B – “Where did you go last night?”

F – “Silver KCGC training.”

B – “The problem I have with this training & exams is that it doesn’t cover any of my specialist skills.”

F – “Oh, what are these specialist skills?”

B – “Retrieving, swimming & dancing, of course.”

F – “Ah, yes I remember.  So you are trying to tell me you may need a few attempts!”

B – “Well, maybe”

Sorry for not posting an update in ages.  We have been really busy.

Firstly Finley is now a British citizen, as are Baxter & I and has been issued a GB passport by DEFRA.  In October 2009 we will be able to travel back to the UK without 6 months quarantine.

The washing machine has been fixed twice after Finley the belligerent destroyer attacked it.  It is his nemesis.  We are looking to find a builder who understands metal framed houses so that we can enlarge the kitchen & move the utility room to a different area of the house where the washing machine will be safe.

Baxter has been training for his silver KCGC and Finley for his bronze KCGC.  Unfortunately Finley understands the concept of sit & stay.  Baxter philosophy is never to be alone hence finds this a tricky move.

The fences have been replaced & “touch wood” has not been destroyed.  We just need to paint it and replant the garden.  The 80 year old on one side of my house & the 73 year old on the other side of my house are really pleased.  No more ad hoc four legged visitors.   

We are re-upholstering a settee & chair from the late 1960’s.  A bit of a scary challenge.  We Will let you know how we get on.

Lastly Baxter has picked up an infection which has gone onto his liver causing hepatitis.  As a result his colitis has re-emerged & he has also managed to get conjunctivitis & a spotty nose.  So he now has antibiotics, metronidazole, eye drops and an antibacterial scrub for his nose.

However we are all well & enjoying life.

The weather is also getting slightly better.

Yesterday I received two Gundog DVDs that I had ordered from eBay.

I am really looking forward to get more motivation to train my boys. To be honest, I have been pretty lazy lately.

The good thing is that there is time before the next trial season so hopefully these DVD’s help me to keep motivated and also give good tools to train the dog.

My first two flatcoats passed the first trial but Ella did not. She tried twice (before her sudden death). I have also tried once with Eddie but he was not too keen on crows which are often used in trials in Finland.

Crows are never shot in the real situation (who would eat them anyway) but since they are used in the trials, I need to do something to motivate both of my boys to crows.  Eddie was fine with ducks in the trial but they are only used in the water work part.

I also have a very good book about gundogs (by Sten Christoffersson).  I could not find this in English but if you see this book in your language, I recommend it highly.

I found eBay some time ago. We have similar place also in Finland called Huuto.net but since Finland is a small market area with our 5 milj inhabitants you do not often find what you are looking for. Of course I have heard about eBay long time ago but I didn’t think I would shop there. I was so wrong.

So far I have inversion table, MBT shoes and bedding duved set.

Today I placed bits for

• Gundog training DVD hunting/shooting
• James Douglas: Gundog training

As you can see, there is something useful for training your flatties too.

I’m surprised that a firm in eBay isn’t interested in selling their products to Finland. I saw this lovely set in eBay and tried to order it by PayPal. I couldn’t because I’m located in Finland. I sent two emails to the seller asking if it would be possible to ship to Finland. No replies. The products didn’t sell so the seller has now relisted them. I mailed again (for the third time) telling I would be interested bying the set, but still no replies. As soon as I find something as beautiful from somewhere else in eBay I will pay it.