On 11th May we had our annual fun day come working test.

This day is to give handlers an opportunity to work towards something with their dogs and to test both the handlers and dogs ability in test conditions.

We started the day at 11 o’clock when i was joined by our 2 judges John Hilton and Barney Hall. John being a spaniel man and Barney a Labrador man so thought this would be a good combination. I choose John and Barney for 2 main reason’s they both work their own dogs to a good level picking up all season but more importantly I  knew they would be fair on each handler without being to harsh in there scoring.

I set the tesst earlier in the week. The tests consisted of 4 individual test.

Test 1 was a timed memory retrieve between two sets of straw bales. I done this test first to settle the handlers down and to give the dogs a chance to have a quick burst run to get rid of any edge or tension they were picking up off  there handlers.

Test 2 was a marked retrieve followed by a blind retrieve. Puppies which were dogs under 18 months of age were allowed to pick these in which ever order however the adults had to watch the marked retrieve then retrieve the blind retrieve first.

Test 3 was a double mark once again the puppies which were dogs under 18 months of age were allowed to pick these in which ever order however the adults had to watch both marked retrieve’s then pick the dummy which was thrown first.

Test 4 was a marked retrieve followed by a distraction, which was a bolting rabbit! Which is a dummy on a piece of elastic. The puppies then had to leave the distraction and pick the marked dummy. Once a gain a little harder for the adult, there were to marked retrieves then the bolting rabbit. The handler then had to send their dog past the distraction ant the first dummy to retrieve the dummy behind the first two distractions.

Both handlers and dogs had an eventful day whilst trying to avoid the rain, but when the sun did show up it made the day more pleasurable.

After all four tests were complete we stopped for lunch.

Whilst everybody enjoyed the hog roast i added up the score’s and made our cut for the final.

5 adults made the cut for the Adult  final and 3 puppies made the cut for the puppy final.

The test we set for the adults was a blind retrieve over a jump followed by a duck call then a marked retrieve from the dummy launcher. Then duck call and marked retrieve came first then the handler set there dogs up to retrieve the blind retrieve from the jump first.

The puppy test was very similar, we didn’t use any shot due to the age of the dogs so they had a thrown dummy and a blind retrieve over a jump.

We had 25 entries 15 adults and 10 puppies.

3 golden retrievers

1 Cocker spaniel

1 Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever.

5 English springer spaniels

and 15 Labradors.

Results.

Adults.

1st Ella with her black Labrador Gin

2nd Paul with his golden retriever Seth

3rd “T” with her black Labrador Lillie.

Puppies.

1st Kieran with his English springer spaniel Arwen.

2nd Mark with his black Labrador Jetta

3rd Robert with his yellow Labrador Miester

Fastest retrieve also went to  “T” with her black Labrador Lillie with a winning time of 14.13 seconds.

Steadiest dog also went to  Ella with her black Labrador Gin.

Top handler went to Natalie with her black Labrador Floss.

I just want to thank everyone for there hard work in setting up the day and all the donations for the raffle and desserts.

Thank you to quest gundogs for donating raffles prizes for our dogs for the disabled raffle.

These are the follow up videos five days on from the first videos of the 2 black labrador sisters starting out there life as working gundogs.

As you will see in these videos the labradors have become alot more focused on myself and what is needed to activate there food being given to them.

Written and shared from Steve Turner.

Having owned a Brittany hpr dog for the last 4 yrs. i have found that their hunting instinct is very high and recall and retrieving can be very problematic if not dealt with in early training and the control kept on top off, so its always best to go to a professional gundog trainer to keep on top of these things, they are also more difficult as they are asked to do a lot more than a lab or a normal spaniel.

So here we are at Fallowfen Training kennels for the day with our four Brittany’s Sam, Pop, Remi and Gizmo, we arrived around 10.15 for a 10.30 start, Andy Kate and Adam have not been here before. Phillip came out and greeted us, had a chat on what we wanted from the day and put everyone at ease. We then took the dogs for a small walk as they had been traveling from up from Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Derbyshire and Warwickshire. Phillip then started us with some heel work to settle the dogs giving an explanation on why this was done, he also used one of our dogs as a demonstration on correct lead control, from that we went onto incorporating the stop whistle and the need for the stop whistle. We then moved onto a few seen retrieves, one dog started off well retrieving then lost interest, Phillip stepped in and helped the handler to correct and encourage the dog back onto the retrieve all in a relaxed manner. We then moved onto the importance of the sit and stay even with distraction’s how to correct if the dog moved and when to praise the dog. At around 12 noon we went for lunch.

