North Western Counties FTA AV Retriever All Aged Field Trial

The writer was looking forward to this field trial as is was his first one of the 2011 season, business commitments had prevented him from entering competition during September.

NWCFTA have hosted great field trials in the past, so the writer fully expected it to attract some of the countries top gun dog handlers, I was not disappointed when looking at the running card with both John & Sandra Halsted (famous Drakeshead kennel) and John Drury (Affix Brenjon) who has also produced several field trial champions.

The Venue by Kind permission of P J Culley Esq was held at Mossborough Hall, Rainford near St Helens, Merseyside and Judges for the day were John Lees, Steve Richardson, Jimmy Swindlehurst & Lee Hartis. The chief Steward was the delightful Sue Schofield, who is also the associations secretary.

After brief introductions the field trial started with 16 Labrador Retrievers in a walk up, in very wet cover, which appeared to be a mixture of grass and wheat crop, with very few birds being presented.

After about 2 hours, the hosted decided to have a drive, which was not going to be easy with just 6 gun dogs after 2 hours of hard walking. The 16 dogs were divided up between the judges, numbers 1,2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14 went with John Lees & Lee Hartis and numbers 3,4,7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16 went with Steve Richardson & Jimmy Swindlehurst.

After the drive, the Judges sent number 1 for a wounded pheasant which had landed in the wood behind the guns, after a good attempt the dog was called up and number 2 was sent, which again had made a good effort but not produce the bird. The Judges then went out to inspect the area for the bird and to the competitors relieve the bird could not be found.

Number one was then sent for a bird in the barley field, which was successful and then number 2 was asked to pick a bird in a different direction in the same field which, after hunting the area number 2 was called up without the bird and number 1 was sent to the same area. After a short while number 1 was called up and dismissed for not making the area. The Judges again went out to inspect the area and no bird was found to the relieve of number 2!

Number 2 was then sent for another bird in the same field, which was successful. Number 2 was then sent to another area in the same field with a slightly longer distance which was also successful.

On the other side numbers 4 had been dismissed for not making the area and numbers 7 & 8 had been eye wiped by the judges.

At this stage is was noted there had been some mix up in procedure as number 6 had not been sent for the retrieve that numbers 7 & 8 had failed on.

The field Trial then proceeded with a further walk up, which again only produced the odd bird, during this period number 10 was put out first dog down and number 12 was believed to have ran in.

By 2pm the field trial looked like not being completed, so the host provided another drive, which produced a sufficient number of birds to complete the stake, but gave the Judges the difficult task of creating challenging retrieves in a grass field, fortunately the wind conditions were such, they created a few problems with dogs either swapping or failing to make the area efficiently.

In the second round number 2 was sent for a partridge, which proved difficult to pick in the wind conditions, but eventually the dog located the bird.

After the 2nd round a cut was made and I believe 6 gundogs remained numbers 2, 3, 5, 6, 13, 15

They were all sent for a retrieve, with the wind behind us, the Judges then deliberated and ask just invited 3 dogs into the 4th round numbers 2, 6 & 15.

Number 2 was sent to an area and the dog went of the whistle, so was called up, and numbers 6 & 15 completed their retrieves.


Number 15 Mr. C Dinsdale was awarded 1st Place with Spinnerbeck Wagtail and Mrs. Sandra Halsted was award 2nd Place with Copperbirch Otto of Drakeshead.

The writer was pleased to get to the last 3 dogs, in his first trial but more training work still required !

This report is compiled by the writer who was present at the trial and is not always in the position to see every retrieve and is not party to the Judges decisions, if any of the above is believed to inaccurate, please email the correction for publication.

The Best Hunting Gundogs

English Springer Spaniel

has all of the qualities required be be a top hunting breed. This medium sized dog get their name from the ability to flush out - or springing - birds from their hiding places, allowing the gun to take his shot.


The average Springer Spaniel is smaller than other gundogs at 40 - 50 pounds (18 - 23 kilograms), and 20 inches (51 cm) tall. however, what spaniels lack in size they make up for in energy.

Their energy, and strong legs make them an ideal companion for long hunting days. While their dense short undercoat covered with a long top coat can easily withstand a variety of weather and climate conditions.

Although bred primarily to flush out game, the Springer Spaniels gentle grip is ideal for retrieving prey without damage. A combination of all these qualities make the Springer Spaniel one of the best hunting dogs.


Hounds/Terriers

Hounds & Terrier dogs make a trackers job much easier, with their noise to the ground, relying on their nose to track scent rather than sight to locate the prey.





