That’s your Lotte
Mischief personified this one. Butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth and the huff she adopts when being told off is hilarious. She has also demonstrated a very stubborn streak now and again, not to mention the odd show of dissent with subtle chew marks that have appeared at the bottom of chair and table legs.
That aside, she did excel in the aforementioned evening’s stalking. After Joe had confirmed it was his shot that we heard, I asked him to stay in the seat even though he could see the carcass and I would bring Lotte along to see how she did on the scent. This wasn’t going to be a blood trail as the animal had dropped to the shot and the wind was blowing away from us and not from the carcass. It would be a real test of Lotte’s abilities. Her harness on, off we went. Lotte is so small she will never be able to see a fallen deer, so she has to use her nose constantly and what a sniffer it is.
I was delighted when she walked on to the edge of the field, put her nose down, bore left off the crop, sniffed across the field margin and scented straight into the carcass.
Joe joined us and I asked where the deer had come in from and he said exactly the route Lotte had taken. She isn’t just scenting blood but the gland in the cleaves of the deer’s feet, which is scenting at a different level. Using deer feet on practice runs have focused her with this task, but the ability is in her genes and needed a bit of guidance to bring it out.