Dogging in…

Sarah’s dogs cooling off earlier in the year

A couple of months ago I was invited to go ” Dogging in” with a friend. I’m sure some of you will think this is rather risque subject to blog about but when you read on you will understand!!

Dogging in is the practise of using trained dogs, usually spaniels, to flush pheasants from the hedgerows surrounding fields to be ready for a days shooting.

Needless to say I didn’t take Rudy and Rio with me as they have not been trained to do this and I could only imagine the chaos that could have ensued if I had!!!

I arrived at Sarah’s farm at the pre arranged time to find her waiting in a small 4 wheel drive sort of buggy!! Her 2 Springer Spaniels, Purdey (8) and Jura (4) were in the back of the buggy along with her tiny terrier Lily!!  I think Lily has secret ambitions to be a field dog and there was no way she was going to be left behind!!!

So we set off around the fields with the dogs excitedly waiting in the back for Sarah’s command. When we arrived at our first destination Sarah told them to “get on”. The dogs leapt from the back of the buggy and started to systematically search the hedgerow and bushes for birds. Their sense of smell is amazing and soon pheasants were flying out in front of us!! Purdey and Jura have been trained by Sarah for just this job and they love it!! You can see they are in their element and know exactly what they need to do!!

Purdey doing what Springers do best!!!

Sarah and I drove round the edge of the fields as the dogs did all the hard work, they must cover miles each day!! When the field was covered the dogs jumped back into the buggy and we set off down roads and tracks to the next destination. Again the command was given and the dogs flew from the buggy and immediately set off, tails wagging, heads down with little Lily chasing after them as fast as her legs would carry her!!! She actually found a couple of stragglers that had hidden from the spaniels!!

As the morning progressed I was so impressed with the dogs. They have been trained so well, they know exactly what is being asked of them. They never jump out of the buggy until told to do so and however far away they are they always come straight back to a whistle from Sarah to continue the job!! Amazing !!

It certainly was a fantastic morning and made me want to do more and more training with Rudy and Rio!! I think it’s addictive and the more you do and achieve with your dog the more you want to try!!!  There are so many simple things that you can do , most of the time we just need to be shown how to train the dog!!

Sarah’s dog Jura recently had pups and she has kept 2!!! Greedy I think!!! Anyway these pups are her third generation and she has already started training them on a daily basis. They walk to heel happily both on and off the lead at just a few months old and will be well on their way to becoming really useful working dogs in the not too distant future!!!