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Mossy and Chester's critiques courtesy of dogworld

1 Murray’s Ir Sh Ch Riverrun Agus Avic, a magnificent presence in the ring, powerful & upstanding quality dog of size & real type. His head is striking with intelligent expression, very well balanced, broad skull with correct stop & proportionate length of muzzle, strong, true front, outstanding strength of bone, well rounded & padded feet, very well angulated throughout though would like a little more length of body considering him rather cobby & could consequently have a shade more depth of body. Pleasingly tucked up at the underline with correct topline, very well muscled hindquarters including second thigh & good harsh double coat, sedge coloured & well laid. Moved in a sweeping & well extended manner both fore & aft, steady & true both ways with acceptable tail carriage. Delighted to find such an excellent specimen in a small entry to send forward to the group. BOB; 2 Murray’s Ch/Ir Sh Ch/Int Ch Penrose Nomad, 10 year old veteran but demonstrating quality breeding & type, strong overall still& only starting to show his age in his head & expression, both these dogs were workmanlike sorts. Well balanced standing with true, straight front& good depth of brisket, nice size overall & in excellent body condition, well muscled throughout. Super tail with strength at the base, well clothed & of correct length, pleasing tuck up & topline. Correct coat, straw coloured & well textured, moved very soundly & true. RBD.

East of England and CBRC Champ Show.

For the third time this year the car was packed and we took the ferry across to the UK. This time we took the trailer as we were travelling with four chessies.
The weather was grim as we crossed the Irish Sea with no promise of improvement for the weekend.
Our first stop when we reach Wales is generally JCT 17 on the A55. There is a fantastic dog friendly beach here. It gives the dogs a chance to have a good blow out and  a swim after the long journey. This morning it was completely deserted, only a mad Irish woman and her brown dogs were brave enough to take on the deluge of rain that was pouring from the heavens..
After towelling off the dogs we pushed on to Husbands Bosworth where we would be staying for the next two nights. It's a really pretty little village , quentisentially english with no shop just one pub. We were staying in The Old Hall, an Elizabethen house with a fascinating history and a very welcoming hostess. Well set in off the road and surrounded by parkland it was perfect for travelling with dogs.  Carolyn, our hostess, outlined some walks where we could run the dogs safely. After unloading the car we took the dogs for a long walk through the village and down along the tow path . We ate at The Hall that evening, something we appreciated after our long journey as we would have an early start the next morning.
Saturday morning we were up and on the road by 8.30am heading to Peterborough to the East Of England Champ Show. We had entered Chester and Mossy. Both would be competing against each other in Open Dog. This is a show we've never done before and it was just luck that it happened to coincide with the same weekend as the Club Show. There were six chesapeakes entered. Three dogs and three bitches. Our judge was a Mr R Morris, who I'd never shown my dogs under before. Judging that day was slow as all the rings had to be moved indoors due to flooding. It was late afternoon by the time judging of our breed started. I was happy with the way both dogs behaved in the ring and delighted when Mossy won Best Dog and BOB and his father, Chester, won Reserve Dog. We waited on for the group and although Mossy showed well we didn't make the cut.
On our way back to our accomadation that evening we stopped at a lake outside Peterborough and took the dogs for a long walk through meadows and rain. We settled and fed the dogs back at the Old Hall and walked down the road to the local pub for a bite to eat.
 Now Des and I have long been fans of the English pub scene. We love the old cluttered charm that exists in many of them. You get the feeling when you enter one of these establishments that you're walking into someone's sitting room.You immediately relax , settle down and let the evening unfold. The food is always comfort food , exactly what the weary traveller is looking for. The Bell pub, I'm pleased to say , was exactly one of these pubs that we love. The entertainment for the evening came from the land lady with the purple hair and her immaculatly dressed daughter . Poles apart in looks and personality but complemented each other perfectly as an effective and efficient team for running a pub.
 There seemed to be some sort of area pub quiz going on and every now and then the phone would ring. The land lady would answer in her loudest voice and so would pursue a lengthy discussion as to whether it was the right or wrong answer. All food and drink orders were put on hold while this exchange took place. Silence would descend throughout the pub as we all craned to hear and waited to see if the correct answer had been given. It was heart stopping stuff...
We walked back to our B&B. The rain had stopped, sheep were bleating in the park as we wound our way up the lane and everything looked promising for the show next day.
So our final show of the weekend also happened to be the pinnacle of the UK CBRC Show calender,  the Championship show. More importantly a chance to catch up with friends and aquaintances. It always has the atmosphere of a lawn picnic and almost always has fantastic weather. Although this year's forecast had not been the most promising it turned out to be a beautiful Summer afternoon.
There were over fifty dogs entered under breed specialist Mrs M Woods. Mossy entered in Open Dog  won his class. Chester entered in Veteran dog also won his class. In the line up for the dog challenge both dogs moved and showed well. Today it was the turn of the Old Fella , Chester. He won Dog CC and Best Veteran in Show. It was a very proud moment for Des. Of all our dogs Chester is his.  Mossy won Reserve Dog CC. Winnie won Veteran bitch class but was beaten by Chester for Best Veteran. Although she had very little coat and is only 16 weeks after having puppies she has regained her figure, moved well and most importantly enjoyed herself in the ring.
We also brought Uisce for the weekend. This was her first big trip . She took everything in her stride. Tried her best to keep up with the adult dogs on walks, lapped up the attention at the show and travelled without any problems.

This is a story in praise of the working gundog. We all know them and of them. They are the foot soldiers of the gundog world. The ninety-nine per centers that are owned by Tom, Dick and Harry who regale us with their dogs' exploits. We smile indulgently but smugly choose to only half believe the owners biased opinion of their 'fantastic' working gundog.
We may enquire as to whether this superb dog has any field trial awards or even been placed in a working test? If the answer is 'no' then that is all many of us want to or are interested in knowing.
I have one of these working gundogs. His name is Chester. He is a Chesapeake. I have had dogs before him and have had dogs since him but none could or can equal his skill as a gamefinding and pure working gundog. His  real talents never lay in the competition field although he has had his fair share of success there also in working tests. As a field trialling dog he was too noisy. A real shame as he is a fantastic handling dog with the softest of mouths. Both of which he has passed onto his progeny.

This year will be his tenth shooting season. He has never missed one due to injury and as can be expected there are many tales and adventures I could share of our Winters' together.
Today , though, I want to tell you a story of a day Des took Chester when he went shooting along the shores of the Shannon.
It was the 10th of January 2009. Des had been asked to join a friend of ours, Pat, and three of his friends for a morning's decoying on the Shannon. It was a cold one, frost lay heavy on the ground and the edges and shallows of the river were iced up where they spread out the decoys. The temperature was well below freezing. For one reason or another Chester was the only dog there that morning. The thing about decoying is that you never really know what to expect. It could be a slow morning. The likelihood was that this particular morning was expected to be, as it was mid January and by that time in the shooting season calender the Shannon Basin is generally well plundered. One dog should have been more than adequate.
The boys settled down and waited. As daylight dawned the action began and continued for several hours until a halt was called at about mid-day. Bird after bird had to be retrieved from the icy waters. Again and again the chesapeake hunted for and found each bird brought down. Many times having to swim through ice and rushes to find wounded birds. It was so cold that although Chester initially waited in the water for each retrieve, he had to be moved on to a clump of rushes to avoid the risk of hypothermia. In the end the bag was 47 duck, a mix of Teal, Shoveler, Wigeon, Pintail, and Gadwall. A few birds got away that fell injured a distance away while Chester was returning with a bird, some were picked afterwards but two or three were probably lost. Chester worked himself to a standstill which was where a combination of exhaustion and the cold meant he couldn't continue and he wasn't asked to, he had retrieved probably 30 of the 47 birds, breaking through ice for many until Des decided Chester had done more than enough. A combination of the wind and currents meant that the birds shot afterwards were drifting into an enclosed area and were picked up afterwards from the boat.

Chester has put in many more working days since then but unless you're one of the lucky ones to stand with him on those mornings you will never fully appreciate the value of the true working gundog. The dog that may whine while waiting to retrieve. The dog that may run around a bush rather than through in pursuit of a retrieve. The dog that may not be completely steady to gunshot. He is the dog, however, that will work tenaciously and tirelessly in pursuit of his quarry and bring each and every one back gently to hand and fit for the table.
So the next time Tom, Dick or Harry regales you with tales of their amazing working gundog. Stop a minute and listen more carefully he may just be the type of dog you're looking for.

