Our picking up season

My picking up team our having a bad start to the season and as I am the person responsible for loading them into the truck to undertake this critical role on a shoot day, need to accept that this shouldn’t be allowed to continue.

After our first four days picking up we have developed a few problems with the basic manners. At first and somewhat naively I thought this was early day excitement, big days lots of other dogs at different levels of obedience I was sort of hoping once we all settled down then the normal collection of the game harvest would resume.

So let me tell you about our second drive this weekend, four large fields all with different game covers, enabling the birds to be shown to the guns over large long hedges, depending on the wind direction the birds can driven according to conditions and the ability of our guns. 

Now standing there well back from the line, I had one dog off the lead, she is a capable and honest dog and also standing with us was my newest member of the pack, Quinn at fourteen months old sat on a lead, she is young to be out and this season I was hoping to concentrate on her environmental training.

“Bang” - high towering partridge, helicoptering in the wind which will be a strong runner, the older dog Bella has seen it and is sent immediately to ensure the swift collection of the wounded game.

“Ouch” - now ripping straight out of my hand is the brand new nice lead from Dog and Field and my young bitch Quinn has made her mind up that this being on a lead lark seems somewhat unfair and begins to chase down Bella, well the bird is collected nicely in the gun line by Bella, to be joined however very quickly by Quinn and a tussle ensues, been some 200 yards back and as it’s in the middle of the drive my return here whistle has no effect, unsurprisingly. So I stop, think and walk towards the now worsening situation as Bella drops the wounded partridge and runs off towards other down game, Quinn copies her and drops the injured bird to join in the fun of the hunt, now I know the main flushing points aren’t too far ahead of us, as I begin to sneak down the side of the field, briefly looking back to see the other pickers gleefully stood with their dogs, sat nice and calmly, this was normally me however this is far from an isolated incident this season but it will be the last.

So as a good friend often says, “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got.” So what needs to be different, on reflection has the introduction of the younger dog been the catalyst for our woes this season so far, was our training over the close season too relaxed and directed towards the younger dog, even my very old dog Hutch has taken to holding onto the birds just that little too long and that little too hard. 

Now I try to maintain if I am clear, calm and consistent with my dog training the results are inevitable, so back to the drills and some basic manners before we head out again.

So once I got about 50 yards away my stop whistle was employed to good effect, Bella sat nicely, however, she wasn’t the main problem, Quinn was running a-mock as the drive thankfully finished now as the others picking up dogs where now entering the field, it was a sign for her to continue her unwanted behaviour and I wasn’t able to stop her, finally, she came close enough and I sat down on the floor encouraged her into me, reached in and gave her a good stroke, it’s not her fault this was mine, too much too soon perhaps or not holding the lead tightly enough. 

Now these are the times where I reflect, should the right decision be to leave Quinn in the kennel on a shoot day or hold that lead more tightly, will the shoot day experience outweigh the negative, which way will a better dog be achieved, let’s find out together. 

I hope you will follow our journey this season, reading all about our in-field experiences warts and all in Scribe-hound, I am off to buy a new lead and some more sloe gin.

Russ Roby