Choice of Dog
I would never presume to advise anyone on
something so personal as the choice of a hawking dog! I have seen spaniels
and gosses working together and doing it so well that the human participants
were just spectators. There are falconers flying their merlins at larks who
run Brittany spaniels specially trained to point larks, something that would
be a total anathema to field trialers. Falconers have been flying their
falcons at a variety of game birds pointed by pointers and setters for
centuries. I know American falconers who run dogs trained to flush duck from
ponds on command – and to stop working in response to a signal or when the
falcon has killed or is out of position. The use of trained gundogs in
falconry is limited only by your imagination and your skill as a trainer. Which BreedBroadly speaking, it is my opinion that it is generally wise to stick with the common well-known breeds of gundogs. |
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Many weird and wonderful breeds have been
imported from all over the world in the last few decades, most declared to be
the answer to the shooting man’s or falconer’s prayer. It saddens me to see
so many in search of “The Holy Grail”, the dog that does it all without the
owner having to be inconvenience by training the dog or to give it
experience. Believe me, such dogs are the result of hard work – or the
occasional freak of chance. A dog does not need a long pedigree or even a
KC registration certificate to be a success. And you can take that from a
breeder |
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who has line bred the same pointers for 33
years! One of the best all round hawking/shooting dogs I ever saw was the
result of a deliberate cross between a pointer and a Springer spaniel. The
Irish make these crosses regularly, perhaps a springer/setter,
springer/pointer, lab/pointer, or whatever takes their fancy and suits the
local conditions. These dogs are called Droppers and very popular they are
too. For some reason, we are obsessed with pieces of paper here in the UK and
that has nothing to do with commonsense or logic. Probably the worse fate to ever befall a
gundog breed is for it to become popular! When that day arrives, every pup
will be sold for a good price as they are snatched up by buyers eager to
breed a litter and jump on the gravy train. If it is a fairly rare breed, the
gene pool will already be limited and with every individual being bred from,
quality rapidly goes down hill to final ruination. The coupe de grace will be
selection for the show bench. The most popular gundog breeds in the UK are
probably the English springer spaniel and the Labrador retriever. Some |
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working spaniels can be taught to point and I
know at least one breeder in the US
who has established a strain of pointing Labrador! Frankly, I can think of
few breeds that would be better for hunting with a buteo or accipiter than a
spaniel. Working cockers are also excellent dogs but tend to be more
difficult to train than a springer. Almost any breed of dog can be trained to
point though it is probably better to start off with a breed that is inclined
to do so naturally. If you doubt me on that score, I would refer you to Mr
Arkwright’s pig that was taught to hunt and point partridges within a
fortnight! For the open moorland there is nothing to beat
one of the traditional breeds of working setters or pointers. Even on the
stubbles when hunting for partridges, the specialist bird dog is going to be
invaluable. I appreciate that ground cover on agricultural land is either too
thick or too thin these days to encourage game to lie to a point and most
falconers spot game birds with binoculars from a car window, but what happens
after the put-in when a young falcon needs encouragement? So far I have said nothing about the various
breeds of Continental “pointer-retrievers”. I am using quotation marks
because the UK is unique in being the only country in the world where the
traditional pointers and setters are NOT trained to retrieve! That aside, the
German short haired pointer, German wire haired pointer, Viszla,
Munsterlander, Brittany spaniel, etc. will all do good work where a
pointing-flushing dog is required on marginal ground. The choice is yours. Probably the most important thing about
choosing a dog is that it should be from working stock and from a strain that
is known to be fairly easy to train. The second thing is that it should be
your choice and from a breed/strain/family that you truly like and admire.
Having said that, some strains or breeds respond to one system of training
and others to another type of training. For example, viszlas are known to be
“soft” while GSP’s have a reputa tion for being “hard”. The dog needs to be
matched to the training system and temperament of the trainer. Whatever else,
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Dogs in Falconry
By Derry Argue |
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Birds
of prey are very quick to realize what gets them the chance of a kill. Most
will quickly learn to work with a dog once they realize what an asset it is.
If you can present your hawk with regular slips, it can only improve. There
is no better way of achieving that than with the help of a well trained dog. |