Training with Paul Toal from Altiquin labradors.

I have known Paul since I became involved in gundogs over a decade ago and I've always admired his  calm approach when working with  his dogs.
Colum and I have reached a point now where we realise that if we want to progress our dogs we need to improve our handling skills and not just merely rely on luck for the dogs to find the dummy. Both of us are aware that we fell short of the standard at the last working test.With that in mind we were able to gather a small group of four and booked Paul for an afternoon of training at Lough Ennell.
Our group comprised of a flatcoated retriever, a golden retriever, a curly coated retriever and a chesapeake...all working dogs attempting to play the summer gundog games.
Paul started the session with the very basics . Tips for tightening up on heelwork and steadiness.These are things I tend to get lazy about preferring to focus on lining and blinds but it's often the small things that lose the most marks in a working test.
The next aspect was most interesting as I subsequently was told the same thing by another trainer last weekend. When teaching the hunt up command I had traditionally just introduced the whistle when the dog put its head down on a marked retrieve and worked it from there. Now retrievers are being taught to hunt up in a quartering style, like a spaniel. It's much more specific and much more efficient. The real beauty of it is that Bertie loves this game. Already I'm seeing an improvement in his attitude to the whistle as it's not being used to nag him but to steer him.
Moving onto improving marking skills , again he showed us some wonderful ways to encourage our dogs to mark better, to succeed and build confidence. All just little things that can make a huge difference to our dogs.

We finished the session with blind work . Again incorrect use of the whistle appeared to be one of our main problems when handling our dogs but something that was so simple to correct. Remembering to use the whistle as an aid rather than  a corrector.

I think the most important thing I gained from the afternoon was that there is always scope for learning and that retriever training is progressing and moving all the time. Paul has a very open minded and patient approach to his training which works well when dealing with novice handlers and dogs. As he worked with us that afternoon he gave a structure with which we can carry forward to our training sessions in the next few weeks.We will most certainly be calling on him again before the end of the Summer.

Walks with the dawn chorus..

6am starts have become the norm in the last few weeks. This is my busiest time of the year in relation to my business as such I find early morning the best time to work alone with my own dogs. So before Des goes to work and Elly wakes up I head for the Hill of Tara. Just me , my dog and the dawn chorus.
After the working test last weekend it's now time to turn my attention again to the show ring. We have two shows in the UK next weekend. We will be travelling with four dogs. Chester, Mossy, Winnie and Uisce( her first big trip abroad).
Looking at each of the dogs I'll be showing I'm happy with the overall picture at the moment. Luck has been on my side with regards to Chester and Mossy's coats, for some reason they blew them in early Spring,( possibly because of the warm spell in March), and are now in full coat. Winnie, bless her, is still trying to grow coat since she had the puppies so she's coming along for the social side of things and to show Uisce the ropes...
Competing in the UK takes time, commitment and money. Trips are planned a long time in advance. The last thing I need  a week before a show is a dog going lame . So this week excercise is kept within fairly safe parameters of road work and running on soft ground. Gundog work at the lakes is shelved until next week for any of the dogs going into the ring. I don't worry about such restrictions when competing in Ireland as cost and time are not such immediate concerns .
Bertie now has a gap between shows so it gives me an oppurtunity to concentrate on little things that are a problem in his gundog work. I have worked consistently throughout the Summer on his heelwork and sitting still in line, ( he had been creeping while waiting for a retrieve) . Both heelwork and steadiness are much improved as the marks for walk up at the last two working tests reflected. Jason, our WT secretary, had given me an excercise to work on to tighten up his hunting pattern and it has turned into one of Bertie's favourite games, he loves it , and happily is now putting his head down and working a tighter area when asked. He had been ranging too wide.
This week Colum, Mariann and I have booked an afternoon's training session with Paul Toal . What we hope to work on is our handling skills. It should be a fun afternoon.i promise a full report after Wednesday..

Lough Bawn Working Test.

Lough Bawn has long been held in the hearts of all who compete with retrievers in Ireland. Nobody can quite recall exactly when they started to be run there but almost everyone has had the experience of running their dog there. I'm not around long enough to remember the original hostess Mrs Tennyson, by all accounts, she was quite a character but the house still holds a certain charm that beckons you in and invites you to relax and enjoy its surroundings. It sits comfortably overlooking the lake with lawns spreading out like a giant picnic blanket before it. The current hosts have continued the family tradition of going to extraordinary lengths of making all who organise and attend the event feel most welcome. This is helped by the congenial atmosphere which the secretary, Mrs Jean Johnston, and her very capable committee provide.
Today I was again running two dogs. Mossy in preliminary and novice and then Bertie in the afternoon advanced test.The grounds provide a range of cover and landscape but are compact, which makes for good viewing from the gallery and ease of movement from one test to the next.
The first test in preliminary consisted of a two dog walk up with a single seen. Mossy did this test well scoring 30/30. Next a single mark into cover with shot fired. He scored 18/20. Finally onto the water again a single seen for which he scored 16/20. Total score 64/70 was not enough to put him in the ribbons. On to novice and his first retrieve here was a single mark into cover with shot, the distance of course longer than in preliminary. The next retrieve a four dog walk up and single seen. Now, one of Mossy's problems last year was unsteadiness in line. This was his first opportunity to sit in line with four dogs and he was last dog up. I am relieved to say he sat quietly and steadily throughout. He needed handling on both retrieves in novice which would again knock him out of the top placings.
Lunchtime gave me the chance to take Uisce to the lake. It was a beautiful warm afternoon and she entered the water of her own accord and swam around like a little otter. The working tests have been wonderful oppurtunities for her to mix and meet all sorts of people and dogs and I can see her growing in confidence each time I bring her out.
After all the practice I did with Bertie over the last two weeks with jumps and marking sods law neither featured in yesterday's working test!  This was a test which required precise and experienced handling.  Poor handling meant that dogs over-ran and needed to be handled at length to the required area. This in turn made the dogs' run look clumsy and unstylish.
The first test Bertie ran was a long single blind uphill into woodland. No shot but a bolting rabbit on return. There was no clear or straight track and although the handler could clearly see the patch underneath the tree where the dummy was laid it would be easy to lose the dog in the heavy cover en route to the area. Bertie succeeded in spite of my overzealous whistling. In hindsight I should have let him take his own line until parallel with the dummy then cast him either left or right. This was a mistake I repeated again at the water. Instead of trusting my dog to enter the water I fought against him and pushed him back along the bank where he lost confidence and momentum. The result of which meant walking down to the water and sending him from the bank. When I asked two of the judges afterwards what I should have done both agreed that his earlier water entry would have been their course of action. My dog listened to each command I gave, however, in their opinion, I was giving a combination of incorrect hand signals and commands.

In summary, Lough Bawn delivered on location, hospitality, and patient judges. I came away though feeling through my inadequate handling and my failure to trust my dog more, that I let him down and for the first time felt truly out of my depth when competing against more experienced handlers.

Challenges of keeping conditon perfect for show and working tests.

June.
We are now in the height of the Summer Working test/Show season. Each weekend brings either one or the other with some weekends bringing both.
Keeping condition on dogs at this point in the season is one of the most challenging things , I find, for a dog doing both disciplines. The early months of roadwork and sea swimming have laid down a solid base of condition and now its simply a matter of maintenence. The rigours of training, however, can take its toll on a dog and if not watched for carefully can leave them too 'light' for the show ring.
It is important that condition is not mistaken for simply adding weight, something which should never occur in an active working gundog.Personally, I find the most effective way of keeping and holding condition is to increase protein percentage in their food without increasing volume. I  also like to add plenty of oil in their food to keep skin and coat in peak condition. This system seems to work for me as, so far, none of my dogs have broken down through injury either through hunting season or the Summer circuit.
In addition to daily assessment of their physical condition there is ongoing work to progress their gundog training. Each working test is used as a marker with which to pin point areas that need to be worked on in training
My plans for the boys , Bertie and Mossy are progressing as outlined earlier in the year. I removed Mossy from the show ring in Ireland , for this season,to concentrate on his gundog training and am campaigning Bertie in the ring .At present Bertie has three green stars from three shows towards his show champion title. He will need another four to complete which I expect him to achieve before the start of shooting season..
Mossy has competed in two working tests and has been unlucky not to be in the ribbons. Competition is so tight at prelim and novice levels that it takes a near faultless performance to finish in the top four and at the moment he needs tidying up on his presentation.
The next two weeks will be extremely busy. Another working test to attend this coming weekend then final preparations for our next trip to the UK. This time to compete at East of England champ show on Saturday and the Chesapeake Bay Retriever Club Champ show on the Sunday. We will be travelling with four chessies and puppy. Chester is returning to the showring following a spell in semi retirement. He will be competing at East of England and the Club show with plans to return in August to attend Welsh kennel Club.
After an intensive morning training, last Sunday , on Lough Ennell I thought it would be nice to take a photo of some of the silverware and rossettes which they have gathered in the last year.

