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:)



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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