The Crooked Billet, Little Marlow
The Crooked Billet is a great country pub in a rural setting. It has an excellent landlord. He came out to give me a treat.
I visted here with the Boss and DB on 27 May 2013. It was a short ride in the landie from HQ. It was hot. We sat in the garden. It was a lovely garden. I think it would be nice in winter too as there were fireplaces inside, and nice old fashioned low ceilings. The carpet on the floor looked nice too, and I could imagine myself having a nice snooze there after a long walk on the nearby public footpaths. The beer looked good but it was too hot for beer. There was Brakspear Bitter and Youngs Ordinary on handpump.
The landlord and landlady made us all feel very welcome.
We came for lunch. Whilst we were waiting for lunch the Boss and DB were trying to work out the manufacturer of the planes flying overhead. I didn't realise that I lived with two plane spotters. This is another reason for me to move out.
We also saw some sport cars go past on the road in front of the pub. They were very fast and very noisy. One was painted in British Racing Green. I could imagine myself driving it.
The Boss had a tuna sandwich and chips, and the Deputy Boss had a three cheese ploughman's. Then the Boss had a fruit crumble, and DB had bread and butter pudding. I drank water and snoozed under the table in the shade. DB said that the food was very good value.
[caption id="attachment_171" align="alignright" width="300"]
Crooked Billet, Little Marlow[/caption]
If you would like to visit The Crooked Billet, the full address is:
The Crooked Billet
Sheepridge Lane
Little Marlow
Bucks, SL7 3SG
Telephone: 01628 521216
The Crooked Billet is situated halfway along Sheepridge Lane (a turning off the A4155 at Little Marlow) and easily accessible from the A404, A40 and M40 motorway.
[caption id="attachment_172" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Three cheese Ploughmans[/caption]
Crooked Billet, Little Marlow[/caption]
If you would like to visit The Crooked Billet, the full address is:
The Crooked Billet
Sheepridge Lane
Little Marlow
Bucks, SL7 3SG
Telephone: 01628 521216
The Crooked Billet is situated halfway along Sheepridge Lane (a turning off the A4155 at Little Marlow) and easily accessible from the A404, A40 and M40 motorway.
[caption id="attachment_172" align="alignleft" width="300"] Three cheese Ploughmans[/caption]
Rewarding good behaviour with good treats
Let's face it. Humans are incentivised by money. What really drives a stud dog is tasty bitches or tasty food.
I'm never in favour of getting out of my basket unless there's something (or someone) pretty tasty on offer. I have already written previously about the benefits of good quality food but good quality treats are also important.
My personal preference is for treats made by Black Dog Bakery. They are run by an artisan baker who specialises in producing natural treats with no artificial preservatives or flavourings. She takes a lot of care getting the mixture just right, and she employers an official tester so that dogs are delighted with what she is producing.
My favourite are Honey & Banana Biscuits. They are lovely. I have also been given some Liver Fudge, but I only got this by being extra cute in front of the lovely lady that bakes them.
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Black Dog Bakery[/caption]
Black Dog Bakery[/caption]
Selecting dummies
A dummy is a crucial piece of training kit for all gundogs.
When selecting a dummy, have a think about weight, shape and colour. If you are training for working tests then it makes sense to have a dummy like the one used in the tests so that you can get used to picking it up and carrying it. These dummies are made of canvas, usually green, filled with sand and have a throwing toggle on one end. They are what I call a "traditional dummy" and personally I don't care much for them.
Like all things in life, size is important, and dummies come in a selection of different sizes. You need to have a think about what will fit in your mouth and what you're comfortable carrying. If it is too big then drop it and run off. Your handler will soon get the message. Training is supposed to be fun. Working tests usually use a 1lb dummy.
You should also think about the colour of the dummy. Ian Clinton, a gundog trainer who writes for the Shooting Times, has done some research on colour of dummies.
Basically, some colours are easy for humans to see and hard for dogs to see. This is an important consideration if you have a handler as inept as the Boss.
Red, for example, is probably the hardest colour for a dog to see as it blends into the background. Fortunately we dogs have an excellent sense of smell to help us when our eye sight lets us down.
Slightly easier to see are grey and green. Purple is easy to see as dogs are good at seeing the blue/violet spectrum.
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Stash of Working Dog Company dummies[/caption]
My favourite dummies are made by Working Dog Company. They are a very different shape from traditional dummies and I prefer them because they are oval, like the carcass of a bird. They also bounce better than traditional dummies, which adds a little bit of panache to the training session. They are also a bit softer than traditional dummies which is handy if it is raining and you want to do some indoor training.
There are different sizes: Pheasant are big, Partridge are a bit smaller. They also make a smaller size called a Woodcock that is handy for your trainer to put in his/her pocket and drop when you're not looking.
The Working Dog Company also make an "easy mark" dummy which has contrasting panels. These panels make it really easy to follow the dummy as it falls and so it makes for a very easy retrieve.
I am happy to recommend dummies from the Working Dog Company
Stash of Working Dog Company dummies[/caption]
My favourite dummies are made by Working Dog Company. They are a very different shape from traditional dummies and I prefer them because they are oval, like the carcass of a bird. They also bounce better than traditional dummies, which adds a little bit of panache to the training session. They are also a bit softer than traditional dummies which is handy if it is raining and you want to do some indoor training.
There are different sizes: Pheasant are big, Partridge are a bit smaller. They also make a smaller size called a Woodcock that is handy for your trainer to put in his/her pocket and drop when you're not looking.
The Working Dog Company also make an "easy mark" dummy which has contrasting panels. These panels make it really easy to follow the dummy as it falls and so it makes for a very easy retrieve.
I am happy to recommend dummies from the Working Dog Company
The Crooked Billet, Little Marlow
The Crooked Billet is a great country pub in a rural setting. It has an excellent landlord. He came out to give me a treat. I visted here with the Boss and DB on 27 May 2013. It was a short ride in the landie from HQ. It was hot. We sat in the garden. It was a lovely garden. I think it .... Readmore
