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Dogs for Game Hawking with Long Wings a personal view by Henri Desmonts |
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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 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 |
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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 . |
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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 |
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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" |
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Dogs for Game Hawking with Long Wings a personal view by Henri Desmonts |
