The pick of the bunch
Millions of pheasants are retrieved by working gundogs every season in the UK, but which breed is best for the job of picking up, wonders David Tomlinson
I HAVE a friend who keeps a meticulous record of all the birds his dogs – three labradors and a springer – pick up each season. (He keeps a clicker in his pocket to record the daily tally.) He works on two commercial shoots and generally picks up five days a fortnight throughout the pheasant season. Last season his tally was a whopping 2,355 pheasants. Impressive though this is, I’m sure there are a number of pickers-up whose dogs retrieve more.
I asked him whether his dogs ever get bored with retrieving pheasants. His answer was interesting, as he assured me that his labradors will cheerfully pick up pheasant after pheasant without showing any significant loss of enthusiasm. His springer, on the other hand, does get bored with straightforward retrieves, so does far less work than the labradors, as he is held in reserve for any retrieve that requires genuine hunting in brambles, bracken or other cover.
Picking up pheasants is the staple retrieving job of the great majority of Britain’s working gundogs, and the number of pheasants retrieved each season by dogs must add up to several million. It would be intriguing to know whether more pheasants are picked by dogs than by hand: I suspect that dogs do the majority of the work. However, many serious handlers – those picking up several times a week – will collect as many birds by hand as possible, leaving the dogs with the more challenging retrieves where a good nose is essential for success.
I was dogless when I shot my first pheasant and I can still recall my elation at shooting the bird, followed by a sense of despair as I tried to find it, for it had fallen in a thicket of brambles. It took me 20 minutes before my prize was in my hand: I was scratched and bloodied, but at least I was successful. It brought home to me at an early age the importance of shooting with a dog that can retrieve.
Over the years I’ve seen virtually every breed of gundog we have in Britain retrieve pheasants. What is remarkable is how tiny cockers, weighing less than 10kg, can pick up and carry a big cock that might weigh as much as 2kg, or 1/5th of their own weight. It’s an impressive achievement, but they do clearly find it hard work, and it’s common to see one put a bird down for a moment to readjust its grip to get the balance right.
Bigger dogs, such as labradors, are less bothered by balance, so generally bring back their birds without stopping to change their grip – triallers like fast, straight retrieves without the dog fussing about how they carry the pheasant. However, if you watch experienced picking-up dogs, it’s obvious that they worked out long ago how best to carry a bird. I’ve also come across labradors that have mastered the knack of retrieving two pheasants at once, an amusing but effective skill. Double retrieves are frowned upon by triallers, and I’ve yet to meet a handler who teaches their dogs such a trick.
We take it for granted that dogs will pick up and retrieve birds without damaging them, but when you think about it, it’s remarkable how a predator with a mouthful of sharp canine teeth can pick up a soft-plumaged bird without leaving a mark. It’s a trait we have selectively bred for, but all big predators, from wolves to lions, have the ability to pick up and move their cubs without harming them. A soft-mouthed retrieving dog is really working instinctively.
In field trials, all birds that are retrieved are checked by judges for damage, which generally means crushed ribs. However, to be really sure that a dog is retrieving birds undamaged, you need to pluck the latter to find out. Some dogs leave tooth marks, though they might never bite hard enough to crush the rib cage. As far as I am aware, there’s no real cure for a hardmouthed dog.
Some experienced picking-up dogs do eventually become hard-mouthed, usually after being spurred by a cock pheasant, for old cocks won’t hesitate to try to defend themselves. Instead of becoming hardmouthed, a few dogs become remarkably adept at delivering the coup de grâce to a lively cock pheasant runner without damaging the bird itself. It’s a skill that can’t be taught, and one that would lead to a dog being eliminated in a trial, but I once met a handler who was proud of his dog’s ability to do this.
The best breed of dog for working with pheasants is always a good subject for debate. It takes a lot to beat a labrador, but a well-trained golden or flatcoated retriever can be equally effective. I’ve met teams of springers that were comparable to the best labradors, plus some impressive HPRS, but the popularity of the labrador as a picking-up dog is as good an endorsement as you can get. Add a steady springer to a trio of labradors and you arguably have the best team possible.
A few dogs become adept at delivering the coup de grâce without damaging the bird