  

Midland Retriever working Test where patience is beginning to reap rewards..

A lazy June morning was unfolding as I headed West to the Midland Retriever Working Test. Cows chewing the cud in buttercup meadows, a cloudless blue sky and not a whisper of a breeze. All boded well for a perfect day.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Summer circuit of working tests is that they are generally held in the most hidden places of Ireland. Off the beaten track and down country lanes to places only the locals know of. Today was one of those days. For most of my life I have passed through Mullingar on my way to the West. I never imagined such a jewel as Lough Ennell was practically on my doorstep, less than an hour from my home.
Today I had travelled with four chesapeakes. I was competing with Mossy in Novice and Bertie in Advanced and had also taken Uisce along for socialisation and Winnie as company. I arrived into the grounds early enough to take the girls and Bertie for a long walk before the competition began. It gave Uisce the opportunity to explore waterfalls for the first time, meet an array of dogs and people of all sorts and sizes as the venue Belvedere House is open to the public and the sunny day had brought forth families, runners and dogs in abundance. She loved it and was a tired, happy puppy when I put her back in the trailer to focus on Mossy.

I have long given up getting nervous before a working test. It's pointless. I have no control over the type of tests set up by the judges. I know exactly what stage and level my own dogs are at in their training and I use working tests as a method of challenging them and seeing what else needs to be worked on. If we are lucky enough to bring home a ribbon its a bonus, but my main focus is how my own dog handles the challenge of a difficult retrieve in relation to how I have trained him. The type of tests I enjoy most are the ones where some thought and imagination has gone into the set up. This stretches all dogs and, I feel, if my dogs get through them, win, lose or draw they have done a good job.
The first test in novice was a long single mark with a jump. A two dog line up. A nice way to settle young dogs in line. I had only bought a roll of the famous orange barrier tape last week and had put the dogs over it once. So I suspected Mossy may run the fence as it was easy for him to see a way round. He did, but I was happy he ran the distance to the mark, showing he has overcome a problem he had last year of marking short. Today was not the day to school him about jumps, that was for the next training session. On to the water test. Again a single long mark approximately one hundred meters in open water. The temptation here, for most dogs, was to run the bank for which they would lose marks. Mossy completed the long swim with ease. On then to the last retrieve, a mark from cover. Dogs were taken in pairs and the retrieve was up a hill into heavy bushes. He sat steady, and quietly went when asked, just needed handling onto it.
Advanced tests started in the afternoon. This was Bertie's first working test since I had taken him to the mock walk up in Enniskillen last March. I was delighted to find that in the walk up on the first retrieve he settled in the lineup and sat quietly until sent. First test completed with ease. The second retrieve was a tricky blind in deep cover. There was no track for the dogs to follow until the point where the blind was laid. If you didn't manage to stop your dog before the flag they pulled towards the path and disappeared in the woods. There was very little vision to play with for handling. Bertie pulled left, I had to whistle him back in view push him back and hunt up..got it!
The last retrieve was the water test and it was was proving to be the undoing of most dogs. It was a blind set on an island with a diversion thrown from the shore. If the dog ran the shore they would pick the diversion which was not to be touched. So you had to cast the dog straight into open water between a line of rushes then, once clear of the rushes, cast left towards the island which was two hundred meters away. It required a dog to handle well in water and up until this Summer it would have been the weakest point in my dogs' training. It was a pure joy to watch Bertie take on this challenge, ignoring the diversion and taking direction out in the water. He made it to the island and hunted. Unfortunately when he pulled left on the island he slipped into the water among the rushes and gaining no scent headed for the diversion. With no vision to direct him he came to shore. A good effort but, as the judge told me, handler error. I should have held him in a tighter pattern on the island something I will not forget in future.

I always think of the day as a success when I come away more motivated and hungry for further training with my dogs. The summer sessions training along the lake are begining to pay off and my more diligent approach to heelwork and steadiness is working. The bonus is that both dogs have retained their pace and style, something I was concerned would go once the pressure of advanced training commenced.

Remembering Breeze- grieving the loss of a young dog..

In my minds eye I can still see her. Trotting along the tramlines in front of me in the cornfield behind the house. I can feel her still warm fur when I buried my head in her coat that afternoon at the vets. Her gaze, the particular markings on her coat and her bark have all been engrained in my memory.
Breeze was born on January 16th 2011. I had planned this litter for a long time. Believing it to be Winnie's last litter I looked around for a very special dog. A dog that would bring the unique package of temperament, trainability and good looks.I found it in Gunner.
After a lot of correspondence and mountains of paperwork  between the repro centers in the US and here in Ireland and the dept of Agriculture and Customs the semen landed safely in Tipperary.
Winnie came in to season  a few months later and by five weeks post AI it was obvious she was pregnant. I was ecstatic,I could hardly believe it had worked. All the time, effort and stress worrying about paperwork, whether the straws would get damaged in transit etc..was worth it. Especially when I saw those four tiny puppies for the first time.

Just one bitch with her three brothers.One bitch was all I'd ever wanted from this litter. She was to be my little piece of Winnie and I don't know whether it was because I knew, right from the start, that she would be staying with me or just because she was what I was looking for either way I fell for her the moment I met her.
 Just like most girls who grow up with brothers Breeze was more than able to hold her own in the litter. Her brothers were a very relaxed trio and let her have her way, most of the time.She was the biggest in the litter at birth with the boys catching up once they were weaned.
The Summer arrived and Breeze was growing into a beautiful active young dog with an inquisitive mind. She was soft and gentle around Elly quite happily following her around the garden.She mixed easily with any dog that came to visit and stay..large or small.Like her mother she discovered her love of water and nothing pleased her more than wading through the waves at Julianstown beach.
In July we travelled to the annual CBRC club show . It was her first time to travel such long distances and she took it in her stride, relishing the long beach runs and country walks that are in abundant supply in the UK. On that occasion she was just short of six months , too young to compete at the show but she enjoyed the attention she got while sitting ringside.
In late August we took another trip across the water. This time to South Wales.It was a double weekend. We were to compete at a working event on the Saturday and attend the WKC championship show on the Sunday.It was a weekend that surpassed all my expectations. Breeze's mother, Winnie and her half brother , Bertie had a phenomenol day by passing all three levels of WD, WDX and WDQ in one day. The next day Breeze made her show debut and at her very first show she won Best puppy in breed, her mother won RCC and her half brother Mossy won his first CC and BOB! It was a weekend we will treasure for a long time and never forget.
Then things took a strange turn. At first I thought it was a once off.. Breeze got sick.
She came in from the garden one evening in early September. I thought there was an odd sound coming form her throat. She didn't seem unduly distressed, no panting or coughing. I felt along her trachea and sure enough there was a definite lump. My first thoughts were that she'd been chewing sticks, she was just at that age. I took her into the vets that evening and like me the vet could feel the lump but wasn't particularly concerned as Breeze wasn't showing any signs of distress. She kept her in to sedate her and have a closer look at the lump.
A couple of hours later I received a phone call from the vets with news I was not expecting. Breeze had been sedated but the swelling, whatever it was, had closed around her larynx and prevented them from getting an airway..thankfully on this occasion the vet had much ecperience in anaesthetics and was eventually able to pass a tube meant for a cat down past the swelling . She was given antihistamines, steroids and antibiotics and kept for observation overnight. The lump never showed up to be anything conclusive. We assumed it to be a wasp sting as she's been eating apples in the orchard and the wasps had been particularly aggressive last Summer. In the weeks that followed and right up until her death nothing conclusive ever showed up. Apart from a very slight rise in her white cell count and a low grade temperature until the final hours before her death she gave absolutely no indication as to how sick she really was.

