Dogs for Longwings
If all men were in love with the same woman , many of them would be very unhappy . Having said that , I wish that the probably rough and ready statements that I might draw from my some years of experience in the field with pointing dogs and falcons will meet with the benevolent understanding of those whose tastes and choices differ from mine .
The use of dogs to locate game for hawk or falcon is very ancient . The oldest pictorial representation I know of is in Sienna , in Italy , and features , in the first half of the 14th century , two long haired dogs pointing quail or partridge for a mounted hawker with a spar or tiercel gos . The attitude of the dogs is very similar to the pointing style of today’s American Setters ( Ambrogio Lorenzetti :Effeti del buon governo in campagna).
The very existence of various breeds shows the versatility of human needs and tastes. It is the practical use with gun and hawk as well as the working tests , i.e. the field trials , which have made the dogs we enjoy today .
WHY A DOG
Game sits , tries to hide and has to be found and flushed for the waiting on falcon .
Some falconers advocate that dogs are only needed where game is only to be found in high cover such as heather on the hills and that a more precise and controlled flush can be obtained without a four legged assistant when game can be spotted as it is stocked with game and that only the happy few who can handle a pair of wide ranging English Setters or pointers to serve a high mounting bird can enjoy the summum of the sport .
To my fellows who claim that such a refinement is superfluous when game hawking and that a “good all round such and such four legged” is quite enough, I use to answer that game hawking itself is a superfluity , as it far excesses the daily bowl of rice, that the only justification of game hawking is the search of one’s pleasure through aestheticism . Of course your aesthetics can and may differ from mine . Mine are such that I know few better feelings in the field than to have a falcon barely visible in the sky who follows the work of two English Setters , to have one of them pointing and the other honouring and to watch the stoop on the covey they will have pointed.
CHOICE OF BREED
The best way to make a comparison between the qualities of the different breeds available is not to listen to a -usually little learned – friend , nor to a breeder who is necessarily partial to his or her beloved breed , but to observe the results of the competitions .
It is a fact that only some very few breeds rise above others in field trials .
In Europe where field trials for bird dogs are in far greater number than in the Isles , and where the stakes have much more competitors, there are separate stakes for continental breeds and for “English” breeds .
On the Continent , English Pointers and English Setters take most results in stakes for British breeds (With my apologies to Irish friends , the Irish setter is known as one of the “Races Anglaises “) , Brittanies and G.S.P. have the best among continental breeds .often the case with partridge in winter wheat .
If dogs are unnecessary for flights out of the hood I feel that to fly a waiting on falcon without a dog is missing the point of game hawking , that to fly it using only a spaniel to flush is far from getting all the taste of the sport , that to fly over a short ranging brittany or G.S.P.is fit only on ground enclosed or over In U.K. and Ireland , English pointers seem for the moment to be on the top and the good gordon setters are probably in greater proportion than on the continent , English setters are on the way up and the good Irish setters appear more numerous than on the continent . I have not attended to field trials run for continental breeds in the Islands but I doubt that the small numbers whelped of these breeds could be a match for the original stock. Whith the -hopefully near- end of the quarantine , it will not be so expensive to buy good stock from top breeders in Europe.
In game hawking , the falconer’s attention is mainly on the falcon , so a dog widely marked with white is to be preferred , as easier to spot .This is not in favour of choosing a Gordon or an Irish setter.
So , what would be the choice ? – In my opinion and taste of course. For enclosed country and heavily stocked ground , a Brittany or an elderly English setter or pointer. For open ground , moors and low density game , an English setter or English pointer .
CHOICE OF LINE
This is more important than the previous point.
Show or “bench” stock is to be avoided as few of the forebears , if any , have been thoroughly tried in difficult conditions on wild born game.
Dogs from field trial stock are more consistently good working and easier to train than the so called ” just practical” stock .
In the Isles , lines of dogs which have proven over several generations their quality on snipe or grouse are to be preferred to those whose ancestors have only been trialed on the stubble , mainly because there are so many pheasants and because it is not sure that the game was wild born .
On the continent the word “field trial ” can cover anything from stakes run on planted game to those where the game is snipe , woodcock , blackcock , or the great stakes where only the points on wild partridge can qualify a dog . From the lowest to the highest are:
GIBIER TIRE : game shot over dogs . Usually planted game except the stakes on snipe , woodcock or blackcock which are of course wild born . Only dogs proven in these last trials are of interest in a pedigree .The so called “Championnat du Monde”(World Championship) is run on freshly released game .
QUETE DE CHASSE : this is the classical work and a dog coming from this stock might probably be a good one , providing that most of his forebears have qualified in spring field trials , which are run on partridge. Continental and “English” breeds compete in separate stakes .
The GRANDE QUETE stakes are the element of the cream of the cream of English setters and pointers with seldom the appearance of a Gordon or an Irish setter .Dogs run fast and far , at least 500 meters on both sides , they have to find and point the game -only points on wild partridge can qualify a dog -, be unconcerned by fur , dominate the other dog but not pass game and self honour the mate’s point ; many faults can put them out – need of too much whistle , of “help” from the handler to back , unsteadiness on wing , interest in fur , being “not in tune” , which means not mastering enough ground or game , running wild, false points ……..To quote numbers: There are about 30 000 setters and pointers whelped every year in Europe ; dogs run in GRANDE QUETE from three to eight years old ; from these (8-3)x30 000 = 150 000 dogs , only 200 or so run in GRANDE QUETE , and only very few of these last qualify or win . Of course they are all of the same lines .It is the same as with horses : the number of thoroughbred who run the Derby or the”
Arc de Triomphe ” is also very small compared to the number of horses born .It is those animals which are of interest in a pedigree as they pass their high qualities to their offspring , but usually to a lesser degree, which makes these more adapted to the ordinary man or woman .
