Gordon, a friend of mine has trained ESS for the last 25 years. He is one of the best trainers around. He told me recently that he is starting to work with English Cockers and would like to start his own line. He says they are a real blast.
Parker, I know what you mean about heart. My dog Zach is 11 and still hunts quite strong. A year or two ago I shot a rooster that fell on the other side of a 10 or 15 yard wide running stream. Old Zach had no problem swimming across that stream and climbing up the ice on the other side to get the downed bird. While he was over there he flushed another bird which I also shot. He tried so hard to pick up both birds but just could not get a good grip. He finally came back with just one and as soon as I took it from him he turned and jumped back into the half frozen water and went and got the second. He made a bunch more trips across that stream that day and never refused a retrieve.
