Claire
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A Great Weekend!Well, I made the journey down to Helen's new abode on Saturday  It was great to spend the weekend doing some dog training together as it gets a tad lonely doing it on your todd. We spent Saturday doing a few retrieves in a heavily rabbit populated area. I hunted Whistle through this area and the little sod did go and chase 1 rabbit, which after it disappeared under a wall Whistle finally stopped and sat  But having thought about it, she hasn't had much work on rabbits as the fields I take her through have few rabbits in them. I need to work on this! Teal did a couple of retrieves but was far too interested in all the rabbit scent
Saturday evening we went to the local pub and had a smashing dinner and then sat in the garden nattering until bedtime.
Sunday we decided to do some more retrieving in the field next to Helen's house which didn't contain as much scent as the previous day but had its own distractions of LOTS of sheep! Teal did really well here, she is such a biddable lass and her obedience is very good. We then drove down to a popular walking area so that we could get Whistle swimming as she hasn't been in water since last summer. We took Helen's springer, Pip, so that she could rescue the dummies that Whistle lost the nerve to retrieve  Pip is brilliant in water, such a natural. Whistle took her time but eventually we got her doing some decent water retrieves and we even managed to get her to swim a little without so much blooming splashing aboot 
Finished off with a couple more retrieves and then it was back to Helens for a cold drink before my journey north. I've discovered I need to work on doing more marked retrieves as I seem to have forgotten about these and have concentrated too much on blinds It was a fab weekend, Helen is looking really at 32 weeks pregnant! She puts a lot of people to shame, being so fit and active even at this late stage in her pregnancy.
Pics below 
Finally from this.....
to this.....
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sako75
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Sounds like a fab weekend Claire / Helen !!
I love the photos , especially the fifth one where whistle is doing the water retrieve .
Barry.
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Bareve
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What an excellent weekend Claire - well done for making the progress on Whistle's swimming
We shall hopefully see how "preggy" Helen is this weekend as I can't imagine her being anything other than slim
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Mike
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Sounds like a great time guys!
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Helen
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lol, I look very scruffy - I've resorted to wearing Rob's jumpers and bougt myself a pair of moleskins a few sizes too big for me. Although, I don't actually look that big there - you got me at a good angle lol! (that's the first pic I've had taken of me pregnant!
I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. It was so nice to be training with you again. It's difficult to get Rob motivated to do training for any length of time.
Teal is retrieving a dummy with my fleece hat wrapped round it. It's the only thing she will retrieve at the moment but hoping (fingers well and truly crossed), that she will soon get rid of the hat! I know she can retrieve game as she has done some cracking retrieves. I just want her to retrieve dummies so I can do some working tests with her next year.
She didn't do very well at all at the rabbity bit with her retrieving but Claire suggested, (another good reason for training with someone else), to do more basic obedience around there so she gets used to being in a scenty area and then move onto the retrieves.
Helen
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Lisa
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Sounds like you all had a great weekend!! Helen you look positively radiant!! It's good to keep as active as possible! I did and it makes you feel loads better! I knew lots of people that treated their pregnancies as an illness 
Well done Claire for getting Whistle in the water! This is the trouble I am having with Blu! and he looks exactly like that first pic of whistle in the water!! Nice to see they do get there in the end
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BenB
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Rabbits !! Did you say rabbits??
You need a Zola visit.
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Helen
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We certainly do Ben There are TONS of rabbits around here.
Seriously, give me a shout.
Helen
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windem bang
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Ben - have I missed something --- what's a Zola ???
Bill T.
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BenB
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oh Bill
This is a Zola:
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Helen
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She is gorgeous and I was very tempted to kidnap her!
Helen
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Claire
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Oh yes please! Zola is fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed my first time with Zola and the ferret and the wabbits
Yes, one of the distinct advantages of training with someone is that you can bounce new ideas around. It only dawned on me at the weekend that I haven't done enough marked retrieves with Whistle so she isn't marking the dummies very well, even though she will mark birds. Helen also gave me some tips on directional retrieves, something else I wouldn't have got if I'd been training on my own
And there is no point in even thinking about asking Gary to come with me
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windem bang
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So that's a Zola, saves a lorra money on shotgun cartridges a Zola does !
Bill T.
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BlackIsler
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Looks like you had a great weekend, well done on the swimming progress.
My Chester splashes away when heading out for the dummy, but as soon as he grabs it he turns and glides back in!!
Why is that? Is it just a sign of progress? or is the weight of the dummy helping? (does he need more ballast?)
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Helen
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No idea. Wonder if it's enthusiasm taking over on the way out??
Here's a pic of Pippa - just so she doesn't feel left out lol.
Helen
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