During the shooting season I try to keep a freezer full of game that later in the year I use for either photo sessions or for training the cockers. In truth, I quite often realise I have forgotten to get them out to defrost or, as happened the other day, I forgot I had got them out and Mrs R found a rather smelly mess in her workshop!

At last there is a good solution to this common problem. First launched by Muntjac Trading Ltd at the West Country Show in 2011, these cured pheasant skins attach to standard dummies and are great for getting a young dog used to picking feathered game or to give a bit more interest to dogs that are getting a bit jaded by retrieving plain canvas dummies. The one thing that has surprised me is that the skins last really quite well, although the tails do tend to break – but I can just stick in a couple of new feathers and they are as good as new.

RRP �12. For more info visit www.muntjactrading.co.uk