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The English Springer by Arthur Croxton-Smith
From the book The Power of the Dog (1910) THE ENGLISH SPRINGER “O, how full of briers is this working-day world!” Shakespeare—As You Like It. “The chief requisite in all kinds of spaniels is, that they be good finders, and have noses so true that they will never overrun a scent. . . . . They should be high-mettled, as regardless of the severest weather as of the most punishing cover, and ever ready to spring into the closest thicket the moment a pointed finger gives the command.” General Hutchinson The transition from the toy varieties to a spaniel is somewhat violent. The one is intended to please the eye,…
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Kopovini!
Charity shops: the bargains hunter’s realm
I Tre Stili di Giacomo Griziotti
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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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Finding or Handling Game? IT vs UK
People keep asking me which are the differences between Italian and British trials. I already wrote something but, the more I compete in Italian trials, the more differences I notice, they cannot be contained in an article alone. I wrote “compete” because I am not new to Italian trials: I began watching them in 2004, but I am fairly new to competing in them, furthermore many things changed in these 13 years. My initial role was the one of the journalist/photographer, who sometimes helped judges writing down their notes. I was a neutral observer and it was a valuable experience as it allowed me to see things closely, yet from…
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La Svizzera e il Team Bond :-)
Entering a trial Italy vs UK part II: UK
On driving in the UK, to the North
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Gun Proofing your Dog by Tok Mostert
Introducing a dog to gunfire is and will remain a critical element in his training. Many good dogs have been ruined by a wrong use of gunfire and some develop problems later that are not easy to solve. Having a gun shy dog is frustrating and leads down a long path of re-training and sometimes a dog that cannot be hunted at all. The dog becomes so frightened by gunfire that when he does scent a bird he will avoid pointing, as this will lead to a shot or even more shots being fired. I have a somewhat different approach to training my dogs, gundog or lapdog all receive the…
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Dall’obbedienza al fermo al frullo
There is no off season, just time off- by Tok Mostert
Selvatici esperti
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Save room for dessert
I like not-so-sweet desserts, and I always save room for them but, in this case, Briony, who came last, was the dessert. This shooting season, for me, this year is quite quiet… With the exception of today, I had only one proper shooting day, the opening of the shooting season. Then nothing but for two micro-walks in the countryside carrying a shotgun, alone, no boar hunting yet. I really enjoy shooting, but this year it seems to be impossible to keep up with everything. I continue training Briony, attend some trials, work and prepare demanding university exams, sadly is really hard to find any free time to go shooting. Furthermore,…
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Italian Shooters & British Style Handling
The shooting season here starts formally on September’s third Sunday, aka today. I, however, did not want to “open”, as at the moment I am incredibly busy having to take care of too many things simultaneously (writing calms me down). Being so busy and so absent minded, I have not noticed that my shooting license had expired in July. Without such a license, which is quite troublesome to renew, I cannot carry a shotgun, hence I cannot go shooting. Furthermore, the average Italian pointing dog has no formal training, which means I cannot run Briony with him/her, or I will waste all the training I did for trials, especially for…
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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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Finding or Handling Game? IT vs UK
Italian Shooters & British Style Handling
Accomodations, hosts and guests