The quality of dogs bred for field trials has tremendously improved on the continent during the last twenty five years , so has their easiness to be trained and their understanding . With all due respect to my friends who breed good pointing dogs in the Isles, I feel that , except for Irish and Gordon setters , a falconer is likely to derive satisfaction with a partner from spring field trials stock if his choice goes for a Brittany or a G.S.P., or from “Grande Quête” lines if it is to be an English setter or pointer .The fact that several of the continental falconers who come every year to Scotland have preferred to go through the trouble and high expenses of the quarantine to import one or more dogs – English setters or pointers whose ancestors have been trialed in “Grande Quête” – rather than to buy one in the Isles proves that this assertion is not without ground .
PUPPY – YOUNG DOG – OLD DOG
Most want to take a puppy because they feel that it will be easier to train to their own style of sport . Usually also the strain on the wallet seems to be lighter than with an older dog . Here again one has to think the question out .
A puppy bought when two to four months old will seldom take his first points before nine to eighteen months old . It will not be reliable for the highly skilled work needed in order that the falcon shall not be too often deceived before two or three years old. What do the field trials addicts do to have good dogs ? They breed or buy from what they feel is the best stock . Instead
of sticking to a single pup , they keep and train, more or less partially , several ; and , after several months or years , end with fewer – hopefully top class – dogs than they have begun with . It is rather foolish to think that having only one pup the odds are that , because it is yours , it will turn to be “the great dog”.
A falconer who can keep and train several dogs can do the same as do the doggy people : if his choice , dedication , skills and resources are average to good , he or she will probably end with success . On the other hand , if he is -or if his wife makes him be – a “one dog only” falconer, choosing a pup will put him off practical dog for a good while and will leave too much to luck .
The YOUNG DOG bought when twelve to thirty months old offers , in my opinion , better prospects. First , all disease and trouble with growth will be avoided . The dog will be probably only a few weeks or months before being able to work for the falcon . He will have been properly shown working on game by the handler ( I did not write “shown working properly” , it is still too young for that ) …if the falconer is wise enough not to buy a dog in a poke . Of course it will not be finished yet ; it means that you and him have a good opportunity to become real partners .
If the young dog comes from a field trial or practical kennel , it will be the “near to best”, the one the handler will have kept , partially trained and tried , before having kept for himself the one he believes to be the very best. Providing you make only few mistakes , you will have a chosen partner for a long while .
Of course the momentary cost will seem bigger than with a pup . Think about the cost of food , vet, travelling to and from training ground , hire of training ground , time and cost involved in training ; you will soon find that you could not produce a young dog out of one pup for the cost of a ready made young dog . The breeder or the handler has all these ex
penses for cheaper than you ever could and pays them off with several dogs instead of only one .
We should also have a good look at the opportunity to find with a field trial addict or handler a six to nine years old dog. It will be a good one , for sure , as it will have been kept so long by an experienced doggy man or woman .It will probably have already more experience of game than you could ever give it . It will be ready to work hard for your falcon … and will enjoy it so much, as , being mentally turned towards the bird , you will not exert as much pressure on it as its previous handler ; so it will work more freely . Also its cost might not be (quite) so high as you could fear , as the vendor usually has to make room for young stock and might be happy to see an old fellow going to a good home .
What about the “short” time it will be in service ? This will certainly be the only drawback . But the problem of the retirement of an elderly dog is the same with a “first class” which will have shared with you some of the best years of his life as with a plain one who will have spent all his life with you. You will have to face it sooner or later .
DOG OR !@#$%^&*
As a breeder I am used to meet with numerous and sometimes odd requirements . The most common is from people who do want a puppy !@#$%^&* . Usually I am asked two or three !@#$%^&* for one dog .
I feel that unless for people who are mad enough to get themselves involved into breeding or for those who have already a !@#$%^&* at home , a !@#$%^&* is not a good choice . They come into season twice a year -usually when game hawking is legal -, are somewhat difficult to keep at home during those days , might be a bit inattentive with game , and definitely cannot and may not be taken out working where there is an other dog or more . Another drawback for people who want wide ranging dogs is the fact that , sometimes but all the same too often !@#$%^&* become short ranging and less avid for game when reaching four or five years old .
What first dictates the choice of sex in a new dog is the fact of already having a dog of the same sex at home . It is looking after trouble to have dogs of different sexes , especially if the breeds are not the same .
If your case is not such , then I strongly advise to choose a dog which is of a more regular mood and work and who can be taken everywhere all year round . Quid if a !@#$%^&* comes to live definitely in your place ? Then I feel vasectomy is the only practical answer .
If it were not for the necessity to breed partners which will meet with my needs , I would only have dogs . In fact I am currently training a young and very promising English setter puppy dog which I just took to France from our kennel in Scotland .
ABOUT THE COST
A horsy friend of mine use to say that ” Horses are cheap but farriers are expensive .”
A dog will live ten to twelve years , or more ; it will work properly from three to nine years old . The part of the initial cost of buying a dog will be very small compared to the cumulative expenses of keep , food , injections , vet fees , training etc … These last will be the same for a crack , a moderately good , and a not so god one – the time and cost involved in training will probably be substantially bigger with a moderately good or a not so good .One is more likely to find pleasure in serving a long wing with a partner from the very best lines he can find and afford. So it is probably a mistake to be tight when buying the partner who will make or mar your falcons for at least six seasons ……END
Slideshow
