This year the Pointer & Setter Club Schweiz was in charge to organize this important event. Due to the complex Swiss shooting (and dog training) laws, the trial was set up in Northern Italy, only two hours away from the Swiss borders. More specifically, we were hosted by Dr. Machiavelli private shooting estate in Cantalupo Ligure (AL), a place which is both easy to reach and suitable for this kind of trial. Simone Meili, of the Setter & Pointer Club Schweiz, proved to be the human incarnation of the famous Swiss efficiency and precision. The trial brochure was very accurate and she set up a very convenient meeting place: it was extremely easy to find the venue,  it had an ample parking lot, a small bar and a toilet, wi-fi connection and light sockets for computers! As you can imagine, everything else during the trial ran smoothly.

I joined the Championship on the 2nd day (Oct 10), as the previous part of the event had been covered by my colleague Erica Recchia. The atmosphere was very international: there were several teams coming from different parts of Europe. Judges as well had different nationalities and backgrounds. I was told to follow Stake 2, judged by D.Sormaz (Serbia – President), F. Gerzinic (Croatia – right side) and D.Gouzounas (Greece- left side), there were 12 braces in this stake. The stake was going to be run on Chiminiera and we had Roberto Locatelli as beat steward (and gun!) and Dejan Gavrilovic as a second gun. We had rain almost until the first brace was to be casted off, it was an unusually chilly morning for October, with a moderate/fresh breeze which kept changing its direction, making partridges swift to fly and scents tricky to be grasped by the dogs. The grounds were really nice and heterogeneous: dogs could run wide but had to make an intelligent use of the ground. Cantalupo estate is scattered on the hills and its crops and vegetation can dramatically change from place to place During a run, a dog might face grass, briars, small woods, bushes, tall and wiry grass, rocks: dogs had to be smart and adapt themselves, exactly as it would happen during a real rough shooting day. Almost all the dogs had a chance to meet or scent game: there were pheasants and grey partridges coveys. We also bumped into a hare and in a couple of roe deers followed by the respective English Setters. I spotted six wild boars in a distance, while judge Gerzinic said he saw some wolves the night before: I was not surprised as Cantalupo means “singing wolf”.

Slideshow below

The first brace was composed by Ciak del Zagnis handled by Nicolic (Serbia) and byPianigiani’s Ford handled by Stefano Pianigiani (Italy). During his run Ciak pointed, produced and retrieved a pheasant, his action lead him to obtain a 1st Exc CAC/CACIT and to become Vice European Champion 2016. In the second brace,  with Ami Cicco du Turbillon Blanc handled by Simone Meilli (Switzerland) and Dac de Playabarry handled by J.L.Diaz we witnessed Dac earning an Exc. To see another action worth grading, we had to wait until brace 5 when Bruss, handled by Patrizzi (Italy), had a nice point and obtained a 2nd Exc. Other dogs graded were Pirlo od Gastona, handled by Zekanovic (Croatia), and Marzale’s Hogan, handled by Elvis Trajkov (Macedonia). During the 12th and last brace, Rex del Faenor handled by Sanz (Spain) had a good run and performed two excellent actions, one of which included a very long roading to produce the pheasant, he was graded 3rd Exc.
At the end of this run, we were joined by the competitors and the judges of Stake 1: Sergio Bianconi (Italy – President), W.Jost (Austria) and N.Kassianidis (Cipro) to decide through a “barrage” which dog, after two trials in two days, was going to obtain the title of European Champion 2016. The judges selected for this task were D.Gouzounas (Greece – President), F. Gerzinic (Croatia) and N.Kassianidis (Cirpo) who, after a quick run, announced Atos, handled by Mirko Caramanti (Italy), to be the winner.

Click here to see the event photogallery as a slideshow

Click here to see the event photogallery as an album

Results are as follows:
European Champion 2016 GT – Athos handled by Mirko Caramanti (Italy)
Vice European Champion 2016 GT – Ciak del Zagnis owned and handled by Nikolic (Serbia)
European Champion 2016 GT Females – Lavezzi del Zagnis owned by Scandella and handled by Giuseppe Pezzotta (Switzerland)

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.  Ruino’s grounds are perfect for pointing dogs, and they are wide and open enough to make any  dogs belonging to a British  pointing breed happy.

