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PUPPY WALKING

Thank you to all our Puppy Walkers who have now collected this Summer's litters and are starting to train the hound puppies.  We really appreciate all your help.

A PUPPY WALKER'S VIEW

Sounds idyllic doesn't it? To the uninitiated you picture yourself gently walking blissfully along with two or more well-behaved, obedient puppies. Well, I suppose that for a small amount of time this is true but for the rest it is hilariously different.
      
For a start you have to actually train them to walk on a lead.  This is where the kids come in handy, as they always seem to have more time and much more patience than you do. They cope so much better with this screaming dervish on the leash. With our first two puppies we thought it would be a good idea to tie them up to struggle and get used to the tug and pull. Mistake number one. Puppies can of course chew through leads faster than you can turn round and you finally end up with very knotty slip leads that no longer slip. The kids finally work their charms on the obstinate pair to everyone’s relief and then having gone through all this pain the puppies grow and you realise that they were never made to go on leads anyway. They are free spirits and should go where their nose leads them.

We then move on to feeding time. No problems, at first, with lots of milk, weetabix, biscuits & tinned meat. To grow well, though, they reach the stage of needing flesh.

No problem in the winter but after a few hot sultry days there are certainly no volunteers at feeding time. The sins of the flesh take on a whole new meaning. Thank heavens for tinned dog meat is all I can say.

Some puppy walkers have had problems with washing disappearing from the line but we’ve never suffered from that, although shoes have magically disappeared. The veg. garden has also been subject to attack as they repeatedly hunt anything amongst the greens, flattening as they go. However hard you try to block every hole they still seem to find a way in. All good practice for hunting in kale and beet, no doubt.

With the first two puppies we asked the question when do we send them back. With the knowledge we now have there just comes a time when they need to return to a more disciplined and serious regime - but doesn't it seem quiet when they’ve gone. I just can’t wait until I am hunting out with them, it must surely add a whole new dimension to what is already very enjoyable.

So thank you to all those lovely hound pups we have walked. Whatever we have had to endure to cope with them has been far out weighed by their endless honesty, charm and warmth. We look forward to the next puppies after we have recovered from the last.