took us to Hampshire to spend a pleasant evening
(and Pink Champagne Saturday morning!) with Chris Bridgwater and
her partner Chas Lister. Chris was our first ever Working
Clumber contact and it seemed therefore all the more befitting
to visit her before embarking on a trip to the “heart of the
Working Clumber World”.
We arrived
at Debbie and John’s in the late afternoon and after a warm
welcome settled into Leys Cottage, a fantastically well-equipped
and spacious cottage with views to die for. We were kindly
invited to join John, Debbie and their friends, John and Mandy
Gibson, for dinner that evening at the local pub.
The next
day, rather than having a lazy Sunday acclimatising, we drove
all the way to John Cook’s to attend the WCSS’s AGM and allowed
ourselves to be overwhelmed by Clumbers (we had never seen that
many before!), training facilities, and new faces. Debbie
kindly introduced us to lots of people. Whomever we spoke to was
enthusiastic, kind and helpful. The training facilities were out
of this world. We tried a spot of water work and, a totally new
experience for both Ivy and me, the rabbit pen.
Monday
morning we were invited to join Debbie and John for coffee and
meet all their dogs…what a lovely, and special, experience to
see so many healthy, happy and friendly Clumbers (and the odd
ESS and Lab). Whilst enjoying our coffee Debbie “took note” of
a myriad of details in order to assess at which stage of “the
learning chain” both Ivy and I had arrived. I was beginning to
feel just a little bit of apprehension, because I knew the
moment of truth was near: all would be revealed in one quick
demonstration! I need not have worried at all!! This
“introductory interview” was the prelude to what would turn out
to be a week of intense learning moments, pleasant surprises,
lots of fun, and most of all encouragement, enthusiasm, and a
heartfelt willingness to help us to get it right.
We started
off with the basics, and we were shown, by example, how to
improve on matters. It was marvellous to see how both Debbie and
John work their dogs in a very quiet and apparently utmost
relaxed fashion: a very sharp contrast to the Dutch way of
training that we are familiar with. We were also lucky that
another Clumber owner brought his young dog around for a bit of
advice and training. Debbie and John showed both Robin and I how
to make ourselves more (much more!) appealing to our dogs to
improve the rapport between ourselves and our dogs, what fun we
had! Apart from the basics we also did some retrieving and
steadiness. The rabbit pen (seen and experienced for the first
time at the AGM) was quite an experience. Ivy was eventually
allowed off the lead to hunt a little, poor girls (yes that’s
Ivy and myself) we had never been exposed to anything like it.
We learned valuable lessons and are now on the look out for
similar set ups in Holland, but I fear that the local Children’s
farms - our closest equivalent to the rabbit pen - will not be
half as welcoming as John and Debbie!
We were
taken onto Exmoor several times and after having watched
Sedgehurst Clumbers young and old, veterans and novices doing
what they do best we were invited, guided and inspired to try
and do the same. Well, not quite, but at least we now know what
to work on and, most importantly how to work on it! We
thoroughly enjoyed being out on the moor with John and Debbie,
the scenery was breathtaking, to see the dogs work was both
pleasurable and educational, to be given the chance to train
with Ivy on the moor was fantastic. John even shot a rabbit to
introduce Ivy to freshly shot game, what more could one ask
for?!
As if that
was not enough, Debbie and John were superb hosts as well.
Debbie showed me around some lovely villages, towns and shops
and John cooked and served us a fantastic full English breakfast
that we still dream of. All the more special because the eggs,
sausages, bacon and tomatoes were “own produce”! We were
encouraged to use the paddocks for training, the dogs enjoyed a
safe and large area of freedom and even the weather did its best
to make our stay a most memorable occasion.
Our week’s
stay at Leys cottage and the training sessions surpassed our
expectations by far. It was a week jam packed with learning and
leisure and we hope to return to Leys Farm in future for some
more expert advice, proper training and friendly encouragement.
All that’s
left to say is thank you John and Debbie for your kindness and
generosity.
Patricia Huskins
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