That, more than any single trophy or championship placing, is the thing to understand about John Cook. He is still training every day – “over eight days a week” – with around half-a-dozen client dogs in at any one time. A dog that bumps game by accident certainly gets no credit from John Cook. Dog training, he tells them, is like driving a car: you are the one in total control of where the vehicle goes, and the steering wheel is where you make the decision. New clients are sat at a table on a chair John has rigged to fall apart the moment they grab it the wrong way.