The next generation
Before they can take their place in the pack, this year’s hounds will need to mature. And puppy walkers are a vital part of that process, as David Tomlinson explains
FEW jobs require such a multitude of talents as that of a professional huntsman. The skill required to hunt a pack of hounds one takes for granted, along with the ability to ride across the stiffest of country without falling off. A knack for butchering fallen stock is essential, as well as being an accomplished mechanic in order to keep the hunt lorry functioning. A deft touch with a paintbrush is handy to ensure that the kennels always look their best, too. But perhaps the most underrated necessity is charm, which is far more than raising a cap on hunting days. A good huntsman has to be able to persuade subscribers and supporters to walk hound puppies, not the easiest thing to do when we all know that a foxhound puppy can be the naughtiest and most destructive small animal there is.
The tradition of puppy walking stretches back for almost as long as we have had packs of hounds. A huntsman has quite enough things to do without bringing up the puppies, so it makes sense for the youngsters to go to temporary homes until they are old enough to come back and join the pack. According to the 8th Duke of Beaufort, writing in his authoritative volume Hunting (first published in 1894), puppies are usually ready to be sent for their walks when they are about three to four months old. Here they “remain to be tended at the discretion of their temporary masters till the following spring”.
Puppy walking is a serious commitment and not one for the faint-hearted. To qualify as a puppy walker there are a few essentials. First and foremost is a sense of humour, but you will also need land with suitable outbuildings that will provide warm and secure housing for your temporary visitors. Foxhounds are working animals, not pets, so there’s no need for house training, nor for bringing them into the house, something the resident dog is unlikely to approve of.
The early months of a dog’s life are highly formative, and just as much so for a foxhound puppy as a spaniel or labrador. The huntsman is hoping that the puppies out at walk will be introduced and become accustomed to all those distractions they are certain to come across later in life, such as cats and chickens, deer and dogs, pigs and people. Ensuring that the puppies don’t chase anything they’re not meant to – and that means almost anything except butterflies – is one of the most important lessons for them to learn.
Unlike almost any other dog, there’s no need to train a foxhound puppy to walk on a lead, though some walkers believe that this is a discipline worth installing; it will certainly make life easier for any puppy that is destined to be shown. Your huntsman is unlikely to ask you to lead-train a puppy but he will be delighted if you do so. Nor does a puppy need to be taught to sit on command, or even when given its supper, but some walkers enjoy the challenge of introducing a little training into the puppy’s everyday routine. And while on the subject of supper, it’s normal for the huntsman to provide the puppies with food during their months away at walk, so that’s one thing the walker doesn’t have to think about.
With gundog puppies it’s a good idea to introduce them to as many experiences as you can: I take mine to town on market day, for example. If you can offer similar excitements to a foxhound puppy, then so much the better. I have heard of foxhound puppies whose temporary masters walk them to the pub and of others taken to country fairs, but these are the exceptions. Fortunately, though foxhound puppies may be absolute hooligans, they invariably have sound temperaments and so love meeting people.
Though it’s not unusual for a walker to take on a single puppy, most adopt two. This does, of course, mean double-trouble but on the other hand two puppies will play with each other, challenging their energy in a better direction than digging up your vegetable garden. However, exercising the puppies is important and much easier if you have a fenced paddock to let them loose in, though again that’s by no means essential.
Anyone who has walked puppies will delight in entertaining you with lurid stories of the escapades their charges have got up to, but as they will readily admit that’s half the fun of walking them. Foxhound puppies are born mischief-makers, it’s part of their make-up, and it’s what you expect. The satisfaction for the puppy walker is playing a vital role in supporting the hunt, for without the walkers it would struggle to survive. There’s also the huge satisfaction of going to the meet and being greeted by ‘your’ hounds.
One question puppy walkers are always asked is how they can bear to send the puppies back to the kennels. But by eight or nine months the puppies are clearly ready for the next stage in their lives. “You always know when the time has come,” one walker told me. “It’s sad to see them go but also a great relief. You’ve then got a few months to prepare for the next lot.”
Puppy walkers will delight in entertaining you with lurid stories of their escapades – but will readily admit that this is part of the fun
ON more than one occasion while living in the UK over the past two years, I have caught myself looking out at the beautiful countryside and feeling almost as if I were at home. Although the past several years of my life have been spent living in various cities in the UK and US, my rural roots run deep.
Originally from a small town of just 368 people, my family has been raising cattle and farming the same land for more than 140 years. I acknowledge this may not be considered noteworthy in the UK, but in the US this has earned us special recognition from the Arkansas Agriculture Department. While my rural upbringing gave me an appreciation for fieldsports, it wasn’t until I moved to the UK that I pursued shooting in a serious way through my involvement with the Oxford University Clay Pigeon Shooting Club. Ultimately, it has provided me with a wonderful opportunity to connect my personal and professional interests in an exciting way.
My involvement with rural pursuits is not confined to my upbringing and recent sporting activities, however, and my passion for rural issues has shaped and defined my academic and professional paths. As an undergraduate at the University of Arkansas, I took a year’s leave of absence and travelled more than 100,000 miles while serving as a national officer for the National FFA Organization, the premier youth organisation in the US preparing student members for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture.
This experience not only deepened my commitment to agriculture and rural issues, but it also solidified my goal to pursue a career ensuring that rural voices are heard in the policy process. This has since led to internships and fellowships in rural policy at the US Department of Agriculture, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and on the White House Domestic Policy Council.
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Find ways to advocate for rural pursuits, people and the environment in whatever you do, whether it be through direct work or indirectly by
introducing others to your love of the countryside and fieldsports. It is always helpful to have more voices at
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Yet, even after these experiences, I still had a desire to further my academic understanding of rural issues. I was fortunate enough to receive a Marshall Scholarship, a competitive two-year scholarship that allows Americans to study in the UK, and I decided to pursue an Mphil in Public Policy from the University of Cambridge and an MSC in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford.
The intersection between rural issues and prominent political issues in both the US and UK made these postgraduate programmes an interesting option and it has helped me to gain a better understanding of the issues rural areas face more broadly.
Additionally, both academic programmes have offered me incredible freedom to incorporate rural interests into my coursework, including policy research on rural broadband, rural poverty and farm labour shortages in the US and UK.
However, I wanted to find a way to reconnect with my rural roots in the UK outside of the classroom after I finished my degree at Cambridge. This drove my initial desire to join the Oxford University Clay Pigeon Shooting Club earlier this school year. The experiences I have had as a member of the club will be a part of my Oxford experience I will cherish forever. In clay pigeon shooting, I have found not only an exciting sport but a wonderful group of individuals. While we represent a variety of backgrounds and experiences, our shared connection through clay pigeon shooting fosters a sense of community among the members that is reminiscent of that in my rural hometown.
Gaining a greater appreciation for the sport, and the broader fieldsports community, has also enabled me to develop a deeper understanding of the important role this community can play in achieving many rural and environmental policy goals.
As I prepare to return to the US at the end of my degree programme, I will be taking these lessons with me to inform my work in policy. I will also be returning with a new weekend activity. And, who knows, perhaps my involvement with clay pigeon shooting will prove useful to my future career in policy beyond the deeper understanding I have gained. In fact, the current Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas was also a member of the Oxford Clay Pigeon Shooting Club – and hails from the same part of the state that I do.