The
Gundogs and their owners together with speakers,
Iams staff and Three Ridings Labrador Club officials
This
was the theme of the seminar held at The Cedar Court Hotel,
Wakefield, hosted by the Three Ridings Labrador Club. Around
50 people settled down to listen to some stimulating presentations
by a panel of speakers, who each contributed a different dimension
to the day, which was generously sponsored by Iams Eukanuba.
The first speaker was David Morgan, a Veterinary Surgeon employed
by the Iams Company, who was flown in from the headquarters
in Geneva to give a presentation on Nutrition in the sporting
dog, both for growth of young animals and for the endurance
required when working. Potentially a dry subject, the speaker
was both knowledgeable and entertaining, illustrating his
talk with some superb photographs. Of particular interest
to the audience were the research-based findings about the
recommended levels of calcium in the diet in relation to growth
disorders such as Hip Dysplasia or OCD.
Informative
The
differences in the requirements of sprinters versus endurance
athletes were also very informative, the endurance athletes
in this case being sled dogs and Pointers in the research
referred to, the conclusion being that a high level of fat
in the diet was the most important source of energy for this
kind of muscle activity.
The next presentation was from Kelly Kelly of the Kelford
Gundogs in North Wales. Kelly is a canine behaviourist and
HPR trainer, owning German Wirehaired Pointers and her talk
was aimed at reducing the great divide between show and working
animals in many of the gundog breeds, where physical appearance
and temperament can differ so much. She advocated encouraging
show and working gundog enthusiasts to find some common ground
when considering breeding programmes, in particular the tempering
of "hot" working lines by introducing blood from
more steady show-bred stock in order to produce more biddable
and controllable gundogs, whether these be for the working
or pet market. Her presentation was illustrated by some "live
models", two 10 month old GWP puppies who conformed to
the breed standard and were described as having suitable temperaments
for work.
To emphasise the point that working gundogs could be produced
to their respective breed standards, there were also three
examples of other breeds, the representatives of which were
all successful in the field and in the show ring. The Flatcoated
Retriever bitch was bred from show stock and is successfully
shown at Championship Show level, however, her owner recognised
the bitch's natural working ability, trained her and now works
her on shoots as a picking-up dog. The English Springer Spaniel
again was primarily bred for showing, but really enjoys his
work; he recently gained his Show Gundog Working Certificate
and has 2 Reserve CCs to his name as well as many other wins.
The German Shorthaired Pointer has two Field Trial awards
and was bred primarily as a working dog, however, he is shown
regularly at Championship Show level and won two classes at
Crufts this year.
The final speaker for the afternoon, after a superb carvery
lunch, was Anne Greeves, the Kennel Club's Field Trials Manager.
She gave a very interesting and amusing talk, accompanied
by some excellent photographs from Field Trials and competitions
over the years. She outlined her own professional background
and how she had come to work for the Kennel Club, her personal
interest in working gundogs through her husband's involvement
in Field Trials as handler and judge, and her mission to improve
communication with the grass roots competitors. There was
an explanation of how the new Working Gundog Certificate had
been developed and of future plans to involve young people
more in the working gundog scene. Many in the audience were
very appreciative of the opportunity to meet the "human
face" of the KC Field Trials department and get direct
answers to the questions raised.
The day could not have taken place without the generous sponsorship
from Iams or the work put in by the committee of the Three
Ridings Labrador Club and it is hoped that more events such
as this can take place in the future.
Special
guests at the seminar were these dual purpose gundogs: l-r:
GSP 'Asa' with Stevie Allerton, ESS 'Sonny' with Ann Geddes,
F/C Retriever 'Vicki' with Gary Ellison, GWP 'Jester' with
Andy Povey and GWP 'Sommes' with Lyndon Ford
