BenB
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Encouraging pointing practiceAfter a whopping 3 days off for christmas I am now back in the office daydreaming about what i would rather be doing. 
Anyhow - I hadn't done any training with Coco since the last training day with Munstyman in Dorset - been spending too much time with the speedy dogs filling the big new freezer.
So yesterday I took Coco out with the aim of getting her to try and hold her points rather than just crashing into the birds. I took a lunging line with me with the plan of just holding her back as she got closer to the woozle in the hope that this would generally slow her down. Like all good plans this one went awry within the first 2 minutes and i ended up putting the line away. I think at one point i was actually tied to 2 trees, a bramble bush and the dog! 
Plan B - keep her quartering closer than usual into the wind and try to keep her on an even flat cast - hoping to knacker her out a bit and also to give her as much chance as possible of scenting the birds before bumping them up.
Well this seemed to work - we found 6 birds and achieved a solid point on the last 2. She was hunting hard and obviously enjoying herself but with the first 4 she just looked totally disinterested in as soon as she had found them. Hopefully the more woozle scent she gets up her nose and the more praise she gets as she holds steady - the better the pointing instinct will become.
I was really chuffed with this - i think that it might be just down to getting her used to what she is meant to be doing! I guess that is what practice means!! 
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