I have grown up with dogs and loved and lost many through out my life. Just the previous February I had lost my beautiful hunting companion Ria at the age of ten years old and even though I grieved her loss I could look back on her life and know she'd had a full and happy one but Breeze's death affected me more than any other dog I'd ever lost.I went through the full rigours of grief. Questioning myself again and again as to whether I'd done enough. Could I , should I have spotted something earlier. I was angry at the junior vet for being so dismissive. I felt that I had let Breeze down by not doing the best by her but most of all I just missed her. The hardest thing in the weeks and months that followed was moving forward as everything in the near and distant future had my plans for Breeze worked into it.
I remember going to the first show I had entered just a couple of weeks after she died. Opening up the letter with her number and name on it was one of the most difficult things I'd had to do. I wore her number that day, under Mossy's. I remember bursting into tears when an aquaintance asked me how the puppies were doing. Poor girl didn't know what to do..I've apologised since.
It got easier  after that to hide my grief  reserving it for quiet times .
Time is a great healer and life has a funny way of dragging you along with it. Sometimes, rather reluctantly. Winnie came into season . Des and I then had to make one of the most difficult decisions we've ever had to make regarding the dogs. This bitch who had given us so much in her life could we ask her one more time to produce a litter of puppies? It wasn't that she wasn't fit and able it was more to do with the fact that after losing two dogs in one year we were terrified of losing Winnie also.We also knew this would be her last oppurtunity to have a litter of puppies and the thoughts of letting that pass and later regretting it made our decision for us.
And so the story has come full circle. The last of the C litter puppies goes to his new home tomorrow and we have been blessed with a beautiful little girl puppy whom we've called 'Uisce' meaning water.
My memories of Breeze are still fresh and sometimes she floats across my mind so unexpectadly it makes me catch my breath.I wonder what she'd be like now. How she'd have gotten through her first Winter as a working dog and how she'd have developed as a show dog. I still miss her but my memory of her is very specific to her and I am grateful that Uisce , so far, is very different .I'm looking forward now to sharing a whole new set of adventures with her.

Will the 'Real Working Gundog' please stand up...

Apparently I've been deluding myself into believing that my chesapeakes are 'working gundogs'. You see, this morning I made a phonecall to a magazine Editor. It was a follow-up call to an email I'd sent in last month when I was looking for feedback on my blog.
 His lack of interest was due to the fact that although my dogs work and compete at advanced level in working tests they do not field trial and as such, in his mind, nobody would be interested. Oh, and there was too much emphasis on their show ring success in my writing..
It does make me wonder what I've been spending my Winters doing for that last decade.  All those days picking up on two shoots when my dogs have come home bloodied and torn and brought countless birds back to the game cart. The day when my winning Crufts dog  covered four guns on the lakeshore in freezing conditions and entered the water again and again to retrieve every bird shot bar one.Afternoons' roughshooting when they will track and trail a runner and return only when it is found. I have taken my dogs as the sweeping up team after a trial when their 'Field trial stars' took the podium for honours while the 'Hunting handmaidens' searched and found what was left behind.

When I started writing this blog in January it was to open peoples' minds to the fact that there are real working gundogs throughout the shooting world that can also hold their own in the conformation ring..  On a level playing field  ie. the real working field, any one of the Minority Retrieving breeds can match the Labrador for Gamefinding and retrieving ability. When you strip away the finer points of Field trialling each of these noble breeds can stand alone and be counted. They are all trainable, maybe not to the nth degree that Field trialling requires , but more than enough to achieve the balance between a dog able to use its own inititive and a dog unable to locate a bird unless whistled directly to it.

As a person who both actively works and shows her dogs I have seen more prejudice against dogs that show from people in the working field; than I have from people in the showring to dogs that work.
I hope , for the sake of the future of our Retrieving breeds, that the attitude of the Editor I spoke to this morning does not reflect the attitude of Shooting people in general.It is equally important that our Gundogs retain their conformation in order to fulfill the working role they were bred for. Working ability alone is not good for the health of any breed.
It was my first rejection, it stung a little..but I am grateful for his feedback.

Mossy wins his 3rd CC and starts his Working test season

I took the ferry from larne to cairnryan last week. The trip was to be a short one with two functions. The first was to deliver one of the little girl puppies to her new owners . The second was to compete at SKC championship show with Mossy.
The little girl puppy had a long journey ahead of her. A further four trip north of Inverness after I met her owners in Edinburgh. She coped well, no travel sickness, had a pee everytime we stopped and just some minor objections when she was put back in the crate after which she'd settle down to sleep.
We could be forgiven for thinking it was mid winter when we arrived at the hotel. Driving rain and a biting East wind greeted us.Puppy handed over safely, I left my Mum and Elly in the comfort of our room and went down to excercise Mossy. With no sign of the rain lifting I made the decision to book Mossy into the room for the night as I knew I wouldn't be able to air him sufficiently .He settled better than Elly did!!
Next morning showed no sign of the weather improving. Chesapeakes were not first in the ring so we took advantage of the lie-in, heard my friends with their Goldens leaving at cock crow, and had a leisurly breakfast at the hotel before heading to the showgrounds. How happy were we when we were directed to the indoor rings.
It was well into the afternoon before the Chessies were judged. Breed judge was Mrs Zena Thorn Andrews, a well respected International Judge..it was lovely to see plenty of new puppies in both the dog and bitch classes. Mossy behaved himself, did everything I asked of him and most importantly enjoyed himself. He won Dog CC, his 3rd and BOB.Unless we're tight for time to catch a ferry I always like to stay for Group judging. Out of respect for the judge who has awarded my dog BOB but also just to represent the breed. It's not about group placings at this level as most judges will have a natural tendency towards breeds they like . It's always just an honour to be there. We didn't have a long wait for group judging to start but made sure we layered up again as the group ring was outdoors.
It is the journey back on the Scottish trips that I always find hardest. That last drive down the Belfast to
Dulin motorway is hard!
I am so proud of my young boy. He's only just turned four years old and I feel he has a lot more to come.
We ventured forth again on Sunday to our first WT of the season. Just Mossy and me. I wish I could say it was a fairytale ending and we wiped the floor, if only..he did, however, put in a creditable peformance . He sat steady in line, was quiet and completed all his retrieves bar one.Onwards and upwards.

Dipping a toe into Dog Show Judging

I had the rare pleasure of judging at a Golden Retriever match , last week, in the beautiful grounds of Holycross Abbey. It's not often I have the oppurtunity to stand at the other end of the leash and I think it gives me more perspective as a handler into how difficult, sometimes, judging dogs can be.
There are things you see from the center of the ring that are often invisible to anyone else except the judge but can make or break your decision between putting one dog in front of the other.
My final selection came down to two bitches. Both very different in type and both , possibly, making it to the final two dogs for different reasons... the overall winning bitch presented the complete picture , in my head, of what a Golden Retriever should be..all the right angles in all the right places, strong but still holding that feminine outline and a head and expression to die for.
I have judged a few times now and although I appreciate and can admire a dog that is carefully stacked and presented I feel that I am a person who will inevitably judge  dogs on movement. More than coat, head, tailset and expression I feel that if a dog is made correctly it will all come together on the move . When I asked them to go around for the final time both bitches were faultless...those lovely flowing lines, front and rear moving in symmetry to hold a topline that was poetry in motion..each footfall perfect. At this point with two dogs so equal the final decision, I feel, comes down to the individual dog/bitch...which one wants it more?
Many times over the past few years I have listened to people bemoan the fact that their dog should have won the challenge as they were the better dog/bitch.However, I feel when it gets to that point in the competition there has to be something that gives the eventual winner more of an edge and it has to be something more than just good movement. I like to see some sparkle , something that says 'hey, look at me' . So as I watched them take their final turn around the ring that afternoon she had it. I could feel it as I watched her..that imperceptible thrill and pure enjoyment coming from her as she moved around that small country hall.

Puppy rearing cont'd

10th May.
The puppies are now seven weeks old. We're now in the final stretch of preparing them for their new homes. They've been microchipped and vet checked at six weeks. Paperwork submitted to the kennel Club. Wormed every two weeks since they were two weeks old. Fed high quality food to ensure equal growth on those developing joints, exposed to as wide a variety of people, noises, smells and objects that is possible to fit into their short lives so far and showered with endless hugs and cuddles which they reciprocate with the eagerness and openess that only a puppy knows how to do.
 Puppy rearing, when done properly, may not reap much financial reward but the emotional reward of raising a group of happy, healthy little bundles of brown fur is immeasurable. When eight weeks comes and they are passed to their new owners, I always feel a slight anxiety..I have watched these little creatures on their journey into the world for the last eight weeks,seen their individual personalities emerge and tried my best to fit them with their perspective owners so that a lifelong partnership will endure and grow.
I have spoken before about how different this litter have been in comparison to the last one. Even though they are effectively 2 halves of the same litter. Both as a result of semen I imported from the US to use on Winnie.Everything from personalities to conformation and dyanmics within the litter is different.Last time there was never a clearly dominant puppy within the litter. This time there definitely is. The activity and busyness in this litter is much more pronounced than last time round also.

