Gundog Training Forum

Good to see you're at it again - Dave had said your wee dog went well at the gamekeepers.

Good read and undoubtedly a young dog to follow for the season. Well done.

Good to read your write ups again Scott, with the new dog and all hope to see many more

scot-ish wrote: ↑Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:03 pm Good to see you're at it again - Dave had said your wee dog went well at the gamekeepers.

Cheers Jamie. With a better bit of ground on her first run shed have maybe been placed higher

On Monday I travelled down to Witham on the Hill in Lincolnshire to compete in the Kennel Clubs Open and Novice Cocker Stakes which were being run on the Monday and Tuesday respectively. I’d known I had a run in the novice for a few weeks and was very surprised to get a phone call on Saturday morning to say I had a run in the open as well!! No pressure! She’d only run in two novice trials previously and is still only 18 months old.

My alarm went off around 3:30am and I was on the road for 4am, not my idea of a good Monday morning. The meet time was 9am, and with a journey time of around 4 hours I was making good time when I stopped around Leeds on the M62 for a coffee. When I jumped back in the car my estimated arrival had jumped to 9:30am – 30 minutes later than when I needed to be!! Nightmare. As I made my way down the A1 this went out as far as 10:05am. At this point I rang the secretary who told me to keep going as two other people were stuck in the same traffic.

With the right pedal to the floor whenever possible I flew down the A1 and managed to get there at 9:30. We were still waiting for one of the others to arrive so I quickly got my boots etc on and got ready to make the short journey to the trial ground.
This probably wasn’t ideal preparation. Ellie had spent five and a half hours in the car and I hadn’t had chance to give her a run to stretch her legs, never the less we were in at number 9 so we had a bit of time to get over the journey.

There’d been lots of comments on Facebook about how horrible the ground was, but when we got to where the trial was to be held we were met with a lovely bracken bottomed wood, ideal for cockers. The early dogs soon got into game and it wasn’t long before I was in backing up Ryan Kay after Gino Perreira had been in and out after flushing a muntjac!! This first section of wood had resulted in a number of dogs going out.

Ryan’s run came to an end and I was up. Ellie’s first open trial. I was in under Nick Powell and Steve Bates and started in a small patch of bracken before the thick bracken I could see further ahead. I’d not gone 10 yards when Ellie had a lovely flush on a cock bird which was shot around 20 yards to our right and had landed in a ditch on the edge of the wood. Nick told me to send her and she was out and back with it with one minor cast to get her back a little further on the right side of the wind as it was unlikely she’d have marked it from where she was.

I carried on hunting and hit the bramble, not something Ellie is used to as she’s done most of her training on rabbits. She wasn’t smashing it as well as the other dogs and took some reassuring to get into it. Shortly after Nick tapped me on the shoulder and told me he’d seen enough and that was my first run completed. Shook both judges hands and returned to the gallery, over the moon we’d finished an open run.

I took the opportunity to get some water into Ellie as the number of dogs left in was rapidly decreasing. The trial continued and we got through the bramble and into another area of the wood which was mainly bracken with patches of bramble and I was called over to back up behind Jamie Smith with OFTW Abiann Flawless. Unfortunately Jamie went out and I was in, this time under Jack Iliffe and Sally Jenkins. I was given my beat and cast Ellie off, she looked 10 times better than in the bramble.

After hunting 30 yards or so, interspersed with waiting for the dog on the other side to retrieve a runner which was running around in front of us, Ellie had a lovely find on a cock bird which was shot around 30 yards to our left. I was told to send her and she took on handle to get into the area, but nothing was there. I let her hunt a bit but still nothing. It had looked dead when it came down. Ellie had a thorough search of the fall and the wider area but came back with nothing. As I was the 2nd to last odd numbered dog, there was no even dog to come over to attempt the eye wipe, so both judges went out to try and locate the bird. At this point I was waiting to put my lead on, but they didn’t find it, it must have run straight away.

I was told to carry on before a single shot rang out. A loose hen bird had been shot 25 yards to our right. I was given a mark and cast Ellie out. A couple of handles and she had the bird swiftly back to hand. That was my run done and I’d completed my first Open trial with Ellie. I was over the moon.

There was only one dog to run after me, and the trial was deemed over shortly after he’d completed his run. It was then a short walk back to the cars. I set off back to the hotel, not realising that the presentations were being done at the keepers’ house. After sitting at the hotel and trying to get hold of Nick Powell, Nigel the secretary and a couple of other competitors I finally found out where I needed to be, arriving just in time for the presentations.

