SPORTING ANSWERSGUNDOGTRAININGAfriendofmineboughta
fox-redLabradortwoyears
agobecausehelikedthecolour.
It wasa well-rearedpuppybuthe
didn’tpayanyattentiontohow
it wasbredandit hasturnedout
tobea farcryfromhisprevious
blackLabradorintermsof
trainabilityandskillasa working
gundog.I, too,amconsidering
buyinga fox-redLabradorpuppy.
I don’tknowmuchaboutpedigrees
butdon’twanttofallinto the same
trap.Can you advise?Idoubtyourfriendis theonlyone
tohavefallenfoulofthissituation.
It hasnothingtodowiththecolouras
such,butwhendogsofa particular
colourbecomepopulara lotofpeople
jumponthebandwagonandseeit asan
easywaytomakemoney.Thechocolate
Labradoris a perfectexampleof this.
Theupshotis thatcolour
becomesthedriver,withlittleorno
consideration given to the breedingintermsoftheworkingtraitsofthe
pastgenerationsbehindthepuppy.
Therearesomegood-lookingfox-red
Labradorsandtherearesomeshockers,
too— buttheyallfit thecriteriaof
havinga deepredcoat.Likewise,there
aresomefox-redLabsthataregreat
workersandthere are far too many
thataren’t.
Thefox-redgenepoolhasbeensmall
comparedwiththatofyellowsand
blacks,whichis whyit hasoftenbeen
difficulttofinda litterthathasthedepth
ofprovenworkingbreeding behind
it thatyoucantrust.
Therearenowlotsoffox-redpuppies
advertisedbut,whileyoumustbe
sureanypuppyyouconsiderbuying
hasbeenwellrearedbya responsible
breeder,myadvicewouldbeto
scrutinisethepedigreeofit closely
beforeyoucommit.If youknowanyone
whohassomeknowledgeofLabrador
bloodlines,it’sworthgettingtheir
opiniontoavoidendingupwith
a puppythatis thecolouryouwant
butdoesn’thave the working ability
you need.JHDogs of a diff erent colourCICCanyoupleaseexplainthe
differencesbetweenopen
andclosedteethinChinesewater
deer?Isit anadvantagetoshoot
onetypeover the other?
Chinesewaterdeeraredifferent
fromourotherdeerintwo
ways.First,asyouwillknow,they
havenoantlers.Second,young
animalscanproduce very high-
scoringtrophies.
Likeothermammals,deergrow
twosetsofteethduringtheirlives.
Milkteetharepresentwhenthey
arebornandthesearethenshed
andreplacedwithadultdentition
astheanimalgrowsandmatures.
Inalldeer,theadulthasa diff erent
dentitiontothejuvenile.
Thelongcaninetusks,which
arethetrophyofthemaleChinese
waterdeer,growtofulllengthquite
earlyintheanimal’slife.However,
theyarehollowat therootendand
onlybecomein-filledorclosedwhen
theanimalreachesfullmaturity.
Thusyounganimalswillproduce
goldmedaltusks,thoughinvariably
matureanimalswill produce larger
setsofteeth.
Infairnessit canbeproblematic
forguidestopositivelyidentify
andagethelivinganimalinfield
conditions,whichgoessomeway
toexplainwhysomanyjuvenilesets
ofteetharebroughtinforscoring.
Recordswouldsuggestthatmature
adultsproducethehighestscoring
setsofteeth,butsomeyounganimals
withlong,newlygrownteeth,free
ofwearanddamage, have not been
far behind.IW
Water deer
are long in
the tooth
50 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
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