It sounds like a form of autism. I hope you all do not think that is stupid.

I am coming at this not from a Spriner POV but certainly a working dog.

I fell in love with Brittanys when I rehomed Mugi aged 10 - he was bright, lively and showed a whole heap of natural talent for what he was bred for. His father was a working dog into his mature years and his granny was placed in Field Trials. Mugi had obviously been well 'pet' trained and when you consider his age when I got him I am sure he would not have been a totally easy dog, even at 12 he loves to work and just today he gave the spaniels a run for their money in the Forest of Dean.

So knowing I had an old Brittany I went out to search for a young one with whom I could learn more about the working/trialling side of the breed. I was very lucky to be offered pic of a fantastic litter and I knew the pup would be 'hard work'. The breeder likens her dogs to driving a Ferrari after having a Family Saloon .

I have had Chase now for nearly 18 months. I can say hand on heart he has not been easy, if I weren't stubborn I could have given up a dozen or more times. To keep him settled I do more work, training, activity, structured play than I have ever needed to do with a dog before.

He lives in the house and he has done all the same puppy stuff that previous dogs did although we spent weeks longer than some to get our KCGC Pup Foundation and in the end we were encouraged to leave class as Chase was classed as disruptive. This would have been less than helpful if I didn't have access to help from working avenues - if he were 'just' a pet he would undoubtedly be either a statistic in rescue or perhaps a dog that had been PTS for aggression as his frustration can lead to challenging behaviour.

I love him to bits, I want him to be a pet, a trials dog and a walked up shoot dog (oh and a show dog too ) - I am in for the long haul, I never expected an easy ride and he is certainly not giving me one. I am not sure I would deliberately seek out another similarly bred pup but I do enjoy this one .

Sue - you are a complete and utter nutter

I know exactly where you are coming from with this . . . and if it helps . . Temple Grandin and her 'animals in translatioon' book has been invaluable to me and my little miss wittage

In what way then ?

I'd really like to know the answer to this too......as someone who has all rescues, one of which I'd describe as very very busy, how do you tell??

J - wish I had caught ickle Fonz pup and B when they were just wee babes (10-12wks) - the footage would be useful now . .

but picture the two, out on the heathland . . . . . ickle poopie B just ambling about, occasional sniff here sniff there, running round chasing fonz pup then giving up . . .

coz . . .

Fonz pup is a nutter . . . .two hundred million miles an hour, nose to floor, bum in air, yap yap yapping and off I go hunting . . . . Sarah can vouch for this Puuuuuoopie Fonz was off hunting out of sight of mum Was smugly glad Baby B was staying close and thinking 'geez he really needs channelling' - which is why Sarah got him - to be a worker - she knew what she wanted and what she was getting very strong drive and nothing was going to make him give up

. . . and you all saw ickle poopie Fonz at the fling . . . . he is an amazing pup and Sarah and he are doing brilliantly together . . . . he is definitely in the right hands their

Neighbours working cokcer pup was the same . . met him at 8 wks and it was just nose to ground and 200 miles per hour - even at that age . . . and all he wanted to do was hunt and fetch things.

In my case it all comes down to many years of experience, I can tell by the way a dog holds himself, uses its nose, uses it's eyes and focus, it's whole demeanour really, take it out and watch it's body language, how it uses itself. Experience counts for a lot of things and helps enormously when helping in rescue and rehoming situations. I find it's not something that can be explained or described, you either got it or you aint!

Sandy

Kelly is describing pups, you go and check out a 1-2-3 year old Springers that's been bred as a true worker but has been living the life of a pet, even then you can tell they are in the wrong place and been living a life of misery while their owners describe them as uncontrollable and destructive and I wouldn't need info like that to give the game away either.

Er, Sandy . . . .do you fancy assessing a rescue Welshie for drive par chance???? She might need to stay a while for you to get a thorough assessment done though

That's cruel, you know if anything stays more than a week it's not going anywhere, I'm a banned fosterer

I think a certain ST'er would KILL ME!!!

See what you mean Kelly, Fonz n Beemer are very different. But then Fonz was soooo focused on Sparks too.

Errr - wot u sayin

They are of course, both different breeds, but the difference was marked. Sarah has worked hard to get that focus (with the help of Jack, tennis balls and cheese) . . . and she has had too . . . if he was with a regular pet person he may well have ended up in rescue

By contrast I have been more lax (slapping my own wrists here) but I haven't had to be as 'on top of him' as regards to training and challening as he has been relatively easy . . . this is where the tables turn now for me

Lol, no I wasn't having a pop but it just wow'd me how focussed he was on Sarah, just awaiting the next instruction, really in tune.