Introducing our correspondent
I spent most of my career in corporate communications, writing for many of the UK’s leading companies, colleges and charities, on subjects as diverse as education, architecture and overseas development, not to mention modern dance, aromatherapy, wildlife conservation and plumbing.
You name it, I’ve probably written about it at some time or another.
As a child, however, I dreamed of living in the country, with as many animals as possible. I eventually escaped from London with my dogs in 1998 and settled in a quiet Mid-Devon village where, with the help of my two Labradors, I now run Barkington Towers - canine-friendly, home-from-home accommodation for dogs whose owners are away. These days, I write mainly for my own pleasure and enjoy travel and photography. There are no plans to return to London… Diane Trembath
Diane writes:
As the countryside year turned, the shooting season was at its height, with some of the sporting calendar’s biggest shoots of the year taking place. Exmoor and its surrounding areas are replete with shoots – gundog heaven, wouldn’t you say?
Well, up to a point… because not every gundog is to the manner born. My black Labrador, Louis, is gun-shy, something that was not apparent until his previous owner placed him with a gamekeeper for training. The gamekeeper soon realised that this would be a complete waste of time and handed him back to Owner No 1. Louis came to live with us shortly afterwards, when he was three, in November 2005; his arrival coincided with the start of the shooting 
season and his fear of gunfire demonstrated itself immediately.
Since then, the fear has escalated, which is the normal cumulative pattern of these things. I take obvious steps, walking in the morning before shooting starts, walking in areas that are not in the proximity of shoots, and so on, although that can be a challenge on Exmoor. He is averse to walking in the dark, so taking him out after shooting has finished is not the answer.
But it isn’t simply gunfire. Louis suffers from the same sort of noise phobia that affects so many border collies: thunder, bells, whistles, buzzers – listening to any Radio 4 quiz programme has been out of the question for the past six years.
Over the years, we have run the gamut of possible solutions, some of which have helped to a degree (the homeopathic remedy, phosphorus, for example), desensitisation methods, and calming systems. Sadly, he is not alone. All the Labrador guests at Barkington Towers are gun-shy and noise sensitive, as are most of the collies. One of the Labradors successfully completed gundog training but, four years on, is petrified. I arrived to collect her one day in December, to find her shaking from head to toe and the coir mat by the kitchen door chewed to pieces. She had ripped a bedroom carpet to shreds too.
The problem followed us at Christmas when we decamped to the Chilterns for a long break – shooting to the left of us, shooting to the right and every which way. We had to plan each walk with military precision: route, duration, timing… By the time we were back home in our village in mid-January the end of the shooting season was in sight. For some villagers, especially those involved in the shoot - and their dogs - there will be a certain wistfulness when the guns stop firing. For others, not least a bunch of black Labradors, it will be time to breathe a sigh of relief and to reclaim the woods and valleys they love.
- Read more from Diane Trembath at the top of the page
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