Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

Gundogs

whiletheirheartis where the action

is inthebeatingline.”

Beinga pegdogis a jobthat

requiresthreekeyattributes:

retrieving,sittingona pegcalmly

and— somethingthatBubblefails

onconstantly— beingquiet.Every

onceina whileyouheara subtle

whiningdownthelinethatincreases

involumetothekindofsoulful

singingthatwouldrivalsomeof

theformerX Factorcontestants.

Thisnoiseis notonlyanannoyance

tomostGunsbutit alsomakesthe

ownerlooka completefoolat training

saiddog.If youarethinkingabout

whetherthewhiningis duetothe

dog’sunhappiness,AndrewWylie—

anotherShooting Times contributor

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 17

ofold— said:“Thecocker’sspiritis so

resilientthatit is almostimpossiblefor

youtodampenit ona shootingday.Its

principleis topleasethealpha.”

Thewhiningis a signalthatthe

dogis soeagertogetgoingthatall its

energycomesoutinsound.

ButaccordingtoEllena,this

noisinesscanbecuredquite

effectivelythroughearlyhandling.

Shesaysthekeyis focusonthe

basicsfirst.“Sitandheelwillalmost

certainlybethebiggestchallenge

thehandlerfaces.Thisentails

steadiness,quietanda willingness

toremainat thehandler’sside unless

instructedotherwise.”

Thecockeris anexcitabledog

anditshappydispositionand

continuouslywaggingtailhave

earnedit thenickname‘themerry

cocker’.Handlingthis‘busy-natured’

dogandcalmingeverythingdownis

onewayofensuringthatit canthrive

andstopthesoundproblems.

Huntingability

Retrievalofshotbirdsis oneofthepeg

dog’smainresponsibilities.Thirtyor

40 yardsoutis theusualdistancefor

a birdtohitthegroundandcockers,

withtheirnaturalhuntingability,

areverycapableoffindingthose

birds.However,a largeJanuarycock

pheasantmaycausea problem due

tothesizeofthecocker.

Bubbleis quitea smalldogbutshe

amazedmelastseasonbyretrieving

a largerunningcockpheasant.I have

trainedherwithlargerdummiesthat

area challengetopick-uptoprepare

herfortheweightofthebird,and

that gives her confi dence to do it

intheBritishsportingworldhasbeen
growingsincethe1920s.Andthe
cockerhaswonbestinshowat Crufts
morethananyotherbreed.Initially
bredforhuntingwoodcock— hence
thename— anddrivinggametowards
theGuns,cockersarenowusedin
a widevarietyofjobsinshooting.
Theyhavedevelopeda tendency
toadapttomorefacetsofoursport

thanoriginallyintended.Soyou
couldsaywehavedevelopedand
nurturedthebreedintobecoming
somethingmuchmoresuitedtothe
pegnowadaysthanthey were in
decadesgoneby.

Naturallybusy
Atthisyear’sGameFairI had
adrinkwithEllenaSwift,ourregular
gundogtrainerinShootingTimes, and
askedherthoughtsonthecocker-on-
the-pegconundrum.Sherepliedthat
sheis nostrangertotraininga cocker
forthepeg.“Theyareveryversatile
littledogsthatcanturna pawto
almostanything.However,theyare
naturally‘busy’andnormalpegdog
attributesarenotsomethingthat
comeeasilytothem.Soit is alldown
tothehandlertoinstilthebasicsfirst.”
IthenspoketoJeremyHunt
ofFenwayLabradors,whosefeelings
werea littlemoremixed.“Steadiness
is usuallythebigissue.Theobvious
reasonis thatcockersareprimarily
huntingandflushingdogs,”hesaid.
“I alwaysfeelrathersorryforthem
becausetheirmindis supposedtobe
focused on being totally composed,

Cockerspanielswere

originallybredfor

hunting woodcock

“Thereis noreasonwhya cockerspaniel

can’t make a cracking little peg dog”

Ed and Bubble — who is behaving quite angelically for a change — out shooting in December 2018