Live like God in France

(08-2016)
It’s July and finally the summer seems to have tentatively started. Usually in the Charente the weather is good from at least May onwards, but this year we have had a tremendous amount of rain both day and night, accompanied by lower than usual temperatures for the time of year. Consequently this has had a knock on effect with slowing the progress of our plans for the centre. Due to the wet weather we have been unable to utilize the machinery needed for sowing the grass seed for the dog training areas. That’s just one of many setbacks we have experienced resulting in increased costs, but none the less we remain positive and are working hard to make up for lost time.
                    
Now we move on to some good news which is much more fun to talk about than setbacks and disappointment. My father was over from Holland for a week recently giving me some help. At Seventy-eight years of age he was delighted to come and help wherever he could, which was much appreciated. It was lovely spending quality time with my dad and on top of that he was invaluable helping me to catch up on some of the outstanding jobs.
There was also good news from the Netherlands. Gwen and Vidar have qualified for the European Championships in ‘Dog Dance’ this summer in Austria. An exceptional performance from both of them, but whenever you see them working together it’s no surprise that they were successful! They also took part in their other sport, hunting, and were awarded an A certificate, with excellent grades. All in all, this is surely confirmation that success can be achieved with positive training and with no coercion. When you think of the fact that only a handful of Duck Tolling retrievers in Holland has ever been able to obtain this level in competition, it is not only an honour for Gwen, but also confirmation of her outstanding dog training ability.
              
This is precisely what Les Chiens Sportives stands for and what we want to try to convey with everything that we do in France next year. The success of Vidar competing in competition this year and achieving, shows that our experience and commitment to dog handling pays rewards. Not only in the hunting world, but also in various other dog sports, we are able to achieve quick results using our own tried and tested methods. Of course there are various methods of training a dog to succeed, however when you see Gwen working with her dog you are able to appreciated the wonderful collaboration, fun and respect they have for one another whilst learning.

Enough work in July and August . The house that we live in now has electricity, plumbing and drains but everything needs to be finished. The septic tank remains visible as this has yet to be inspected. This obviously also hinders completion of the groundwork, so the land continues to look messy. Lawns have to be sown and have time to grow and indoors the plasterwork, painting, insulation, and of course cleaning have to be addressed. Hopefully we will be able to regain some lost time and get back on track with help from friends and family. Once the house is livable we will move onto the construction of the kennels, which although a much easier project, is still a lot of hard work.

Our final objective is to finish the website in September with both English and French text and then register the company with the appropriate authorities in France.

In short, there is still plenty to do here at Chez Penot to achieve our dream. However in the meantime if you would still like to spend a short vacation with us to work on your fitness in a wonderfully beautiful environment full of new challenges, then you're welcome!

Happy holidays everyone!

Mario de Braal