Gundogs and flowering rape
I believe that you use dogs when you are pigeon shooting, but do you ever take them through a rape field in flower? I’ve heard it can cause nasty burns and irritation to dogs.
Peter says: I have never owned a gundog, but my shooting partner Paul has one, and will take it in certain circumstances. He never uses it in situations where the dog could come to any harm, such as standing corn and particularly barley. I have no knowledge whether flowering rape causes problems, but there are relatively few occasions when we would be shooting over such a crop. Even rape stubble can cause eye injuries from the sharp stalks, so you do need to be careful when you work your dog.