Our much-anticipated Goosehaven meet was a wonderfully good time in a huge 1000 acre wood, near LaDue reservoir. We had beautiful sunshine, a terrific field, capable staff, 3-couple of our steadiest beagles, a landowner who knows his tremendous country well (even helped us find a staffer who lost his way without radio contact!)... but no rabbits. We combed the thick patches of briars, vines, and multiflora rose that grow up along the fire breaks and the beagles gave us some good, honest, enthusiastic work, but we did not find a line for them to sing upon. The hike through these magical woods was still an incredible experience... all the staff was pleased that the “whoa” training we’ve been working on is beginning to yield good results. I enjoyed hearing hunting adventure stories from landowners Bob and Sue Ford and was incredibly grateful that coordinators Linda Joseph and Richard Pollack treated us to a delicious al fresco lunch afterwards. Kids got some beagle cuddles and we got some more canine fun time with the resident labs. Beagles Pike and Jenkins brought their excellent work ethics along as they always do. Sizzle really put his nose down and impressed me with his effort. Smolder, who loves hunting but can be quite independent, earned an A rating today for for her pack-work improvements. Even our more distractible hounds stayed on-task all morning. For me, the mellow day was a great opportunity to see how each little hound is developing. Thank you to everyone who came out today and made it a great morning!
- rcallister