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Miracles happen at Sandrigham: Norfolk Trials
Almost three months later, I am finally here to write down what happened. On Sept 7th 2017, in fact, Briony won Novice Stake on Partridge at Sandrigham, organized by the Pointer Club of UK. Some might argue that, well, it’s “just” a Novice Stake, but for me it is a great achievement. Briony is not my first English Setter, I got the first one, “Socks” (Slai di Riccagioia), in 1999, but he was a rescue and he came to me after having be discarded by a “pro” trainer and with a bag full of behavioural problems. In his own way, he was a smart dog, we managed to go hunting…
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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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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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Warmness: I love my Harkila Kana
The time for a final review has come. I received my Kana suit right before Christmas and I decided to give the jacket some rest right before Easter but, the weather changed and we hung around until the beginning of May. My impressions? If you want to know more about the Kana technical features, and get a detailed description of the suit (jacket and trousers), click here to read the first part of my review. Today I am going tell you what I think of them after having field tested them for several months. First of all, I must tell you that we had a very cold and foggy winter,…
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How to fill out the questionnaire
Unfortunately we need you to fill out a questionnaire for each dog and, unfortunately, we are also very interested in those of you who own and handle many dogs. The questionnaire was created ONLY for dogs used for shooting or competing in field trials (pointing dogs, spaniels and retrievers). These dogs must be purebred and have a pedigree. If your gundog is a pet, or a show dog, I am sorry but he cannot be included in our sample. The questionnaire might seem long at a first sight, but you can fill it out in a few minutes. We decided to have only a few compulsory questions, to make you…
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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 1 – by T. Mostert
Brief intro: here at Dogs & Country we are often looking to publish good articles, articles dog people can benefit from. I (Rossella) was therefore very happy when Tok Mostert, from Sweden, accepted to share his writings with us and our readers. At the moment, unfortunately, I do not have time to translate them in Italian, but if anyone wants to help out with the translation, I’d be happy to share that as well 🙂 Part 1: We are losing legendary methods Two years ago I came into the hunting dogs world, I knew nothing, I could not make a dog sit or stay, much less retrieve, track or hunt…
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Santa Claus is Coming to Town!
A couple of days ago, I received a USB key from my Pilates teacher and a Snowhite mug (long story….). I thought these were my first Christmas gifts. I realized later that I was terribly wrong: a giant package had arrived earlier in December, via reindeer from Scandinavia. When the courier rang my bell, I rushed to the door forgetting about the painters who were taking care of my house. I jumped each obstacle between me and the door, and I ran even faster to the gate as soon as I recognized the package! After finishing testing the Jerva suit, I sent my review to M.B., aka “the Harkila Man”.…
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Harkila Jerva: Field Test
A Siberian wind is blowing. Well I am not that sure it is Siberian but, it is blowing from East and it is very cold. Foreigners imagine Italy to enjoy a wonderful warm and sunny weather all year round. It is a hoax! I bet those involved in tourism spread this rumour, I can assure you that here in Northern Italy we often have very cold winters! What the cold wind is trying to tell me, however, is that the time has come to stop testing my Jerva suit. Those who follow the blog, already know that I was given an outdoor shooting/hunting suit made by Harkila to test it.…
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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,…