Genetics and the variety it can thow up are truly fascinating. But how much of the differences I'm seeing are also due to environmental influences ? Nature v Nurture ?

Requirements for Summer Gundog Training..

1 x dog whistle
3 or more canvas dummies
1 x car jack ( handle optional )
1 x tow-rope
1 x hefty man ( 2 an advantage )
1 x super-strength midgy spray

Time allocated to gundog training = 1 hour
Time allocated to pushing, pulling, digging, lifting and towing friend's van out of a boghole!!! = 2 hours
Time allocated to midgy attack!!! = 3 hours

You can bring a dog to water but....

An invitation yesterday evening to join some friends (Lab men... ), along the shores of Lough Ennell, for some training was an oppurtunity I just could not pass up.
Water work, in respect to Working tests, can be a blessing or a curse. When prepared for properly, it can be a real asset if all the land tests have not been challenging enough to spread the dogs.
Water, however, brings with it a WHOLE set of other  challenges that land work never seems to present.
This was certainly something I had noticed repeatedly last Summer as I trapsed around the working test circuit. Time and again dogs that had performed well throughout the day on the various land retrieves, threw it all away when it came to the water. I then began to notice a pattern or was it merely coincidence? The dogs that performed consistently well on water were generally owned by handlers who trained along the lakes in the Midlands and Cavan. With that in mind I knew that I needed to devote a lot of time this summer, to some serious waterwork.
So when I joined them yesterday evening there were MANY, many aspects I wanted to work on. Everyone who's ever owned a Chesapeake can attest to their absolute passion for water, but they will also agree, that if there is a problem pertaining to water training a Chesapeake will find it!! There is also a lack of lakes in the beautiful pastureland of County Meath. Most of my waterwork, up until now, has been on and across rivers. Great for teaching a dog to mark with changing ground elevation and to come back the same way you sent them but not so good for teaching them to look out on water for a retrieve, swim long distances in open stretches of water and cope with diversions such as swans...
One of the things I've loved about Bertie since he's been a puppy is his absolute desire to retrieve anything. It doesn't matter if its a milk carton, a dummy or a bird his sole purpose for existence is to retrieve the object you've sent him for. It's meant that he's been able to cope with training as pressure has been applied which in turn has kept his momentum and drive that sometimes disappears when the rough edges are knoocked off a young dog in training. However, the converse of this is that he has learnt to count in line and he knows when the dog next to him is on his return, he's next up..it's a phenomenon called 'creeping' and it's proving to be a very difficult problem to correct. So, again, this was another reason why I was anxious to avail of some serious waterwork sessions this Summer as I feel if I can control him in a water line up, where he is at his most keen, then the rest will follow..
The session started off with him as I expected. He was giddy and keen to retrieve every dummy thrown  even when not for him! No running in, just lifting and shifting after each retrieve. However, after an intense two hour session involving some complicated retrieves on both land and water he had relaxed and settled in line. I know the problem is not fixed but am happy that it is fixable and with regular session work over the coming months who knows .. he finished with a two hundred yard swim between two headlands for a blind retrieve, ignored the two swans that were calmly bobbing in the shelter of the bay and swam back rather than running the shoreline. Happy times:)



.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

Working towards start of Working test season.

April 17th.
It was so good to get back out training this morning after a two week lay off. School holidays, the flu and massive numbers of dog boarders conspired to ensure that training was way down the list of priorities.
Our training group that had started off with so much promise in February has fizzled to just two.  Training ground is now also becoming increasingly difficult to find as the full throttle of Spring farming has pushed forward. Livestock are out and crops are planted.
This morning we headed to the peace and quiet of Oristown Bog. On the surface this ground has everything required to test a dog's marking skills... wide open areas,a mixture of short and lightish cover backed by Birch trees.It is uneven underfoot so what appears to be a straight line means a dog has to constantly readjust it's perspective while aiming for a retrieve.There is almost always a crosswind which helps draw the dog in.
It is not great ground for blind work training as  the uneven ground lends itself too much to a dog going off line..which in turn means more whistle work is needed. I find if I overwhistle and handle my dogs, (this observation purely applies to  my chessies), when doing blindwork training they lose confidence and shut down very quickly.  So although we mixed a few short blinds into the training session today, the main emphasis was on Marks and Memories.
 I spoke earlier in the year of my plans to reverse the roles of Mossy and Bertie this Summer. Bertie is entered in his first Championship show in early May. Mossy's training has been progressing steadily and I would hope to have him ready to compete at a working test by the end of May.
The most difficult aspect to train for is steadiness in line as, at the moment, there are only two of us training together. Last year I tended to use the Working tests as an opportunity to show up any weaknesses in training.It had its limitations as you really don't have the same level of control at a working test to correct a problem as you do in training.
 So although I would liked to have had my working test season well under way by now I find I've been holding back until the longer evenings allow me the opportunity to join a group training on the Cavan lakes.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

..the Puppy-Picking Puzzle...

...and then  from around twelve days their eyes open,  they begin to hear and move around on all fours. This is the time I enjoy the most. Its amazing too to watch how Winnie now manages them. She spends more time away . Sleeps outside the whelping box and staggers the feeds to a more structured timetable rather than on demand.My job gets harder as now weaning begins.Cleaning up  and more emphasis on socialising and exposure to all sorts of sights and sounds becomes part of their everyday life.
I've been watching them for 3 weeks now and the science and art of puppy picking never gets any easier but is still such a  brilliant excuse for time wasting. Hours and hours of puppy gazing and I never tire of it.I change my mind a hundred times or more in my decision as to which girl I'll keep.

 In the end I know it'll be the one I originally was drawn to. As I believe that in spite of studying all the puppy puzzle books and listening to the science of picking at six hours, six weeks ,six months etc. ..there is something unquantifiable and unmeasurable that draws me in that final choice. It's the thing that you search for when judging a line up of dogs in the show ring. You may only feel it for a second but it makes your heart skip and no matter how many times you look back over that line of dogs your eye is drawn to that one.That is what I base my final decision on in the puppy-picking puzzle..

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

Do all retrievers have the same basic traits?

The only common trait, in my mind, among the retriever breeds is that they were all developed to retrieve. After this their paths deviate greatly. They all originated in different contries and even continents . They all have a  different selection of foundation breeds in their backgrounds.Do many people have a stereotypical idea of how a retiever, regardless of breed, should behave?

I think it's fair to say that before I had a Chesapeake I had very little experience with gundogs of any sort. I grew up with terriers and greyhounds, both are breeds left very much to their own devices. Working them merely involves bringing them to a location where rabbits, hares or any quarry are to be found and letting them get on with the job.

My first dog as an adult was a Golden Retriever who's still pottering around at 13. Bailey was one of those dogs who simply accepted and did anything you asked him to do. He  never suffered any adolescent 'angst'. I think the most rebellious thing he's ever done is dig up a rosebush :) he applied himself to agility, obedience and made a fairly useful gundog even winning a few prizes in working tests.

Chester, our first Chesapeake now just over 10 years old, was to be our first real introduction into gundog competitions. Looking back now I think we both truly believed we were bringing home a wavy coated chocolate labrador, with a temperament similar to the Chocolate Labs that Des had grown up with. We expected the usual puppy problems that go along with teething. The digging of the garden etc..but he seemed much more independent at an earlier age than Bailey (our Goldie) ever was. He was quite happy to wander off and go hunting by himself. It was normal on walks for Chester to be plodding along by my side then to suddenly take off after an errant scent, through a ditch and be gone for ten minutes or more. No amount of whistling, calling or cajoling would make any difference. He would return, tongue hanging and be perfectly biddable again...until the next time that was!! There were other differences also ..he showed little interest in dummies..would race out to them, sniff then walk off. I was completely exasperated and confused. This was not what a retriever was supposed to do. In my mind a retriever should want to retrieve anything. He was birdy..spent his whole time following up on scents of all sorts but ask him to retrieve something I wanted (other than a bird) and that was a whole different ball game.

I took him to Gundog training that first Summer. Alas it did nothing to alter Chester's attitude to dummies. One of the first evenings we were there, the 'dummy thrower' felt Chester wasn't returning to me fast enough and threw the bag of dummies at him!! This only had the effect of Chester dropping the dummy and, for a long time afterwards, when at a working test, once he got in view of the dummy thrower he refused to go for the retrieve.

