Bramble, a two year old English Springer Spaniel from a small village near Peterborough, once thought to be a hopeless case due to her disobedience and lack of interest in training, is set to join some of the top working gundogs in the country by competing with her owner at the prestigious Kennel Club Gundog Working Test, being held on the Chatsworth House Estate in Derbyshire from May 29 to June 2.

When Bramble’s owner Tina Hayes took her to a training class for the first time, the instructor’s final words to her were ‘Good luck with that one – you’re going to need it!’  Just over a year later the ‘hopeless’ dog, Bramble, has shown a remarkable improvement in her training and behaviour and is set to compete against some of the best novice Spaniels in the country on Saturday, June 1.

Tina said: “When we first started our training it wasn’t just Bramble who was hopeless, I too was way out of my depth!  After that first training session I felt a bit lost and worried that there really was no hope for Bramble.

“I did a bit of research and stumbled across a Kennel Club gundog training day for novice handlers, so decided to go for it and try gundog-specific training.  When we went to the training day, my first task was to let Bramble off the lead and send her to retrieve a dummy.  She did a runner and I had to chase her to get the dummy back.  Suffice to say there were a few awkward looks from others that were there!

“Speaking to the trainer on the day, Bob Aldenton, he told me to think of training Bramble like learning to drive a Ferrari – something that has always stuck with me.  Bob was wonderful and took us under his wing, working with us throughout the year to build on Bramble’s training and she is now competing at the biggest gundog competition of the year - I could not be prouder!”

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “Bramble and Tina are the perfect example of what can be achieved through gundog training.  Spaniels love to put their natural instincts to good use to work for their owner, which of course is made easier the better trained they are. We wish them the best of luck at the Gundog Working Test at Chatsworth and hope they inspire other gundog owners to get involved in this wonderful sport!”

To see Bramble’s transformation, view the ‘Gundog Working Test at Chatsworth’ video on the Kennel Club’s Youtube page, at www.youtube.com/thekennelclub.

For more information on the Gundog Working Test, and to check if Bramble does well in the competition on Saturday 1^st June, visit http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/4583.

To follow Tina and Bramble’s on-going training and experiences, visit www.esstestsandtrials.co.uk.