In the e-mail I received, there were only a few details on the trial. It was created specifically for those associated to the UNCAA-St. Hubert Academy, nevertheless it was open to everyone.  As I did not know what was going to happen exactly,  I forwarded the invitation only to a few people, next time I will be more generous!

By choosing to be there,  I gathered more details. The trial was open to all the pointing dogs, and most of the competitors were HPRs, you will soon understand why. Dogs were requested to behave like in a ENCI/FCI official trial but, big difference, eliminating any dogs was not on the menu. Major or eliminating faults were going to be written down but, in some cases, especially if the dog was a young one, the judge could decide to let him continue his run, in order to assess his natural qualities.  The  trial’s aim, indeed, was not to nominate a winner but to see, assess and describe each dog natural qualities. At the end of the trial, each dog was going to receive a written evaluation (like it is done in any FCI trials) and a score. Scoring had German hunting trials as a model, this explains why we had so many German HPRs competing, some of which had already been tested at VJP, HZP. VGP, German Puppy Derby and Solms). As you might see  looking at the evaluation form, natural qualities were considered very  important( Ferma = Point; Cerca, impegno, passione, avidità, movimento e stile = Quartering, dedication, passion, avidity, movement and style; Correttezza del cane e collegamento con il conduttore = Obedience/training and connection/cooperation with the handler).

Organizers were expecting 10-15 dogs to compete but 25 showed up: The dogs had different ages (many were around one year old) and very different backgrounds and training. There were some  experienced dogs who regularly attend trials and dogs, without formal training, which are used for rough shooting exclusively.  According to the judge Ivan Torchio (whose mentor had been Giacomo Griziotti), all the dogs, including  the best one, need to explore the ground with more “logic”. He explained the difference between exploring the ground during a “quail” trial (dog should quarter very regularly (left/right), in a very geometric pattern  and not miss any ground) and during a “wild bird” trial (the dog has more freedom but still….) and concluded saying that all the dogs he saw need to be refined under this aspect.  Some dogs proved to be highly skilled and perfectly trained, they waited for the handler on point, roaded on command without being touched, remained steady, dropped and came back when asked to and so on…) others were wilder, some of them were very young and some others paid for their handler’s lack of skills. Several humans, indeed, made awful mistakes: a man roaded and produced in behalf of his dog (then he-the man – literally ran after the bird….); another one insisted on making the bird fly by beating the ground; some kept yelling at the dog… A few handlers asked if they could keep a collar and a check cord on the dog for safety purposes, or if they could pick up the dog before the bird flushed: they were given permission to do so but, of course, this was taken into account in the final evaluation. Silent and “professional” handling, instead, though not compulsory, was appreciated.  Two pups wanted to enter the trial as well and they were asked to find a planted quail while on a check cord. They both found it and the GWP was so careful and concentrated that she remained steady to wing, without having ever been trained for that.

The grounds were those typical of the High Appennines, alfalfa fields, furrow fields, bushes and so on. It was very hot, late in the morning we reached temperatures above 30 degrees, wind was weak and kept changing its direction making the dogs’ job very difficult. Each dog was given ample opportunities to find birds, but a few failed and some, given the difficult conditions, eventually bumped into birds. The organizers plan to have this trial again next summer as it is a very nice way to keep an eye on the most experienced dogs, and to introduce shooters and pet owners to trials.

Briony did very well. She found a grey partridge and a quail. Produced nicely and remained steady.  She got the highest possible score and the judge wrote that her run was at the highest levels for quartering, speed and use of the ground/wind… He would have liked more refined castings (left and right) and that obedience could be more automatic (indeed it was me telling him that she dropped the second time I whistled, not the first!). He concluded saying that she is an extremely high quality dog.

Handlers Opinions:

Sara Orlandi (GSP): This was the second trial organized by the Accademia di St. Uberto that I attended. The previous one was the 24 hours deer tracking trial (FCI recognized) organized in Cecima, this time we are in Ruino… another wonderful place! It was great to see my dog working which such a determination and then receive such a positive written critique by “The Professor” Ivan Torchio! We later had a very tasty lunch with much game and we share opinions on dogs while eating all together. I am likely to show up again at the next trial!

Daniele Malacalza (Spinone Italiano): I felt at ease, people were nice, friendly and funny. Ivan proved to be exremely skilled, more than I expected. Dogs were evaluated differntly than they use to be during ordinary trials.

