AnglingAnt

I soak it over night normally but I think even a couple of hours would be fine. 

Dont ya love it when that happens! 

Only the once and can’t really comment as my surface fishing isnt really up to much 😂 I can tell you that a 10ft Scope can bring in a Canada goose flapping and squawking though 

Well I use my nash scope 10ft rods as my every day rods and also have the 6ft scopes as short session/river/canal/stalking rods, I can’t fault them in anyway, they pack down microscopically small and seem to be extremely strong capable rods, I used to use the dwarf 6ft rod(cheaper option) again extremely capable rod. 
 
But in answer to your our question I can’t see any reason that a 9ft rod wouldn’t be suitable for stalking 

Ok mate no problem

I would have to agree with Yonny on this, greys aren't the brand they used to be and i dream of owning a set of Harrison Aviators in full cork....drooling...

For that kind of money you can get much better than Greys imo mate. Have a look at Harrison and Free Spirit, or maybe even Century if you're feeling really flush.

I wouldn't go anywhere near anything marketed as "A stripped out ultra light Special Forces edition" buddy. It's aimed at kids that don't know what they're spending their hard-earned on imo.
Have a look at Dymag Mobile System and their 9 ft rods. Really good gear.

Sorry to hear that fella. As spr1985 said I think it really comes down to training a close friend of mine takes his Golden lab with him but they tend to be fairly docile by nature.