The hounds usually chase after the smaller animals like rabbits or fox, chasing the animals and barking until the hunter arrives. Hounds are around 2 feet (0.61 meters) high to the shoulder, and full of courage, making them a helpful dog even when hunting larger game like deer.

There are various breeds of hounds used in hunting including Bloodhounds, Foxhounds and Coonhounds, the later a result of breeding the first two together, combining a great sense of smell with improved speed and stamina.

The hounds thick coat also allows them to tolerate a wide range of weather conditions, comfortable in both hot and cold.

English Setter

English setters were originally bred as bird dogs in UK, a combination of the best qualities of spaniels and pointer dogs. They will silently track down the prey using their excellent sense of smell, the English Setter will then crouch down in wait for the masters approach rather than flushing out the birds.

Like any good hunting dog, English setters are easy to train well, and have plenty of energy, their large muscled legs let them run quickly and effortlessly across the terrain.

As English setters are such an energetic dog, they require plenty of long walks, hunting is the perfect outlet to entertain their enthusiasm. The English setters, are closely related the the Gordon and Irish setters, and are all a popular hunting choice on open moorland.


HPR's
are bred for their versatility in the hunt, working equally as well on the land or the water. Pointers are primarily known as bird dogs, however they are also skilled trackers of land game, including hare, wild pigs and deer.

HPR's like German Shorthaired Pointers, German Wirehaired, Italian Spinone, Hungarian Vizsla's are highly intelligent, making them obedient but not easy to train.

Pointers are a medium dog ranging from 55 to 70 pounds (25 to 32 kg) and 23 to 25 inches (58 to 64 cm) tall to the shoulder. The pointer's energy is apparent as they bound far ahead to locating the prey for the gun. Pointers have the best sense of smell of all the gundogs. Like the English Setter, Pointers do not flush out the prey, rather it finds it and points it out to its master - hence its name.

This dog origin comes from crossing breeding the best hunting dogs, the Spanish pointer with German scent hounds


Labrador Retriever

The Labrador retriever, like pointers, is a well rounded gundog. Labradors are perhaps best known as water dogs due to their moisture repellent coats, and also have weblike feet helping propel them quickly through water fetching prey.

Labrador retrievers are also well equipped with intelligence and good temperament making them ideal for training. All these qualities mean Labradors, along with golden retrievers, are among the most popular breed of gundog.

Like the spaniels, retrievers have a gentle grip in their mouth, meaning they can 'retrieve' prey without damaging. Their eagerness to please means they are keen to apply themselves to other tasks for their handler, also making good trackers.

Labradors, weighing from 55 to 75 pound (25 to 34 kg), are a real all round dog, as at ease hunting pheasant & Partridge in the fields, as they are fetching ducks from icy ponds, makes them ideal gundogs, for all weather conditions.

Shropshire Gundog Training Day

Our trainer Stewart North was invited with 5 other gun dog trainers Phil Garton, Casper Jonsen, Tim Brain, June Evans, Glyn Evans by Christine Gray to Shropshire Gundog Society Training Day at Becks Bird Farm, Ellerdine Heath, near Telford. The day started at 6.30am when Phil Garton another trainer from Leicestershire kindly offered to drive.

We arrived at 8.30am to be greeted by Christine Gray who is so well organised !

The barn set out for the admin and catering, Christine had organised a proper loo for the Ladies !

The trainers were showed the various training grounds for Puppies, Beginners, Novice and Open Gundogs.

Numbers had been limited to 7, but the day was so popular most trainers had 8 dogs in each class!

Our trainer was given the task of training 8 Open gundogs:

Peter & Labrador Retriever Diesel
Roz & Labrador Retriever Gibbs
Barry & Labrador Retriever Holly
John & Flat Coated Retriever Finbarr
Julia & Labrador Retriever fly
Anthony & Labrador Retriever Pepper
David & Labrador Retriever Lottie
Denise & Labrador Retriever Blaze

After a brief introduction it transpired that not all the gun dogs had qualified as Open Gundogs, only 4 of the gun dogs had won a novice working test and one of those had won under different ownership and 2 of the gun dogs had been placed in the open class as the novice classes had been oversubscribe!

So from a training point of view it was important to establish the capabilities of the gundogs, the trainer briefly asked the owners to explain thir gundogs biggest weakness which ranged from Stop Whistle, Straight line work, Recall, Delivery issues and one dog asking too many questions! (Robots).

The area of training tasks covered, heelwork, steadiness, marking ability, handling skills, changes in cover and obstacle work.

