Amid all the afflictions a working gundog can suffer, there is arguably nothing worse than being gun-shy. Peter Moxon, Shooting Times’s kennel editor for many years, didn’t think that there was…
David Tomlinson
Is the pheasant the perfect gamebird?
Good looking, fast flying, delicious as well as easy to rear, tough and adaptable. The pheasant comes in a perfectly designed package. Like anything that’s relatively trouble-free, we don’t think about…
Why are Labradors greedy?
A rogue gene could explain your Labrador’s insatiable appetite. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have discovered a genetic variation in Labradors that, they suspect, makes some obsessed with food.…
The golden rules for picking-up on a shoot
If you have picking-up dogs, then it is always good to get them out working, especially if you haven’t been out on the grouse moors or on partridge days. Taking…
We took a cavalier King Charles spaniel to a game fair. What happened next?
Some years ago we had a friend’s cavalier staying with us in July, so she accompanied us, with our springers, to the Game Fair. The fact that the fair was…
How to reduce stress for your dog at the vet
It is always amusing sitting in the waiting room of a veterinary surgery and seeing the various customers come in. Many gundogs, of course, are petrified of visiting the vet…
Is your gundog a fussy eater?
One of the remarkable things about dogs is that they will apparently happily eat the same thing every day, every week, throughout the year. A skinny spaniel stayed with us recently while its owners were…
How Camrosa can treat spaniels with skin problems
FOLLOWING A RECENT column when I wrote about problems with working spaniels’ ears, I had a charming letter from Edwina Le May, founder and director of the company that markets Camrosa Ointment. It is aimed specifically at…
Trendy dogs are not always the most healthy
I am a diligent reader of dog stories, but one I missed earlier this year was a regional map of dog-breed popularity, based on Kennel Club registrations in 2016. As…
Remembering an extraordinary Clumber spaniel
Losing a dog always hurts. When I wrote about the death of my springer, Fleur, last year at the age of 15, it clearly struck a chord with readers, as…
Sprockers – the aftermath of ‘Sprockergate’
Though the storm of “sprockergate” may have passed, it has left behind a lot of stirred and muddy water that will take a long time to clear. For those who…
Rocked by sprockergate
Earlier this month, I did something I’d never done before: I bought a copy of The Sun. I’d had a tip-off that the paper included a gundog news story, and sure enough, on the cover…
A cockerpoo as gundog?
I must admit that I’ve never seriously considered the potential of the cockerpoo (cocker spaniel-poodle cross) as a gundog, but a recent encounter on a Sussex shoot did give me food for thought. Four cockerpoos were…
Favourite gundog photographs
IF YOU ENJOY photography, few subjects are as satisfying to take pictures of than dogs, while working gundogs are perhaps the most pleasing, and challenging, of all. Whenever I attend a gundog event I always take…
Scottish Government turns tail on working dog tail docking
Those of us with British passports may think that we live in a united kingdom, but that’s certainly not the case, as a look at the law will soon confirm. In Northern Ireland, it…
Gundog ears badly designed
All our gundog breeds have floppy ears though, of course, some are a great deal floppier than others. Labrador ears may turn downwards, but they are functional and only covered in short hair, which might…
Why you should never buy a puppy on the internet
A recent press release from the Kennel Club (KC) on the perils of buying dogs on the internet was picked up by most of the newspapers. In case you didn’t see it, I will…
Frog dog posture – readers report back
I recently wrote about dogs that stretch out with their hind legs behind them – in the “frog dog” pose. Dave Seaborn from Abenhall Gundogs was one of several people who suggested dogs do…
Do dogs get dementia?
A recent newspaper report suggested that a third of dogs develop some sort of cognitive decline from the age of eight, and two-thirds do so from the age of 15. Having known a good…
A September challenge for the picker-up
It’s an indication of my age that the first partridge I shot was a wild grey, walked up in barley stubble on the North Downs. Today, the M20 motorway cuts through the site where I…