Dear Dave,
As I said, I researched and met various breeders before getting to you, and I was so impressed when I met Mikey (Poppy’s Dad) and lots of your other dogs. They were so obedient, but friendly and bright eyed. I know I bombarded you with questions but I was reassured by all the answers and I think it’s so important to ask and make sure you get the right dog…I know you feel the same. I think Poppy has a pretty good life with me…we do loads together as you can see from a selection of photos I’ve attached. We live in South West London, but we spend a lot of time in Devon with my family. So she gets out and about in the city but she has lots of park walks as well as beaches and moorland walking. I found a really good Kennel Club trainer right from when I got Poppy at 8 weeks, and we still go to classes. Now at Silver level and working on Gold exercises. We’ve also done some scent work and multisport. She loves agility exercises! I also volunteer at the dog trainer classes, so we help out with the puppy training and she’s a demo dog. She’s so good.
She is an absolute delight, full of energy and enthusiasm. When we’re out walking, people laugh at us all the time because she just doesn’t stop. Their dogs are sedately trotting along sniffing around, and Poppy just RUNS and RUNS! She never goes too far away from me though and we play lots of games to keep her attention on me. She isn’t interested in any other people or dogs, she might quickly say hi, but then comes away, which is great. I’m still working on keeping her attention if there are crows around though! She is most certainly bird focussed. Equally though, she does settle when she needs to and I regularly take her to cafes/pubs, on trains/buses etc and she’s no bother whatsoever. She can be a bit mischievous…she likes going into handbags and pockets to find tissues to tear up! And the no furniture rule sort of went out of the window after a stay with my parents! But I didn’t have the heart to change that as she used to give my Dad lots of lovely cuddles when he was resting after cancer treatments. Dad died sadly in March, but he absolutely loved Poppy and she really brightened his days, especially when things were rather difficult.
I’m so pleased with Poppy. She’s so affectionate, fun and loyal. I would definitely recommend Countryways to anyone else looking for a top quality dog, whether as a pet like she is, or to work. She is so trainable and I really enjoy having her. Thank you!
All the best, Claire