Not wanting to have any instant failures, the gun dogs were initially asked to line up off lead to view a double mark both short and long at 50m & 100m in light cover.

Gundogs were sent in a number order with number 1 picking the short mark, then number 2 was sent for the long mark and on completion we reversed the retrieves with the same gundogs.

Not one gundog completed both retrieves without any handling!

This exercise highlighted a number of problems?

It showed those gundogs who had no marking ability?
It showed those handlers who could not mark?
It showed handlers interfering with marks, i.e poor sending techniques, not allowing gundogs to use their nose?, noisy handling?,
It showed up gundogs with poor recall,
It showed up gundogs with poor delivery,

Advice was given on all these problems.

Our trainer highlighted that a number of handlers failed to read there dogs body language, did not read the wind conditions and far too many handlers tried to pick the dummy rather than put the gundog in the best position for it succeed its self.

The gundogs were then asked to pick a mark with distraction, the retrieve on the left was over a deep ditch with heavy cover, the other mark was at 90 degrees in light cover.

A number of gun dogs wanted to hunt the ditch and handlers lost sight of their gundog, some gundogs found the ditch too much of a barrier, we discussed how we improve confidence and gundogs marking ability, some handlers stopped their gun dogs in front of an obstacle, some handlers gave instructions whilst their gundogs were in motion, some handlers just expect their gundogs to go over obstacle without instruction.

Different methods suited different gundogs!, there is not a one size fits all mentality!

The trainer highlighted the need to stop handling those gun dogs, who rely too much on the handler, he also demonstrated how to achieve a longer cast, using memory marks increasing the gundogs confidence, we covered sloppy delivery and holding techniques and the need to be more assertive when gundogs are not satisfied after completing retrieves or not willing to stop to instruction.

After lunch, we did some work holding an area, then had a mock walk up with marks and blinds using the ditch, water hazards, thick hedges and a difficult wire fence.

The students will judge the value of the training training session for their particular needs, but from the trainers point of view we tried to highlight at least one weakness, although many gundogs had several, then the trainer tried to give some brief explanation for the reason of that weakness and give guidance on how to improve that weakness.

We conclude with this brief summary;

Peter & Diesel excellent performance during the day, needs to stretch training tasks be more demanding in different covers, would expect this dog to feature in future awards.

Roz & Gibbs excellent performance during the day, this dog is packed with natural ability, be careful not get a working test mentality ~ you are handling the dog when it is not necessary.

Barry & Holly your biggest weakness is not the dog, despite whining being a fault, the trainer was more concerned about your handling and sending techniques, nerves obviously play a part, your dog would mark much better if your set up was change. It certainly has a good nose! The whining got less and less throughout the day...may be that's the answer ~ more work in more highly charged environments?

John & Finbar it was a pleasure to see a stylish flat coated retriever, which did not run in and delivered its retrieve to hand, its a pity the handler cannot read his dog properly! this dog has bags of talent, just needs more consistent handling and its stop whistle tolerance improving.

Julia & Fly very talented gun dog with a handler who needs to serve a good apprenticeship, you need to be much more assertive at times, but equally knowing when not to interfere is absolute. Standing over game is serious fault, do not make it any worse?

Anthony & Pepper another promising gun dog, handler again needs to be more assertive, in a measured way ! pepper responded well to a change in vocal tone you will need to get out to her to remind her of the recall, I would do this without a dummy initially.

David & Lottie, this is a typical talented Labrador that has been over trained, one the country's best trainers Alan Thornton once remarked to our trainer Stewart North "how long has the dog be controlling you" owners with dogs that prompt instruction falsely believe they are controlling the dog? I would like you to place less emphasis on obedience and more emphasis's on hunting, in fact forget about obedience for a while and hopefully your problem will disappear!

Denise & Blaze, need to practising a lot more marks, gundog gave trainer the impression of a good picking up dog - good nose what about its eyesight? too much short work this dog needs to be strenched and confidence improved. You need to practising longer blinds both in and out of cover as this dog loves cover too much ! we spent some time on delievry issues dont be too quick to relieve the dog of its retrieve, reward the dog whilst holding the dummy.

Throughly enjoyed the day, well done Christine and thank you helpers Stuart and Anson.

This report is published to summarise training issues and help others new to our sport to understand, these are typical gundogs problems by people who regularly train gundogs, the writer will fully understand's if any student doe not wished to be mentioned.

Sould you wish to discuss any training advice, please contact Working Gundogs