Note: St.Hubert Academy does not take its name after ST.Hubert type trials (as some misunderstood). It is school (hence the name academy) which organizes classes on shooting (including woodcock counting), stalking,  deer tracking, hound handling, wildlife management and game keeping through Italy. Classes are open to everybody wishing to gain expertise in these fields, some of the classes offer certification which are officially recognized by the Italian government and by several EU countries.

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 I realized she was good enough to run in field trials.

The videos uploaded slowly but, minutes after they became visible to the public, I began receiving several private messages. Those messages, in the weeks and months ahead, became questions asked face to face. People  wanted to know if I used an e-collar, or if I shoot her in the butt, a very popular method suggested by many (in)famous trainers.  My answer was that steadiness  derived from obedience, an answer puzzled most of the listeners. They could not believe that the tools I used were a lead, a check cord and a whistle, and the few humans who did believe me asked me to make miracles: a woman sort of wanted me to make is HPR steady  overnight using the internet!

I do not have superpowers, but maybe my mentor does, as a matter of fact he is widely known as the “Shaman”, or as “White Feather”. White Feather (from here on WF) has been knowing me for a very long time: I was one of his students at the three months class (!!!) to became a certificate stalker (deer, roe buck, fallow deer, boar…) and he taught me during the course I attended  to become a certified biometric data collector (we measure and establish the age of stalked and hunted game). He saw me and  interacted with me several times during trials, gatherings, conferences and so… yet, before accepting to “train” me, he wanted to meet me again and look at me under a different light.  Our first formal meeting happened over a cup of espresso, we were seated at table by the street, Briony was on lead and a cat passed by: I prevented any possible reactions and he appreciated that, a training session was scheduled for the following day.

I have to admit I was a little worried, the man was Elena Villa’s (that woman won all she could win with GSPs, in Italy and abroad) mentor, he was a well known retired gamekeeper and he had owned, trained, judged and handled hundreds of dogs  and shoot over them, in Italy, Germany, Austria and several Eastern European countries. But, most of all, he, himself, probably had the most amazing mentor Italy gave birth to.  Born at the end of 1800, Giacomo Griziotti (in my city there are a street and a college dorm in his name) is still deemed to be one of the best judges, handlers, trainers and writers involved with pointing breeds. His first and only book, despite being expensive and hard to find, is still regarded as the Bible, no wonder I was both excited and worried! WF wanted to test me and Briony, if we had passed the test he would have trained us for free, but we had to be perceived to be a good cause.

After another espresso (we both like coffee), we moved to the training ground and I had my first shocking lesson on the meaning of “obedience”. I opened the car and Briony’s cage to let her out. WF quickly made us clear that she could not leave the cage, nor the car without his permission. During the following months, his permission became “my permission”; she had to learn to sit and stay if I had to cross a ditch and then come later, if and when called. While all my friends were enjoying their shooting season, me and Briony were practicing sit/stay/come/drop to whistle daily, whatever the weather and the place. We trained in the countryside, in the city, in the shops, with or without stimuli. It was hard and even depressing: I spent months studying fish inspection for my veterinary degree and practicing sit/stay/drop!

But then it came the day. Not only Briony was dropping to whistle, she was also steady to game and she had become an obedient and reliable dog (and I passed my fish inspection exam as well). Trials came next and all the hard and boring work brought to fruition, but this is another story. At the moment I am still incredulous and proud to be part to such a long standing gundog training tradition.

I am writing in English as I get messages from people from all over the world asking me questions, an Italian version might follow.

Well, I finally have a moment to write down what I experienced during last week. I reached the UK (after a long trip through Switzerland and France) only seven days ago, and so many things have already happened. First of all I AM HERE! There had been moments and happenings during which I felt almost sure this dream of mine was going to remain… Just a dream.

Let’s go back to what happened last year. In July 2015, I came to the UK to watch the Champion Stake. I liked everything I experienced here and I was especially impressed by the dogs’ training level. I liked the way  the dogs were trained and how this kind of training allowed them to produce nice performances. Italians are believed to have great English Setters, great English Pointers and great field trials: this is true, in some ways, and false in some other ways, at least in my very humble opinion! I recognize the strenght of our trials and of our breeding choices, but I perceive the UK FT trials to be more suitable to my mindset.  Also, our English Setters are trained differently (let’s say they are sort of wilder)  and I have never thought that a dog belonging to this breed could be trained to such high obedience standards.

