PICKING-UP PAYMENTS

One reader shares his meticulous accounts

My recent article on payments for picking-up (David’s viewpoint, 7 September) prompted an interesting response from a reader, Peter, who keeps meticulously detailed accounts of his picking-up expenses. He emailed me to say that he expects to be paid for picking-up on a commercial shoot, explaining: “Why should I do it for nowt while they’re getting an income?” I expect most of us feel the same.

Peter has cut back considerably on the number of shoots where he takes his team of labradors, and is now down to just one where he receives £50, a sum “which comes nowhere near covering the real costs. Fuel costs at 45p per mile are £9.45, so the net is just over £40. Last year, I had some fairly horrendous vet bills, including a cruciate ligament, and we were away a fair bit, so there were significant kennelling costs, then there was the cost of a new dog. Allowing for expenses and income, the net cost to me per day was £331.51, so it isn’t cheap. I did 23 days last year, slightly fewer than usual, and will probably do about the same this season.”

Peter tells me that he has being doing a self-employed tax return since 1981 and has been scrupulously careful to record all income and expenses. “As picking-up is almost all expense, it is a useful offset against any other income. My taxable loss last year was £6,248.87. I haven’t sent the return in yet and it’s the biggest loss I’ve ever recorded, so I hope there won’t be a fuss.”

Though some shoots will reward pickers-up who have more than one dog, few pay more if you have three or four, so as Peter points out, three dogs cost half as much again as two but don’t generate any more income. It was high vet bills that led to Peter’s big annual loss: he believes that in a typical year the net cost per day would be somewhere around £100. It’s lucky that few of us do such detailed accounts, as otherwise we might find that we can’t really afford to work our own dogs.

Few shoots pay more for three or four dogs