Shooting Times & Country Magazine
TWENTY-SIX DOGS AND COUNTING
The remarkable story of one man’s lifetime of adventure
It’s nearly half a century since I first met Keith Howman. I was covering a day’s shooting, won in a Game Conservancy raffle, for Shooting Times. Keith was one of the Guns and we soon discovered that we shared an interest in rare pheasants. A few years later, Keith was one of the founders of the World Pheasant Association (WPA).
I’ve remained in contact with Keith ever since and followed his exploits in establishing the WPA in Asia, visiting Pakistan no fewer than 19 times. Though I thought I knew Keith well, I didn’t appreciate his passion for game fishing. All is revealed in his memoirs, aptly titled
Such outbreeding — there could have been no common ancestors in many generations — produced an interesting litter, with dogs that were taller and heavier than the breed standard. Several of the litter went on to become sound workers. They weren’t going to win the spaniel championship, but my aim was good-looking, healthy dogs.
Dual purpose
I’m sure that there must be lots of show-bred labradors around that are sound workers, but I’ve rarely come across one. Peter Moxon, in his classic Gundogs: Training and Field Trials,
A Well Travelled Life, in which we discover that he and his wife, Jean, have fished in 34 countries, from Argentina to Zambia. The lockdown stopped Keith’s travels and prompted him to write his book, which is profusely illustrated with numerous photographs of his travels, the people he has met and his dogs.
Dogs have always been an important part of the couple’s life and, in a long chapter devoted to their canine companions, we discover that they have had 26 dogs during their long marriage
(58 years). Though they started with a labrador and have flirted with dachshunds and cockers, it’s springers that dominate.
As Keith was keen on driven shooting, I always found his enthusiasm for spaniels both surprising and endearing. He admits to a springer bias, though adding: “one spaniel at a time was always more than enough for me”.
Keith’s dog-of-a-lifetime was a liverand-white springer called Caper. She came to Keith ready-trained at 18 months. Keith
notes that labradors stand out as a breed that has achieved dual-purpose status, adding that it is possible to obtain a labrador capable of winning on the bench and at field trials.
Those words were written nearly 70 years ago, for he also wrote that “there exist at the moment several dual champions”. I don’t think that there have been any dual champion labs made up in the past six decades and the chances of any modern labrador becoming both a show and a field trial champion are nil.
The trouble is that a trialling dog needs to be fast and athletic, while show judges prefer big-headed, recalls fondly that “it was a period of my shooting life when I did not have my friends laughing at my dog’s bad behaviour”. Keith gave up shooting some years ago, but we learn that thanks to a good dog, he has hugely enjoyed his post-shooting picking-up days.
A Well Travelled Life is available from Barbara Ingman, WPA, Middle, Ninebanks, Hexham, Northumberland NE47 8DL, priced at £65, including postage. It’s not only about pheasants, dogs and fishing. There is a long and interesting chapter on Highland cattle that I found fascinating. deep-chested dogs that are incapable of performing in such a way as to be placed in, let alone win, a trial. The demands of the two disciplines are so far apart that there is little common ground except the name. Perhaps show dogs should be called labradors and the workers labrador retrievers.
Hunting instinct
I suspect that a fair percentage of show-bred labradors retain sufficient hunting instinct to be able to work as peg dogs, though I recall once pickingup behind one on a driven day. The dog was impressively rock steady, but declined to retrieve any of the birds my spaniel and I had left for him. The owner confirmed that the dog liked coming out shooting, but was quite happy to sit at the peg and do nothing.
Flatcoats are remarkably popular on the show bench, with Crufts usually hosting around 400 entries. In contrast, they are quite rare in the shooting field, with the result that there’s not as marked a division between show and working strains. The same is true with Welsh springer spaniels, though, sadly, the number of Welsh springers that work is few.
Show-bred dogs might not make the grade as trialling dogs, but many will work if given the chance.