To have and to hold

The shooting season is now in full swing here and we have just started on the pheasants. The weather has finally turned a bit colder and the dogs are settling into their working and trialling routine well. Keepa has made a great start to his trialling season with a win in an all-aged stake, a fourth in a tough open two-day trial and a further win in a one-day open trial, qualifying him for the Irish Retriever Championship. I now have seven weeks to prepare him as much as possible.

The ground in Ireland is tough. It was awful to walk on, let alone hunt and find game in. Though I was thrilled with Keepa’s performance