Bouncing Back & Perfect Perspective...

Today has been, in football commentary cliche style, a game of two halves.

This morning, Storm and I had our session with the lovely Sarah Miles and after our week of practice, I hoped the improvement would be noticeable. Storm, wouldn't you just know it, had other ideas.

She was so excited to be back at the training ground that she just went a little crazy. She ran around, she didn't wait and she just didn't do herself justice. That said, we did our first marked retrieves today and that felt fantastic. I've never sent a dog to retrieve before and that feeling when I'm down next to Storm and she locks onto the dummy but waits for my command to go is wonderful. Yes, her deliveries back to me aren't perfect but now Sarah has figured out what Storm had been taught before I got her, we're heading in the right direction. I still really enjoyed myself and seeing Sarah work one of her dogs was wonderful.

Then, this afternoon we went out for a walk around one of our favourite stomping grounds, Reading University. There are always plenty of dogs here and now Storm's over her season, these encounters are much less stressful and I feel less like an Edwardian chaperone and more like a dog-walker.

We met someone we knew and as soon as I stopped, Storm sat down. The little dogs jumped around and certainly made their presence felt. I stood chatting for a little while Storm just chilled out waiting for me.

"My goodness," said my dog-owning friend "She's amazingly well behaved."

I looked down at Storm, she looked up at me and I smiled. Yes, on the gundog front we've got loads to learn but as a pet, she's beyond perfect.

And anyway, life would be deadly dull if you had nothing to aim at and nothing to work for. It's all about perspective.