At that time Briony was finishing her Show Championship (her full name is IT. Ch. Briony del Cavaldrossa) and I was already planning to train her for Field Trials in the hope of having a Dual Ch. She comes from a working bloodline, she had been my personal rough shooting dog since she was about 7 months old and she had proved me (and other people, including judges who shoot over her) to have all a dog needs to compete in Italian  field trials.  However, things were not so easy: I  knew I could train a dog to be a rough shooting dog, but I was aware I was lacking the skills needed to train a dog for field trials. Once again, Italy is different from the UK: most of the dogs running at trials are prepared and handled by professional handlers/trainers and the dog needs to live with them at their kennels. I knew I was not going to give “Princess Briony”, who sleeps on the couch, to anyone and that I wanted to learn how to train her.

So… the quest for a good trainer began and, as happened in the past, with my very first English Setter,  the smart great people willing to help me were the Deutsch Drahthaar (GWP) people: they are so keen on obedience that they were just what I needed. The first part of the training, from Sept 2015 until Spring 2016, was done under the supervision of a retired gamekeeper known as “the shaman” or “white feather”. He now owns a drahthaar but he used to own an English Pointer and  had trained hundreds of dogs belonging to different breeds (he is much into deer tracking dogs at the moment!) to the highest levels. He worked with us for months, asking absolutely no money while teaching us so much… I am not sure I will ever be able to thank him enough. After the shooting season ended, however, he no longer had access to any grounds suitable to train an English Setter and I I had to rely on a tiny piece of ground an estate and its gamekeeper offered me. This gamekeeper (who goes under the name of Ezio) did his best to help, but I felt I was still needing some supervision. To my surprise, Briony began improving very quickly, and at this point I started thinking I could maybe trial her in the UK. It was May when unexpectedly my friend Claudio (who trains GWPs and GSP’s professionally) stepped in. I think he was so intrigued by my plans, that he really did his best to help us, especially scolding me each time I did not feel good enough as a trainer/handler.  So well… Thanks to you all:  White Feather, Ezio, Claudio, the GWP training group Amatori Drahthaar (Fabrizio, Bruno, Monica, Gianluca…) and all the people who, in the years, allowed me great opportunities to go shooting with Briony on private (expensive!) estates and to those who took me snipe shooting and woodcock shooting. No names needed, they all know who they are.

June came and, after I passed a HUGE university exam (besides being a freelance journalist, I am studying Veterinary Medicine), I began to apply to some of the English trials. Things got a little complicated at this point: a club refused my entry as I could not send a check in sterlings, other clubs had all their trials oversubscribed (In Italy if you get more dogs than you expect to get you simply set up another stake and call more judges); this was all new to me, also some people seemed concerned about the “Italian dog” (I think Italian dogs are believed to be a little wild!). It  was not easy, and If  I am here now I owe it to my STUBBORNES, not a quality I wish I had, but a quality that can be  helpful sometimes. The Scots were great too:  as their trials were not oversubscribed they happily accepted us.

We eventually arrived on June 16^th and on the following day we were already on the moor with Mr. Steve Robinson. He kindly offered to introduce Briony to grouse and, on that morning, we went counting grouse at Muggleswick Estate. I was really happy to go and see the counting, as I was really curious to witness this activity. The fact I could be there with my dog (at the beginning she was on lead) was simply amazing! In the afternoon we moved to another ground were we meet other people (Terry Harris,  Roy Heath, Maria Jaques, John Naylor and probably someone else I forgot) who really did their best to help us and make us feel “at home”.

On the following morning Briony had her first trial, the IGL Novice Stake and I think she did well as we were given a second round! On Tuesday the organizers let her enter the Open Stake and, well we were out because she “missed” a grouse but I liked how she behaved. Things went ok at the English Setter Club trials in Muggleswick where she ran in the Breed Stake on the first and in the Open Stake (they kindly accepted me) on the following day. On the second day she was shot over after she produced the bird, but we were eliminated because,  despite not moving forward… she sort of moved her whole body in every other directions!!! But it was fun and it is was fine as we both need to gain experience and refine our skills.

Later in the week we given again the opportunity to go counting/training again with Therry Harris and other people on Eggleston Moor, this sounds like such a privilege to me.

We will see what happens next. This article is mostly about Briony and the trials but I might later write something else on daily life here, stones which run under my car, far away pubs and anti-flea sprays to thank all those involved. I am grateful for all this! (Ps. I love grouse!) Still curious about British trials? Check the section A Month on the Moor or click here.