After lunch we  then went down to the rabbit pen most had not been in a rabbit pen before and one dog has had a bad experience in a rabbit pen with another trainer so we were all a little apprehensive, Andy took the plunge first with Remi ( who had a bad experience in the past) Andy walked with Remi around the pen on the lead, Andy lost his nerve a little again Phillip stepped in to help out within 15 minutes Phillip had Remi sat off the lead!! Andy’s words were i am amazed to which we all laughed!. We all had a go in the pen and all the dogs sat off lead with the help from candy the jack Russell flushing rabbits for them, to see this really made the day for us and we had not finished. We then went to use the jump with the exception of Sam, none of the dogs had done this before, but with guidance from Phillip all the dogs achieved it. We then finished the day on simple memory retrieves to which ended the day on a good note!. We then went for coffee and a chat and was joined by Amanda, Phil’s wife before leaving for home, i had a one to one with Phillip and i go to his group session but the other three had never been before.

Since arriving home i have e mails thanking me for organising the day with Phillip and how knowledgeable and friendly he is and his wife Amanda are for taking the trouble to join us making a very enjoyable day, as a group we will be back again. If you want one to one or a group of friends wanting a great day training then Fallowfen gundogs is the place to go, thanks Phillip and Amanda.

Regards from Steve,Kate,Andy and Adam with the Brittany’s.

This video is to try and show how we introduce our puppies into training.

We don’t start until the puppies are 9 – 10 weeks of age. Up till this point all we do is shake their food bowl to encourage them to be very excited around feeding time.

When we are ready to start we are looking at gaining eye contact from a young age, if a dog isn’t looking at you how do you know they are listening. We also Don’t give them any command to sit,. When you first do this you shake the bowl to gain there interest then when they are interested you stand still no words no movement. They will lose interest and continue to move, this is normal.

When they loose interest you shake the bowl again to regain interest. Eventually your puppy will put there bum on the floor for a split second you then put their food down with praise “Good girl or boy”. Within days you will go to feed them and there bum will be glued to the floor and there eye’s will not leave you.

This is the first test or your patience as a owner – handler. This could take up to 10 minutes the first time you do it depending on your dog and surroundings. But done right could give you a lifetime of good eye contact.

Congratulations to Liz Mcdougal and her Golden Retriever bitch Ghillie. Ghillie was sired by Flint – Haddeo Thesfus of fallowfen and mothered by Ivyhouse Khana of Fallowfen.

Liz kindly sent this photo of the line-up at the Crathorne Working Tests yesterday. They have now reached the heady heights of “open” working tests after this “novice” win on 77 marks out of 80 and an entry of 31.

This is a short video of Sky a black Labrador bitch sired by our chocolate stud dog Jim – Pechasi Hazel Nut of Fallowfen. Her dam is our black Labrador bitch Millie – Brocklebank Kitty.

Sky is being trained for a shooting man and is coming on very well. In the video you will see there is very little pressure put on her. She is allowed to run in for the retrieve at this point to keep things exciting but you will alos see every time she is told to stay she then waits for the command to collect the retrieve.

In the video i also use a dummy she has never picked up before, you will see how different she is when this happens and how we over come this to get her back to ourselves. Enjoy!

We thought we would post a few emails received of late regarding Working Golden Retrievers we have breed and how they are coming along.

Hi Amanda and Phillip,

I thought its time for another little update on Rocco. He is doing brilliant and his retrieving is coming on nicely. Just doing some more obedience classes at the moment before gundog training will begin in April.
He is strong boned and still gaining plenty in size. I think he will end up not much smaller than the other dog was. However he is ever so easy to train and it is almost like a walk in the park by comparison to training Charlie.
Well a little ‘more diluted’ Holway seems to make a difference perhaps. He is very alert but much easier to control. Good fun all round really.