Of course it wasn't just Working tests that Chester differed (from what we thought a retriever should be like)..He was more protective of his own patch and altogether much more male than Bailey ever was. He very quickly, once adolescence hit home, asserted himself as top dog. Something Bailey was quite happy to relinquish. He was stand-offish with strangers..not everyone's friend like you expect a retriever to be but once he got to know you he was marshmallow in your hand..
In those few short years Chester rewrote the rule book for us with regards to how a retriever should behave.

He absolutley lived for hunting. I have seen him tip-toe over brambles to pick up a dummy at a working test but crawl on his belly under thick brambles until his eyelids and nose are ripped to shreds in pursuit of a pheasant. I have watched in exasperation as he pussyfoots around the edge of a pond before he retrieves a dummy at a working test but had my heart in my mouth when he plunged into a raging river and was swept out of sight after a wounded duck (he made it back ..with the duck)
I guess somewhere along the way our minds were opened to the fact that all retrievers are different. As it turned out I quite liked the challenges Chester presented me with. There was no greater leveller of humility than competing with him at working tests! He got his game together during hunting season and that to me, was much more important. And once the first flush of testosterone settled in his system he is actually a very laid back chesapeake.
We were helped greatly by our regular trips to the UK to attend Chessie events run by the UK Chesapeake Bay Retriever Club.
It was these trips and meeting fellow Chesapeake owners that taught us more than anything that our Chesapeake was trainable it was simply a matter of applying a more open minded approach. Of course in my frustration a lot of the time I forgot the one core ingredient in Chesapeake training PRAISE!! This is a breed that trains better with affirmation as opposed to negation. Chester went on to win the Spring Open CBRC Working Test in 2006.

I like to think of the retriever group very much like a classroom. The labrador is the one at the top of the class, sitting in front of the teacher, that accepts without question everthing the teacher says. The flatcoat is the one throwing the paperclips across the classroom behind the teacher's back but clever enough to apply himself when called upon. The chesapeake is the one that questions everything the teacher says. When they have argued every point and understand it thoroughly then they will accept and respect the teacher's word.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

Everything kicked off last Tuesday. Winnie started digging. Just sporadically at first steadily building in determination and intensity. By Friday morning she was more than half way to Australia:).
 I had waited for this day with a mixture of excitement and anxiety since last January. The anxiety, perhaps , was a hangover from the loss of Breeze last October. Something like labour would not have cost me a thought a year ago especially as I am a trained midwife.Now,I fretted and worried over everything so I thought it best to remove myself in the early stages, go for coffee and leave Winnie in peace.
I need not have worried, true to form Winnie handled everything with the style and aplomb she has coped with everything in life.. dogged determination.By 7pm on Friday evening she was again proud mum to four beautiful puppies.
 This time the mix is split equally between the sexes . Amazingly, although it is a repeat of the last breeding, they are  very different . The biggest is a bitch and the smallest a dog but all weighing in at a healthy 400-450grams. I have to say I was somewhat relieved to see that neither of the bitches look like Breeze as I really don't want to have this little girl puppy  live in her shadow.

Now  3 days on they continue to thrive gaining weight steadily and feeding with gusto. Winnie has been a good mother to her previous litters and is proving to be again. She has the right mix of concern and attentiveness balanced with the sense to allow certain human visitors close but not too close. She generally stays bound to the whelping box for the first 4 days only coming out to toilet and then returning quickly, does a head count and settles back in  . After this initial period she relaxes her guard to lie outside the box and slowly extends her leave as the puppies get stronger but will continue to clean up after them and stand for feeding right up until 8 week,if allowed.
I am thoroughly looking forward to the next 8 weeks. I generally only breed a litter of puppies to bring a dog on for myself ,which is normally about every 3 years. What had sprung from devastation last year, following Breeze's death, has turned into a tiny miracle for which I am truly thankful.
Well done to my beautiful Winnie.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

Over the last few days I have been a distant obeserver on a forum where the interminable debate of whether Field trial versus Showbred gundogs are doing the greatest service to their respective breeds.
My dogs have been mentioned on several occasions, (not by me), being held up as examples of a truly dual purpose dog. This is something I am a little uncomfortable with as I don't Field Trial, I merely work my dogs in the Winter months and to many purists this does not qualify a dog to the title 'Dual Purpose'.
I have owned and loved chesapeakes for a mere 10 years. In that time they have taken me on the most wonderful adventures. This is by virtue of the fact that they are one of the few breeds left in the gundog world that still tread a steady path between the world of working and show gundogs whilst dipping a toe every now and then in to the field trial world.
I have stood in line twice in a field trial and not gotten past the first round, which requires the dogs to remain steady and quiet...they both failed on the quiet part :). It was most likely, at this point that I had to make a decision whether or not I would drive me and my dogs insane and insist that we continue to try and compete at FT level, leave the breed entirely and pursue success in FT's with a Lab, or enjoy my dogs for what they are best at and what they truly live and breathe for- WORK!
I chose the latter.
Don't get me wrong I have complete and total respect for the Field Trial Lab and the level they can be trained up to. Their complete focus and maturity at a young age and ability to take huge pressure  in training is remarkable and can only be admired. Although their conformation does not always aspire to what one might expect a Labrador to look like, I can completely understand that if you want to compete at the top in FT's today, then your number one prioity is going to be the trainability of the dog and not always their conformation. This is where the Labrador is King.
Chesapeakes suit me.There is a lot in their personality that I can identify with. They take a while, like me, to warm up to strangers and I love that slightly independent streak. They are quite happy to mix with other dogs as long as their own 'personal space' is respected. Unlike the Lab who will work for anyone or the Goldie who will share a picnic blanket with multiple other dogs, the Chesapeake will choose his master carefully and even within his household will build an alliance with the person he prefers and based on mutual respect.
I have said this before, one of the things I love most about this breed is their utter versatility. I love the fact that we can still take our dogs from the field one day and into the show ring the next. I think we have managed, as guardians of our breed and by taking that middle road to keep the form of our Breed to match its Function. We still value that wonderful double coat and its texture, something that's reputedly being lost in the FT lab. We are conscious that  enough length and depth of muzzle is needed to carry a goose. A sound moving dog is an absolute necessity in the field and harshly penalised if not found in the show ring.  Some may criticise that conformation plays too much of a hand in the modern Chesapeake to the detriment of making them truly competitive in Field Trials. However, I take pride in the fact that many of the Chesapeake breeders in the UK actively work their dogs throughout the Winter season.
Yes, Field Trials are wonderful and require a unique set of skills that is hard to match outside of select Field trial breeding but they cannot now be used as a measure of what is required on an average shooting day. Just as the pendulum has swung too far right for many Show dogs it has swung too far left for the Field Trial dog. I have yet to see a Field Trial dog, actively competing in the FT circuit, being 'allowed ' to participate fully as a member of the picking up team. Now, before everyone throws in their rattle, let me follow this statement by saying that I have absolutly no problem with anyone taking their young FT prodigy to a shoot to allow it exposure to gun shot and game. What I do have a problem with is that  the value of the work done and carried out by the average picking up dog  is often not appreciated by those who field trial .
It is my opinion that the average working day on a shoot levels out the playing field across the gundog spectrum. This is because dogs are required to be cut loose from the shackles of the whistle and use those talents they were born with..nose, eyes, initiative and desire to work.
I hope, for the sake of our breed, that we continue to be a 'Jack of all trades', and tread that steady path between Field Trials and Show ring.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

When the dust settles...

