Marie,

Can’t tell you how much fun we’re having together!  Here’s a picture from yesterday’s hunt.  This weekend was our first time out hunting in several weeks – my shooting club closes the bird preserve during deer season, but the time off gave Scout plenty of time to recover from the Lyme disease and for us to work on some obedience.  During that time we took LOTS of hikes together and worked on his heeling, remote whistle sits, place (hence the earlier pictures of him sitting on rocks and stumps), and whistle recalls.  Sometimes I let him think that he’s hunting and just let him “work” the areas on the sides of the hiking trail with his nose.

All of that paid off this weekend in the field.  He was SUCH a good dog – so much happy energy looking for birds the whole time.  He’s almost like a different dog than even a few weeks ago – naturally quartering a lot, responding (mostly) to whistle recalls and sits, and even taking some hand directions.  Scout did so well on Saturday afternoon (when we had the place to ourselves) that I brought him again on Sunday morning when most of the members hunt and you have to be much more attentive to other hunters and their dogs.  He was a perfect gentleman and a very good boy.

He’s still a super-chill sweetheart at home and still just meh on bumpers.  Though I did discover that he’s much more likely to fetch if I walk out and hide a bumper for him before sending him out than if I just stand there and throw it.  Go figure – maybe he thinks I need my exercise too.

Needless to say, Scout is the best thing that’s happened to our family in 2020 – thank you again for your huge role in that!  Depending on the virus & vaccines, we may be traveling to see my family in CO this summer, in which case I’m thinking about bringing Scout back to QK for some more advanced work.  I’ll be in touch as that gets closer and we can talk about options.  In the meantime, happy new year!

Best,

Rob