Keep you posted and health and well being permitted he will certainly enter one or the other puppy working test this year.

Hope all is well with you – Christine + Rocco

Here are a selection of pictures we have received of Golden Retriever Puppies sired by Angus – Soinneanta Capercaillie of Fallowfen.

It’s a dogs life!

When people consider a new dog they think about the best breed for their lifestyle. They think about how much exercise a dog needs and whether they can commit to their exercise routine within their working lives.

If truth be known dogs don’t need exercise like we think they do, I’m sure you have heard so many people say ” I have to let him have a good run to get rid of that excess energy”. There are things you can do with a dog to help stretch his legs without letting him run wild. Lets take a look at wild animals, the only time you normally see a wild animal run is when they are hunting for food or about to become food!

The quickest way to tire any animal out is no different to ourselves, brain activity which makes them think.

The only time I exercise their legs is if I’m trying to build up their stamina to make them fitter. If you need to run your dog for 1 hour everyday to make him settle he will need longer and further exercise to keep him happy as time and age progresses.

A dog should be happy to go out for exercise as much as he should be willing to stay in the garden with the family with out demanding attention.

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover!

I think the important thing to most people is they like what they see!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so we all may be looking for something different in what we think is a nice looking pup.

Things to consider

Breed
Colour
Health screening
Sex
Big or small
Can you see mother of the puppies

When I look at a litter, I would have done my home work regards health screening to parents before hand. I’m looking for a bold pup not scared and willing to be handled, but also a nice looking puppy!

If you are looking to buy a puppy to breed from you should check to see if there are any breeding restrictions on the puppy, and whether these can be lifted.

You can’t buy your dog’s health!

When looking at different breeds one of the first things you should consider is what health issue’s that breed suffers from and whether there are current health tests which can be obtained from governing bodies such as the British veterinary association.

There are now D.N.A test’s that can be obtained before breeding which can guarantee the offspring would be clear of the said disease which had been tested for.

Clear x clear = clear
Clear x carrier = clear and carriers
Clear x affected = carriers

Carrier x carrier = normal, carrier and affected
Carrier x affected = carrier and affected.
Affected x affected = affected

So the main note is that as long as one of the parents is clear the offspring will never be affected by the disease. If your dog is a carrier please remember this isn’t a health risk your dog still can’t become affected.

However, there are health tests out there which can be obtained in certain breeds which should be obtained but doesn’t clear the next generation even though both parents can be clear.

Hereditary cataract is one of the biggest eye diseases which affects a few breeds which we have little control over. As there isn’t a D.N.A test available for this disease we cant be sure if our breeding stock is clear, carrier or affected.

There is an eye test which can be obtained from a B.V.A eye panelist for hereditary cataract this test will tell you if your dog is clear or affected at the time of the test. I can hear you say so what is the problem?? Well, your dog can be unaffected and obtain a clear eye certificate but your dog could be a carrier of the gene.

As we have already noted a carrier to carrier mating can produce clear, carrier and affected dogs. So the affected dogs keep creeping in to our dog population and keeping the disease alive!

Even though the disease then affect’s more puppies I must stress this hasn’t been done knowingly.

The same thing happens with hips and elbow score’s.
Hips are scored out of 106 in most breeds allowing 53 points on each hip. 53 being the worst score you can get and 0 being the best. We know from past results a 0/0 hip score on both parents won’t produce 0/0 hip score’s on every puppy born.
Unfortunately if truth be known if your dog score’s even 1 point it has hip dysplasia as this is a scoring system to score the onset of hip dysplasia.
There is a huge amount of stress put on dogs from environmental factors such as exercise, food and living conditions. There are breed average hip score’s available to monitor potential dogs for breeding stock.

Elbows are very similar however, do have a different scoring system. Elbows are scored in grades 0,1,2,3
If your dog score’s 0 / 0 it becomes a grade 0. If your dog scores a 1 / 2 it then becomes grade 2. Your dog takes the grade from the highest point on either elbow. The B.V.A have a leaflet explaining elbow scores and what they mean and the B.V.A do stress that dogs with the elbow grades 2 and 3 should be avoided for breeding if possible.