It's the 3rd of March and , at last, after all the preparations in the preceding weeks the Working test and Show season is upon us.
We head North, this morning, across the border to County Fermanagh to attend a 'mock field trial' organised by the Ballygowan wildfowling club.I have never had the opportunity to compete in this type of event before but know it will involve walk ups. A lot of steadiness and patience will be required on the part of Bertie.
This is a discipline, I think, that Chesapeakes struggle with. Originally bred as a single wildfowler's dog they were expected to find and collect all game shot by their owner. A lot of our breed still work within this area and are expert at what they do. Most of the dogs currently in the UK and Ireland are still only one or two generations removed from American breeding stock as such finding a dog 'designed' to work on a driven shoot on this side of the Atlantic is not always easy.
Fourteen dogs entered. Thirteen labs and one chesapeake. We were driven up hills and down lanes to the edge of a bog. The bog was about 200yds wide and stretched to infinity.. Ground underfoot was pock marked with bogholes and crevasses and areas that looked sound were bogholes covered with moss.It was going to be testing.
The dogs were to be split between the 2 judges. One took the even numbers and the other the odd numbers . The even numbered dogs walking up the right hand side and the remaining dogs taking the left hand side. We set off. It was run as a 2 dog line up on each side with each dog rotating out once they had their retrieve. This meant that every dog was guaranteed a minimum of 4 retrieves before a decision was made on run offs. It also meant that as the line was continually moving forward the dogs behind were obliged to follow. For me, this was an added bonus as it gave me more oppurtunities to stop and sit Bertie each time a shot was fired.
It became apparent to me very early on that I will have to concentrate on line manners over the coming weeks. Bertie is steady in line but is tending to pull ahead on a walk up and so when shot is fired  he's taking a second longer to stop. On his first retrieve he took a perfect line to the fall acknowledged it and hunted on, I handled him onto it again and he blinked it. I was confused. This, I had not foreseen as he had been marking superbly in training. Second retrieve, exact same thing. Took a perfect line, acknowledged it and hunted on. Someone suggested he may be hunting snipe, of which there was a plentiful supply on the bog and as it was his first competition following on from the working season it was a possibility. So after the second failed retrieve I took a dummy and got Des to throw it a few times at varying distances. Then third retrieve, fourth retieve and fifth retrieve, which was a cross over ,were faultless.
We broke for lunch at 1pm where homemade soup and rolls were kindly provided by the club and much appreciated.
The afternoon was originally supposed to be confined to top dogs only but because so few dogs had entered everyone was to be given an oppurtunity on a blind retrieve. Thanks here has to be given to Mr Wayne Carlisle who had been on the bog at 6.30am and laid no less than 28 blinds at varying spots throughout the bog. They were laid in a similar pattern to the way birds would be found following a drive. The same format was used as in the morning's excercise with a 2 dog line up and rotating as the walk up progressed. Bertie followed a dog that had been called up and I made the fatal error of allowing him take the same line as the previous dog instead of over correcting. He got his retrieve but it was the wrong bird :)  Lots to work on but also lots I was happy with.
 I found the day really well run, a lovely atmosphere and the judges open and helpful with their advice and guidance.

March 5th.
Happy Birthday Chester!
Ten years young today and what a wonderful adventure you started for us when we collected you from Wales almost 10years ago.

Bright and early this morning a special guest srrived at our home. Gerlinde, had travelled all the way from Austria, by car, with her 3 Chessies and a lab. She had contacted me towards the end of last year through the wonderful medium of Facebook and asked if it would be possible to come visit and travel on with us to Crufts. It's going to be a busy week, with final preparations for Crufts and organising the dogs that are staying home.
Winnie has picked up something in her front paw. A massive hole where it has entered and despite bathing it with hibiscrub over the weekend it is not improving. I had hoped to avoid a trip to the vet at this stage of her pregnancy but now it looks inevitable.
Saw Paul, the vet, at 2pm. He lanced the pad and  put her on 5 days of antibiotics.
Last ring craft class this evening and I took Gerlinde along to watch . I'm happy now with the improvement I've seen in Mossy over the last few weeks. The classes have been hugely beneficial. Structured in such a way that your dog stands for exam a minimum of 6 times in the hour. I feel more confident about how he'll behave on Friday.

March 6th
Took Gerlinde and her dogs to the beach this morning. Needed to get one more swim in with Mossy before we set off on Thursday. Being from Austria Gerlinde doesn't often get the chance to enjoy a beach and it was lovely to see her young bitch Lilu has no inhibitions crashing through waves. In the afternoon we took Bertie and Gerlinde's bitch, Bella, to the Hill of Tara to do some training. I was impressed with Bella's speed and handling ability and hope Bertie will get to that level in the next couple of years.
Did some mirror work with Mossy, brushed his teeth and trimmed his nails.

March 7th.
Happy Birthday Gerlinde!!
Last push to get everything ready for travelling tomorrow. I dropped Bertie to kennels and Bailey, Zoe and Lucky to my mum. With Winnie being as far on in her pregnancy as she is I didn't want any extra stress. She is staying home with Chester and my sister, Ann, is moving in.
A quick run to the shops to pick up last minute supplies for travelling and then spent the afternoon packing.
Of course all visitors to Ireland have to sample the obligitory pint of Guinness and Gerlinde was no exception. Before dinner we took her to The Snailbox pub, best draught Guinness in the area.
Tomorrow we travel, with hope but never expectation.

March 8th
Dawn was just creeping in when we left the house this morning. The ferry left Dublin port at 8.05am. we met up with friends Orlagh and Ruth, both Goldie Girls,and enjoyed a very smooth 4 hour crossing to Holyhead. We travel this road at least 4 times a year and by now have a tried and tested formula. Once clear of the port we drive for about 30 minutes to junction 17. We pull in to the car park and unload the dogs. When you climb over the sand dunes the most fantastic deserted beach stretches out before you. It's such a wonderful place to allow the dogs to run and stretch their legs after the ferry crossing.

March 9th
An early start once more as we pointed the car towards the NEC and Crufts.
This year I was at my most relaxed ever entering the competition. Mossy is still a very young dog by Open Dog standards so I would be happy if he remembered the lessons we'd worked on in the previous weeks and moved well. He has a real appetite for showing and nothing phases him in the ring. His biggest fault, so far, has been an over- abundance of enthusiasm something I plan to reign in  this year. The Open Dog Class had a very strong line up with dogs travelling from all over the world.
He did everything I asked and more. He won his class and went on to win Best Dog and his 2nd CC beaten for BOB by a beautiful young bitch called Lila.
At 1.30pm we were standing in the Gamekeepers ring. This is a competition, separate to Crufts. Any dogs entered have to have a signed form from the Gamekeeper to say their dog works on the shoot.Out of a class of 28 dogs and bitches Mossy finished 4th!!
Yes, Crufts this year exceeded all my expectations. We returned home on Saturday 10th very, very tired but very,very happy.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

To bath a Chesapeake or No???

28th February.
Of Course, technically chesapeakes are a 'wash and wear breed'. The coat requiring no major work or preparation before going into the show ring. One of the great beauties of owning this breed is that you can , and I have done it, work or compete with your dog in a working test on the Saturday and enter the showring on the Sunday.
That being said, I think it is a courtesy to any person who is going to have their hands on your dog in the coming months that your dog is at least clean....even sheep, cattle and goats are shampooed before being shown!!
We are now ten days out from Crufts and this is about the length of time away from a competition I like to shampoo my dogs. It allows the coat time to regain its texture as any shampoo will soften the coat. Mossy will continue to swim in the sea over the next week so the salt water will help regain the coat texture.
This evening we attended ring craft at Cloghran. It's a completely different environment from the classes we've been attending for the last few weeks. Cloghran is the National Show Center for the Irish Kennel Club so it's a huge building with lots of echoing and banging . A brilliant place to desensitise your dog to noise as its large enough to take your dog and work him on his own.
29th February
At last, after more than six weeks I collected Mossy's passport from the vets this afternoon.
1st March
The old saying 'March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb', certainly didn't hold true today. It has been one of those perfect Spring days. A pleasant 14 celcius with the added bonus of sunshine. I cut my lawns for the first time this year, the chickens started laying again after a long, long holiday and the frogs are busy making out in the pond.
I took Bertie down to Kells on his own today...my training partner has deserted me to suss out a training group in the South:). I am planning to compete on Saturday at the Mock Trial so I didn't want to do anything too intense and besides, in true chessie fashion  Bertie has developed a 'kink' in his training... spinning when sent for a cold blind!!. I may have to revisit training on memory blinds for a while in the hope of correcting this.  A pleasant walk to the Finns , interspersed with some blinds, did the job nicely. My aim for Saturday is to use the day as a training day. Personally, I feel he needs to settle more in a line out which should come as the Summer progresses and he's sitting in line more often.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

February 27th.

I arrived home late last night after flying to the UK to attend the CBRC AGM. I had submitted points for the Annual Trophies and although I had been informed that there was a trophy for collection I had no idea for which dog and for what. I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to be taking home five trophies as follows:

Corrie Cup for Top Working Dog/Bitch - Riverrun Away in A hack ( Bertie)
Westering Plate for Top Dual Purpose Dog/Bitch - Arnac Bay Winota ( Winnie)
Barry Shield for Top Show Dog - Riverrun Agus Avic ( Mossy)
The Glaneils Cup for Top Show Bitch - Arnac Bay Winota ( this is Winnie's second year to win this award).
Chessie Chat Trophy for Chessie Chat contribution.
The following is a copy of the aricle for which I won the Chessie Chat Trophy, the article was written last year in 2011 :

The left Over Puppy…This is the story of a puppy. It’s one that has probably been told and experienced by many others before. It is only different because it happened to me.

