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The Pointer by Arthur Croxton-Smith
From the book The Power of the Dog (1910) The Pointer “His nostril wide into the murky air, Sagacious of his quarry from so far.” Milton—Paradise Lost tiff by the tainted gale with open nose, Outstretch’d and finely sensible, draws full, Fearful, and cautious, on the latent prey; As in the sun the circling covey bask Their varied plumes, and, watchful every way, Through the rough stubble turn the secret eye. Thomson The respective virtues of the Pointer and Setter have been discussed without stint for many years, the advocates of each retaining their opinions uninfluenced by the arguments on the other side. It may not be known that no less…
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A few more words on gun shyness
The previous article on gun shyness triggered many reactions. This had pretty much been forecasted, but I hoped to find a larger number of open minded people. In the end, however, I must admit hearing that you, owner, can be deemed responsible for your own dog gun shyness is not pleasant. Modern ethology is not being kind here, and it is much easier to blame the genes, the bitch, the stud or the breeder. Acknowledging the role of environment, upbringing and training is tough, it can make us feel guilty. What did the readers say? I was told stuff like “I never introduced the pup to noises, but when the…
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Does a gun-shyness gene exist?
I wrote about this on several occasions and, usually, I do not like re-writing about things I already wrote about but, last week, reading an online forum, I realized that gun-shyness is still a mystery. People buy dogs, mate dogs, collect dogs but never “waste” time trying to educate themselves about dogs or, more simply, trying to switch their brains on. I am not sure whether you are familiar with Patrick Pageat, he is a Frech veterinarian and animal behaviourist who wrote the book “L’homme et le Chien” (The Man and the Dog), he writes: “How can a gun-shyness gene exists? How could nature have foreseen gun powder and shotguns?“…
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Vinci un servizio fotografico – Win a free photo session
FOR ENGLISH SCROLL DOWN Per tenere vivo interesse e partecipazione al Gundog Research Project, abbiamo aggiunto un nuovo premio: un servizio fotografico gratuito. Dettagli: servizio fotografico all’aperto con possibilità di includere cani, bambini e selvaggina, se presente. Possiamo programmarlo durante una sessione di addestramento, durante una giornata di caccia o altro. Riceverete un numero illimitato di immagini sotto forma di files digitali ad alta risoluzione e quindi stampabili e i files saranno anche raccolti in una galleria online. L’unico limite è legato alla località, il servizio fotografico dovrà aver luogo dalle mie parti, altrimenti ci sarebbero delle spese di viaggio. Per vincere il servizio dovete solo compilare il questionario online, …
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Break it Down- by Tok Mostert
There is no doubt that seeing a well trained dog doing everything right is a pure delight to owner/handler or observer, not to mention a judge. The seamless way they cut up a field missing no ground, the sudden stop and lock up on point, the flush on command, the stop, the marking of the fallen bird, the glance for permission to retrieve, the retrieve and the delivery all flowing like a gentle mountain stream over smooth rock. Pure dog poetry in motion! What few understand is how exactly you get a dog to that level. Many fail due to their lack of experience, the experienced fail due to their…
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Mind the Wind by Tok Mostert
So… you think running a good field dog is all about the dog, maybe, but a good handler will be able to interpret the conditions and “assist” the dog to have the best possible chance of finding birds. Temperature, moisture content, humidity and wind all play a part in the scenting conditions and that is something all dog handlers should keep in mind, if they want to consistently hit birds on the field. Often handlers will say, the wind just did not work for us or the birds where holding tight and the dog could not find them. Even a great dog will have days in which the wind plays…
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We are Losing Legendary Methods (Obedience and Discipline) – By T. Mostert
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Ten years ago, a nice dinner by Angelo Cammi
English abstract To read full article in Italian click here. Angelo Cammi is a well respected British Pointing dogs judge and an English Setter lover. He is president of the Piacenza Chapter of the Italian Setter Society (SIS Piacenza). This article was given to all those who were present at the Piacenza English Setter Specialty trial on wild birds (selvaggina natural), last summer. It is a very important article as it points out what happened, and what did not happen, during the last 10 years. Cammi wrote the article in Italian and intended it to be read by Italians but, we have to remember that people from all over Europe…
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UNCAA – ST. Hubert Academy Field Trial
UNCAA – Accademia di S. Uberto Pointing Dogs Trial Last June I was invited to a trial organized by the UNCAA (National Union of Appennines and Alps Hunters) – ST. Hubert Academy, but the trial was later cancelled and re-scheduled for September. The grounds and the birds changed as well, the trial was going to be held at the Ruino Estate, on the highest hills of Oltrepo’ Pavese , and the dogs were going to be assessed on grey partridges, no longer on quails Those who know me, are well aware of how much I love Ruino as I spent about eight years regularly shooting and handling English Setters there. …
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On steadiness (… and obedience!)
As soon as Briony became steady to flush I, full of pride, posted some videos on Facebook. The road that brought us to steadiness was a long one, I was extremely happy to have reached what, months early, seemed to be unattainable. Briony was originally purchased to be my personal shooting dog and indeed she became a good one. She knew how to locate birds, point, be steady on point and retrieve the killed ones but, like all the Italian shooters, I did not even think to make her steady to wing and shot. I simply did not care and she spent years “chasing” after the bird was produced, until…
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