I didn’t expect to get anything which was a relief, as I didn’t haha!! She hadn’t hunted hard enough in the bramble, it’s something we need to work on if we’re to run in it again, but I was chuffed that we had made it through the open stake when only 6 of the original 16 dogs completed the trial.

From here it was back to the hotel where I had a cheeky hours sleep before taking all the dogs out for a run prior to having some tea. I was starving! I hadn’t had chance to stop anywhere for food, all I’d had to eat was a kit-kat at 6am!!! I fed the dogs and gave Ellie a checking over before going for a few beers and food, preparing myself for the novice the next day!!

My alarm went off at 7am on the Tuesday Morning for the Novice trial. I got a quick shower before breakfast and then jumped in the pickup with the dogs to give them all a run before the days trialling. I also managed to find a garage for a sandwich etc – I wasn’t missing out on lunch again! I made it back to the hotel around 8:30am, in good time for the meet at 9.
Waiting in the hotel car park was Dean Aylott, a friend who has one of Fern’s pups. I’d told him to bring her as he was coming to watch anyway and he ended up getting a run in the trial as well as Fern due to a number of competitors dropping out the day before. I was in at number 4 with Fern, Dean was 10 with Twiggy and I was 14 with Ellie.

After the briefing etc it was back in the cars and back to exactly the same ground we had run the Open stake in yesterday. I was doing my best to reassure Dean he’d be OK. It was his first trial after all. I was backing up Martyn Elliott on the left hand side as he began his run in the bracken. His dog was going nicely and soon had a find and retrieve.
At this point I have to mention I haven’t done any trialling training with Fern in months. She’s been dogging in, picking up, beating etc, but I thought the heavy bramble might hold her a bit. It didn’t!!!!! She smashed the place to bits with her hunting, unfortunately not in unison with myself and it wasn’t long before Anita tapped me on the shoulder and told me to call her in. Short but sweet!!

In came number 6 and Dean was immediately backing up as there was no number 8 dog. He was soon in line and from where I was Twiggy looked to be going well. I saw a flush, heard a whistle, and the bird came down. Unfortunately she’d bounced a little too far and that was her out. She hadn’t disgraced herself, many open dogs had gone out yesterday for much worse. Dean took Twiggy and Fern back to the cars at this point whilst I waited to go in with Ellie.

Number 12 unfortunately went out and I was up. I had a lovely bit of bracken to start off in and it wasn’t long until Ellie punched a cock bird out from underneath some bracken, sitting to the flush and watching it get shot 20 yards or so away. She was soon out and back with it. We hunted on and she was going much better than yesterday, I think she realised she would find things in the brambles etc. Anita Jones, one of the new judges for today told me that’d do, shaking both hers and Nick Powells hands I headed back to the gallery with a smile on my face.

A couple of the dogs on the right hand side were having long runs, and with numbers 4,8,10 and 12 going out, we had quite a long wait before our second run. Ironically it came at almost exactly the same place as yesterday in the open.

This time I was in under Steve Bates and new judge John Eyre. I was given a lovely bracken bed to hunt. I clicked Ellie off and she looked lovely going under the bracken and popping out of it. I had a flushed within the first 15 seconds, a cock bird shot straight out in front. Steve laughed and said "That's the sort of luck Opie would have". Send your dog he said. Ellie went out and started to hunt just short of the fall in the bracken. Luck was on my side again, the pheasant sprung up into the air and she went further out and picked it. Bringing it straight back to hand.

We were asked to hunt on for what felt like an eternity as I was the last dog in before I finally heard the words "that'll do you". I was elated, we had finished another trial and she had gone well.

The judges got together and shortly after declared the trial over, like yesterday, it was a short walk back to the car. At least this time I knew where we were going for the presentations.

A quick sandwich and coffee and it was time for the presentations. Nigel Dear was presenting the awards and I was first dog to be called up in 3rd place. I was chuffed to bits. I think 9 dogs finished the trial and only 1st to 3rd were awarded.

Speaking with the judges after the trial, I was awarded an A by all 4 judges. The dogs in first and second had a couple of good As so I wasn't far away. On another day on ground that suits her better I might have got the win.

I have to mention how good the ground was despite all the negativity it has received about it being tough. Yes it's bramble, but the keeper did an excellent job of prepping it.

That's four trials now for Ellie. Including an Open trial where she was one of six dogs to finish. She has received two Certificates of Merit and a 3rd place. Hopefully the win is just around the corner.

Really enjoyed the write up
And well done

Congratulations, lovely to read about the trial in detail, you must be very pleased with Ellie.

Great write up again, love reading these!
Well done..

Big well done to you both. Litter brother aint doing too bad either. Seen him work and impressed.