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MY BOY BEN
 Ben has to have special mention - one night I had a phone call from a couple in Toronto, Glenn and Christine - they had met Sarah (chelsea's owner) in Toronto and started to talk of the problems they were having with their pointer "Ben". If they could not get Ben under control they would have to do something. Ben was at this time about a year old, he had been through 4 homes in his short life - he was a terror, you couldn't keep him in, he could jump out of anything, was squirrel mad, and chased geese out onto Lake Ontario swimming after them. He had no control and was very high drive. They asked me to help with their dog not for field work, but obedience. So ben arrived and I collar conditioned him, teaching them how to use the collar correctly and at the end of 3 weeks and after 3 lessons we decided we would allow Ben off lead and let him blow off steam. He hadn't gone 30 feet when he realized he was free and started to take off - well the long arm of the e-collar reeled him in and as a reward I suggested we show him a bird, oh my Ben's whole world changed - he had such intensity that the hackles on the back of my head went up.
Christine said he changed the moment that he could have some freedom and he lived to come to the farm every week-end. He was such a handful, sometimes it took two of us to hold him, but gradually we got him under control and i suggested to them that we register him with the CKC (he was a rescue) and run him in hunt tests.
And so "Bentley" was born. He went on to perform exceptionally well in hunt tests getting his junior title with no problems (other than control), but the judges were so amazed at his nose that they did turn their backs on how we caught him. He also went on to get one leg of his F.D. title and I live in hopes of him coming back to finish that title. He is an amazing dog, and his owners certainly need to be congratulated for perservering with him. He now lives in Northern Ontario, chasing bears, foxes and skunks, much to their delight!! Unfortunately Ben will never be allowed free without the collar as he most certainly would be off and gone in a blink of an eye.
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