Shooting Times & Country Magazine
ON A WING AND A CHEW
Why the raw food diet is a good choice for your dog
When I tell people that I feed my dogs raw chicken wings, I’m frequently met with wideeyed looks of astonishment, even from those who have had dogs for years. The suggestion is that I must be imperilling my dogs’ lives by feeding them such a dangerous food. After all, chicken bones splinter, don’t they? Raw chicken bones don’t splinter as they are rubbery, not brittle. Only when they are cooked are they a possible danger to a dog.
Raw, meaty bones are the basis of the BARF (bones and raw food) diet.
They contain water, protein, fat, minerals — particularly calcium — and vitamins to provide the bulk of a working gundog’s energy requirements. I’m sure that my dogs would relish T-bone steaks or legs UK in 2009 and last year they helped set up the French Spaniel Club UK to promote the breed here.
An even more recent arrival is le braque d’auvergne, a handsome blackand-white pointer from the Auvergne in the Massif Central. The Auvergne is a wild, rural area with stunning volcanic landscapes and this braque suits its home terrain perfectly. Braque translates as “pointer” and there are a number of other French braque that can be found in their native country. These include le braque Français, le braque d’ariege and le braque du Bourbonnais; the French call the German shorthaired pointer le braque Allemande.
Passion
A French breed that I met for the first time this past summer was the épagneul de Pont-audemer. A bitch and a dog were imported into the UK by Larry Wilks and Brenda Moss. They have switched to French dogs after 35 years working with German shorthaired and longhaired pointers and vizslas. Larry said he has never met a dog with more passion and ability.
The town of Pont-audemer is in Normandy and from nearby Picardy come two similar and closely related of lamb, but chicken wings have the advantage of being cheap, plentiful and readily available, which is why they are one of the easiest raw foods to give to your dog. They also have the ideal ratio of flesh to bone, as well as cartilage to fat.
Another common misconception about chicken wings is that you should only feed them to adult dogs. Why? They are just as good for growing puppies. With the last litter of springer puppies I bred, I introduced raw wings to them at five weeks. The puppies’ jaws weren’t strong enough to break up the wings, but they spent hours happily chewing them until nothing was left. Emma, my sprocker, who is now six months old, relishes her wing every morning, and is getting increasingly quick at eating it.
However, she is nowhere near as fast as Rowan, my 12-year-old springer, who can demolish a wing in less than 15 seconds. If the wing is frozen it takes her a little longer. Though I rarely provide frozen food, there is nothing wrong in doing so. In the winter much of the food breeds, the Picardy spaniel and the blue Picardy spaniel. There is a UK Picardy Spaniel Club, established in 2014, and its website is a good source of information.
Another little-known but interesting French gundog is the barbet, an ancient breed that was recognised by the Kennel Club earlier this year. To say that the barbet looks like a cross between a poodle and an Irish water spaniel may be eaten by wolves is frozen and it certainly doesn’t do them any harm.
I did make a mistake early this year in buying a supply of chicken wings from a company that specialises in zoo supplies. They were very large wings, presumably from old chickens, and my dogs weren’t keen. They prefer the tender wings from my local supermarket, taken from sixor seven-week-old broilers. a little unfair on the dog, but gives a good idea of the breed’s distinctive appearance. An ancestor of the curly-coated retriever and Irish water spaniel, the barbet has a reputation for being a great duck dog.
Rarities they may be, but an increasing number of French gundogs are being worked in the UK. Whether they will ever rival their German counterparts seems unlikely, but it does look like they are here to stay.