It all began when the puppies were eight weeks old. Bertie was booked to go to a gentleman who was looking for a wildfowling dog. On the day his perspective new owner arrived, the puppies were out playing together in the garden. Within the litter Bertie was the least outgoing preferring to sit back and observe rather than rush in. No amount of coaxing and encouragement on the part of the gentleman that morning would bring Bertie out from behind my legs. No, welcoming strangers was a job best left to his two more outgoing brothers! To my dismay, but not surprisingly, the gentleman left the puppy behind.

At nine weeks old an acquaintance, who had been impressed by Bertie’s father on the shoot in Wicklow, expressed an interest in running him on. He was a spaniel man and believed he’d enjoy the challenge of training a different breed of dog. After three weeks I rang to check in and see how Bertie was progressing. Alas, the news was not what I‘d hoped to hear. Bertie had spent his three weeks howling every time he was put in the kennel. The trainer was also a little disappointed that his new puppy was nothing like his father, and showed no interest in retrieving more than one dummy before getting bored and walking away! I thought it best to take the eleven week old puppy back at that stage before any serious long term damage was done.

This time he was home to stay. Anyone who’s ever given any animal a second or third chance will know what happened next.True to form, Bertie slotted right into the household. He took his position as bottom of the pack and worked really, really hard to impress Des, the person he knew would be the hardest to break.

One evening, not long after he’d returned Des took me out to the garden to show me something. The puppy sat on the edge of the lawn and watched as Des walked away from him and dropped a tennis ball, unseen. Des returned to the puppy and pointed to the ball. The puppy followed the line of his arm and off he went, straight to the ball and returning straight to hand. He had never been trained or taught to do any of this. He just seemed to have an innate sense of what was required.

We began then, to get glimpses of the type of dog he could become. We were excited but terrified at the same time that we would wreck him. Neither of us were experienced enough in gundog training to know if we would push him too hard too soon, or not push him far enough. In the end we decided that what we wanted most was to enjoy every moment of working this dog. We thought our best course of action would be to let him set the pace.

I would never previously have dreamed of exposing a young puppy to a driven shoot but for a phone call from a guy, who’d bought a litter sister, to tell me that his five and a half month old Chesapeake , Rosie, had just retrieved her first duck. She’d been taken out as an observer with a more experienced Labrador. When the lab was sent for the retrieve, the puppy had no hesitation but to jump in behind. Fifty yards out and the lab gave up. The puppy lifted her head clear of the water, winded the bird and locked on. The following week, one of my older dogs pulled up with a slashed pad. With no dog to work we took a chance. We vowed to put no pressure on him, just to let him enjoy the experience. If he became too stressed with all that was going on we’d put him away until next year. On his first outing he retrieved ten birds, all to hand. He never looked back. We allowed him his head that season, no emphasis on steadiness or whistle control. Just building confidence and letting him enjoy the experience. He had game-sense that you would expect from a dog twice his age, taking no time to figure out the link between gun and bird. He was a puppy with huge energy and drive but balanced with sense and focus which allowed him to start work as young as he did.

First shooting season finished and the natural course of events would have seen us commencing formal gundog training. That summer however saw our lives take a different path when our beautiful daughter Elly joined our lives. Adjusting to motherhood meant that gundog training was put on the back burner, so to speak. This also meant that Bertie entered his second season more unruly than I’d have liked but his hunting skills and use of his nose improved. His whistle work and steadiness did not!

The spring of his second year we started formal training. Never before had I experienced a dog with such a thirst for learning. As with all young dogs mistakes are made. Sometimes by the dog, but more often by the trainer.   Bertie, like most Chesapeakes, did not like being corrected but neither did he sulk. He would return to my side glance up at me as much as to say ‘right let’s try that again and I’ll do better’. He put such heart and soul into every retrieve. He was a joy, and still is, to train.

He ran ten novice working tests that summer of his second year. Starting in early April and finishing the end of September. On average he ran in a test every second weekend. Out of them he placed in seven. It was intense but he thrived on every second of it. My heart swelled with pride every time we walked away from the line. He was one big brown dog among many small black labs and proving with each competition that it is possible for another breed to throw down the gauntlet.

Our third season (which is the one just gone by) was his best yet. With a summer of decent training behind him, and along with the previous seasons hunting experience, he developed into one of the most enjoyable dogs to work with I’ve had so far.   I think the great thing about our breed is their utter versatility and their pure dedication to work. That is what they thrive on. Within one hunting season Bertie sat in a boat for some duck decoying, stood in line week after week as a picking up dog, did a few days pheasant rough shooting and then spent the summer competing in Working Tests.

Well the left Over Puppy done good. This year, just a day after he turned three years old, he placed third at an Advanced (Open) Working Test. His fellow competitors were all black dogs; many were FTCH preparing for the CLA game fair. When I think back on that puppy that day I wonder sometimes who picked who, and I smile……

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012

Final Crufts preparations

February 20th.
With just over 2 weeks left to Crufts I continue with my final preparations to have Mossy ready and at his best on the day. A lot of the prep work I do with my dogs has absolutely no scientific evidence behind it to prove it makes any difference. It just makes me feel I've given him the best chance to be the best he can on the day.

An early trip to the airport this morning , with my friend Sue, gave me the oppurtunity to visit a place I hadn't been to since my professional dog walking days. Kilcrea, is one of those rare gems along the North Dublin coast. Its a gravel beach, tucked into an estuary, that for some reason or another no body ever seems to use. Perfect when you're walking multiples of dogs. This morning I was glad to see it hadn't changed. Not a soul in sight. I togged Elly up in her snow suit and wellies and let Mossy out of the car.

A sharp wind blowing from the northwest  created a nice swell for him to work against. The water was exactly the depth I wanted, chest deep, so it acted as a counter weight and made him work using front and back quarters equally. For this type of workout he will have no more than six retrieves each spaced out throughout the walk. The peace and solitude of the walk was only broken by the calls of the brent geese above us. Annoyed , I'm sure, that someone was intruding on their morning feeding.
Monday evening we were back at ring craft and a massive improvement in standing for exam.



February 21st.

Just over a month since I recieved the invitation to put forward an Irish team for this year's Aigle Euro Challenge at the CLA game fair in July.It has consumed my thoughts night and day. I have spent the last few weeks sending out letters and emails with a thin thread of hope that we will get some sort of sponsorship or help . It is a difficult time to be looking for any sort of monetary assistance. That thin thread of hope is rapidly evaporating and I need to turn my time and attention , for the moment on trianing my own dogs and preparing for competition.So I'm parking it for a while. Going to turn my attention to forthcoming competitions and revisit it later in the Spring. The first working competition of the season is just over a week away. A mock field trial being run by Ballygowan game and Wildfowling Club in aid of the MS Charity.

Winnie is just 4 weeks post AI. Her outline has changed and teats are enlarged. I'm still hesitant about declaring whether or not she is or isn't and haven't decided yet whether I'll bite the bullet and get her scanned next week.

I finally got round to contacting the UK Kennel Club today about applying to have both Winnie and Chester become Full UK Champions. The answer is 'Yes', subject to us sending through their appropriate paperwork both will be allowed to use the Full Champion title. I'm pretty sure this will make them the only chesapeakes to hold a Full Irish Champion Title, an International Beaute Champion title and Full UK Champion Title.

February 22nd

Loaded up the trailer and headed to myMum's this morning. Dropped Elly at playschool and then headed back to my Mum's. Gave Mossy, Zoe and  Bailey a blowout down the fields . Laid some blinds and headed back for a quick coffee and to meet Colum and Stevie.
Training is coming along nicely although the proof will be in the pudding at the competition in Fermanagh in 2 weeks time. One thing I've learned as a certainty when competing with dogs and that is , 'nothing is a certainty'. Bertie is handling very nicely now. His biggest flaw is just a little thing but something that could lose a lot of marks and incredibly difficult to correct ...creeping in line. We've been working hard on it over the last few weeks and if he only gets that right in Fermanagh I will be very happy.

Copyright Riverrunchesapeakes 2012