The conversion of Ste Laika.

     I have spoken before of the entirely false air of innocence on the face of this deceptive hound. Though very lovable and affectionate, she is strong-willed and disobedient while being walked. Her chief delight is in hunting, she sets up a desperate howling and will chase anything that runs over the horizon. She will then depart on its trail and not return for hours, causing great worry. To avoid the anxiety of the wait, plus the questions over what she might be up to in the interim, we had the custom of only walking her on a long lead.
  We had thought of buying a remote-control training device, but they are quite expensive. However, while at the Hope shop at Lezay, we saw one on sale for a fiver or so, so we snapped it up. This consists of a collar with a couple of electrical contacts to strap on the dog's neck, plus the remote unit to be carried. This allows you to choose between an electric shock, a buzzer or a bleep and has a range of about 200 yards. The idea is that if  Laika bolts and fails to respond to a recall shout, she can be given a reminder of the appropriate intensity.
  However, we had a pleasant surprise, when we got around to trying it out. As soon as the collar was buckled on, Laika's behaviour changed miraculously for the better! She walked quietly to heel, came back instantly when called and in fact behaved so perfectly that I had very little opportunity of trying out our hi-tech purchase. We can only suppose that this is not her first experience of a training collar. Be that as it may, I can now take her out without the bulky long lead reel with confidence in retaining control. It's far less stressful and I think even Laika can enjoy her sniff about, without being tied by the neck. At worst, a bleep on the collar brings her trotting straight back. A most worth-while purchase!

    Bye for now, feeding time for the animals...