It was a beautiful sunny morning and the dogs had a great time down the field. It was enough for Pye to shed his eleven years and become a puppy again, he spotted a dreaded Fensnake lurking in the grass, pounced and tossed it in the air. It fought back and he had to wrestle with until it gave in ! Once it had given in for about the third time it turned into a hoover hose and he was satisfied he had despatched it.

This afternoon we had been lucky enough to have secured a place with Audrey Johnston for Obedience classes and I took Vogue and Cello. Training methods have changed considerably since I started over 20 yrs ago and it was refreshing to watch talented dogs and handlers working happily in the sunshine. Cello is ready for a career change and I realised that, with his 7th birthday looming, we had better do something quickly. Just to prove that an older dog can soon learn some new tricks, he thoroughly enjoyed himself, after the initial shock of all those Border Collies whizzing about. His eyes were on stalks for a while but, when he was asked to try a few exercises (and yummy treats) well, what could a boy do but give it a go.

Vogue soon got the hang of offering behaviour as food was involved, but we have to try and get more toy orientated. We have a lot of homework, mostly on my behalf, but two tired dogs seemed to have a good time, as did I.