I really must choose my words more carefully on here.
I dont really care if my dog is right behind me, has his nose, head or rump beside my leg.
All I do is stick out my arm and if the end of his tail disappears out in front then I call him back and stick him on the lead.
He caught on really quickly and is reliable enough to cross a quiet road doing this.
And he does not pull on a WYWDL. This is enough for me.
I don't care which side he walks except on busy roads where he is away from the traffic and I hold the lead any old way that takes my fancy.
We dog quietly around on roads and I hardly know he's on lead.
When he scents the forest, Golf-course, farmers-field, then he goes for it and keeps a range of a 100 yards or so.
Does the odd bog-off but recalls with a few shouts.
I don't go for machine perfection, just coping safely is fine for me.
He passes horses, piles of poo, other dogs, chickens, ducks, cattle, probably Sheep but I take no chances here and he takes virtually no notice. He does not eat or roll in nasties.
Really he's only got one thing one his mind.
Finding the places we do ball-working and showing me how clever he is at it.
He was trained by three different people and we all do it a bit differently. He stays half time with me and half-time with my son and family. They tell me that after a few days with me he enjoys a good rest.It's a dogs-life really.
Fantastic animals these Cockers, so intelligent and quick to learn but with loads of opinion.
And what a sight when the low-sun hits the gold coat and it lights up like fire.