Joining the Dots and planning a Budget

Tawny takes a back seat as her off spring are taken out for their first lesson — but sometimes you need experience, says Simon Whitehead

- Simon Whitehead

For the first time this autumn I could see my breath as I boxed up my fidgety ferrets for the day ahead. The rising sun crept through the ageing stable, highlighting both Dotty and Budget as they jumped up against their kennel door.

Whipping their tails around excitedly, little did they know that instead of going for a leg stretch in the field, they would be coming with me and their mother, Tawny. I had some young ferrets to try out and, of course, rabbits to harvest.

Switched on

Whelped during lockdown, Tawny’s puppies are now five months old and they couldn’t be more contrasting. If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t think that they were from the same litter. Dotty is just like her mother, so her name comes from the acronym DOT — daughter of Tawny. She is honest, driven, switched on and has the right conformation.

Budget, on the other hand, is a bat-eared little thinker, who often appears to be aloof. Deep down she is very astute in what she sees and acts accordingly.

Once on the farm, I noticed a solitary bunny hop down a rabbit hole. While mentally noting which hole it disappeared down, I decided to take this golden opportunity to give the twosome a little aperitif before I got Tawny out. What better way to start the day than give them a basic yet effective lesson in my search for the full stop in their training?

Probably the hardest part of raising a ferreting dog is there is no blueprint. I desperately want them to succeed every time but I know before they do I will endure plenty of gut-wrenching setbacks, fuelling aggravating doubts within my inner dialogue and the sobering thought that some simply will not make the grade.