Shooting Gazette – September 2019

88 SEPTEMBER 2019 WWW.SHOOTINGGAZETTE.CO.UK

GUNDOGS Gundog legends

Aneight-year-oldSamjumpingintoa lakenearhome.Grahamfeltthiswasoneofhismostsuccessful
action shots and it shows the keenness and energy he so admired in Sam, the dog who started it all.

oftensaid,it wasthefirstmajor
disagreementweeverhad!Initially
I wanteda Germanshepherdand
GrahamwassetonanEnglish
setter,so it waspurechance,when
wesawa litterof goldenretriever
pupsadvertisedin thelocalpaper
werealisedwebothlikedthebreed
andsetaboutfindingourpup.That
is whereit all began. It started with
Sam.”
ThebondbetweenGrahamand
SamgrewquicklyandMarilyn
soonnoticedhowGrahambecame
fascinatedwithSam’sability
andapparenteagernessto learn.
Researchwasoftenputto one
sideandhespenttimefindingout
whata workinggoldenretriever
coulddo,bringinghomefromthe
universitylibrarybooksongundog
trainingas wellas books on Irish
Nationalism.
Withthreechaptersof his
PhDcompleted,in 1973theCox
householdmovedto theSouth
WestandGrahamtookupa post
at BathUniversity as a lecturer in
sociology.

Acolleagueof Marilyn’s,who

hada GSP,toldheraboutthe

BristolandWestWorkingGundog

Societyandtheybeganattending

classeswithSamonSunday

afternoonsat AshtonCourtin

Bristol.Accordingto Marilyn,it felt

as if therewerea sortof inevitability

aboutit all.Grahamwashooked.

His interest in cultural and academic

activitiescontinuedbutgradually

thegreatestpleasureforGraham

cameto behisgundogs.

ThroughtheclubGrahamwas

introducedto picking-upand

competingin workingtests.He

picked-upat CastleCoombeand

periodicallyMarilynwenttoo.

ThoughtheyhadboughtSamas

a pethispedigreecontainedwell-

knownworkinglinesso it wasn’t

surprisingheshowedsomeability–

despiteGraham’sinexperttraining.

Ashealwayssaid,youmakeall

yourmistakesonyourfirstdog.

NowGrahamwantedto beable

totakepartin trials,too.They

neededanotherdogas Samcouldn’t

beregisteredwiththeKennel Club,

hisdamwasunregistered.

Itwaswhentheyjoinedthe

GoldenRetrieverClubthatthey

metJuneAtkinson,whobredand

workedtheimpressiveHolway

goldens.Andit waswhentheygot

theirfirstdogfromJune,Holway

Swift,thatGraham’slife-long

commitmentto theHolwayline

began. Training at Holway went

GrahamandSaminPainswick,

Gloucestershire in 1974.