A puppy for shoot or sofa

If you require a gundog, then pick a puppy from working lines, says David Tomlinson. However, some unlikely dogs prove themselves excellent shoot-day companions

- David Tomlinson

ONE of the soundest pieces of advice you can get when looking for a gundog puppy is to buy one from working stock. That, of course, assumes you want to work your puppy. Conversely, if you want a gundog breed but don’t plan to work it, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t buy an animal from show or pet lines. Working-bred cockers, for example, can be manic in their enthusiasm to hunt every clump of grass they come across; show-bred cockers, in contrast, are usually much happier going for a walk without searching frantically for non-existent rabbits.

I was asked recently about what ‘a lot of red ink in the pedigree’ means: was it something worth having? It’s a term used to indicate that a puppy’s parentage includes field trial champions (FTChs), the names of which will generally be printed on the pedigree in red rather than black. Whether it’s a good thing depends on what you want. Buying a puppy bred from field-trialling stock is essential if you want a competition dog but it’s hardly necessary for a once-a-week shooting companion that doubles as a family pet. True, trialling dogs are bred to be biddable but they are high-performance animals that take serious handling. The best analogy I can think of is hunting on a point-to-pointer. It’s an unbeatable experience for a skilled rider but for most of us a good, solid, Irish draught x thoroughbred is a much more relaxing prospect for a long day in the saddle.