Your first day’s driven shooting is invariably memorable. However, for one friend of mine this was for all the wrong reasons. The much-anticipated outing dawned cold and frosty, and it…
Gundog Breeds
The weimaraner: silver shades of grey
How nice to see a weimaraner working.” It was a comment directed to me as a nervous novice in the beating line but I still remember this remark, made by…
The Irish terrier: a dog designed by a dog
The Irish terrier has been described many ways historically: the farmer’s friend, the poor man’s sentinel and the gentleman’s favourite. In Ireland he’s often known as the ‘red devil’, so…
Retrievers. Is it time to change your labrador?
Retrievers don’t have to be labradors. The flatcoat was the Downton Abbey gundog and Edwardian gentleman’s favourite retriever. Every 10 years for the past four decades a friend has bought…
Flatcoated retriever: the flatcoat’s fatal flaw
Always the Edwardian country gentleman’s companion, these days the flatcoated retriever still has its fans, although its popularity has been eclipsed by the labrador. (Read: Flatcoated retrievers – the Edwardian…
The Bedlington terrier: a good family pet
It is, perhaps, the most disappointing two hours of my life. I am sitting in a cafe in Bedlington, the old Northumberland mining town after which the eponymous Bedlington terrier…
The rise (and rise) of the fox-red labrador
Once shunned in favour of the ubiquitous black, the fox-red labrador is now becoming increasingly popular, as Giles Catchpole relates
How to choose the best gundog for partridges
For wild greys and redlegs, you need a worker that’s keen, thorough and won’t mind the brambles. So which is the best gundog for partridges? Alec Marsh finds out…
Spaniel breeds in Britain
There is something peculiar about enthusiasts of the spaniel breeds; peculiar as in distinctive, that is. Once bitten by a spaniel, figuratively speaking, we are unlikely to be satisfied by…
Breed standards – the problems
There has been a much-needed overhaul of breed standards, says David Tomlinson, although show and working animals are often still worlds apart. A Slumber spaniel, anyone?