Check here for regular updates on what is happening with our dogs in the UK at shoots, trials and shows.
Since arriving in the UK we have focussed entirely on training the dogs for field sports and field trialling rather than showing. Both Meg and Ruby have reached a level of proficiency to allow them to be nominated for field trials towards the end of last season. Unfortunately they were not lucky enough to win a place in a trial via the balloting system which is used here in the UK where a maximum of only 12 dogs are allowed to run in a trial. Both dogs have however been assessed by an A Panel HPR judge under FT conditions - Meg was awarded an A Pass i.e. she could have been awarded a placing in a trial (1st - 3rd depending on the performance of other competing dogs). Note: It is not uncommon at trials here for the top dog to only be awarded a 2nd or 3rd placing rather than a 1st depending on how the judges subjectively rated the dogs performance. Ruby was awarded a Certificate of Merit grading with recognition given of her obvious potential to obtain high placings. We think that is a wonderful result considering they have only been training in the discipline for 3 months.
Both dogs were used regulary for picking up duties on various driven shoots throughout the season with Meg's retrieving and handling skills impressing even the most experienced of judges and other handlers here. Her ability to consistently complete marked and blind retrieves over several hundreds of metres, across all types of terrain, and often enough across or from water, has truly impressed the locals. Both girls have also proven themselves now as very proficient rough shooting dogs i.e. they hunt feather and fur strongly, point and remain steady on point until the gun is in place to take the shot on flush, flush on command, and are steady to flush and to shot over all types of terrain ranging from moors, bracken, bramble, thick woodland, cereal crops and stubble, waterways and rivers, and hedged farmland.
