Bloat And The Need To Act Quickly

Gastric dilation torsion, or bloat, is not common in dogs – but it is often fatal, as the winner of our Best Family Gundog award discovered, sadly. David Tomlinson describes the symptoms

- David Tomlinson

ONE of the most enjoyable tasks I undertook last year was judging The Field’s inaugural Gundog Awards. Even better than the judging was meeting the winners at a celebration lunch at Burghley in September. I’ve always been a fan of golden retrievers, so was particularly pleased to pat David Beckenham’s beautiful four-year-old golden, Charlie (pictured), winner of The Best Family Gundog award. Show-bred Charlie had been trained successfully as a proper picking-up dog, becoming a favourite with the guns and beaters, yet remaining a much-loved family pet.

Sadly, I had an email from a distraught Beckenham in November: “We lost Charlie on Saturday evening as a result of bloat. I rushed him to the emergency vet and he was operated on but they were unable to save him. As you can imagine, I’m devastated. Charlie was my first working gundog and was enjoying his best season yet. We would have been out picking up again on Saturday.