Not just for Christmas

Introducing Monty who we brought home yesterday. Not the best time of year to get a dog but I'd been thinking about a working Springer Spaniel for some time , then had chance of one from a litter in Devon when at a shoot in November. The keeper's dog, an exceptional worker and very placid, was the father. It seemed like it was meant to be.

We'd decided to make a night of it, booking a hotel in Salcombe but, in the event, the trip was pretty torrid since Gill hadn't recovered from a bug she picked up earlier in the week, then contracted labyrinthitis (we think) to compound things.

Now she's in bed and we've cancelled what would have been a fairly quiet Christmas anyway, sad because her sister and family were coming down and it's just a year ago since their dad died. That leaves me on nursing and pup-rearing duty. Pippa, our Jack Russell, it turns out, does not have a maternal bone in her body.

Monty is something of a project as I want to train him to a good standard if I can. I always enjoy watching working dogs. Pippa is pretty good by the riverside but I think this one will be a bit more biddable than a terrier.

He's only eight weeks old but looks a bit older than that in the picture. At 5.4 Kgs, he already weighs more than Pippa.