The Gun Terrier

At 14 months old, it was time for Betsy, Editor Jonathan Young’s Sealyham x Jack Russell, to venture into the field. How would she perform?

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THROUGHOUT the 26 years I’ve edited The Field I’ve witnessed some exceptional dog work. The superlative coursing inabilities of Viking the yellow lab remain memorable, as does the consistent scattering of game 300 yards in front of the guns by a pair of German short-haired pointers. Unfortunately, I’ve not kept a record of the occasions I’ve witnessed an errant hound bolting for the horizon towing its corkscrew tether but they must run to treble figures.

Dreadful gundog behaviour isn’t to be condemned outright, however. The owners’ bellowed oaths add Tabasco to a too-formal day and it’s surprising how often the real shockers – yes, you Viking – find game that’s been missed by their better-behaved brothers-in-paw.

In fairness, our hounds’ errors are usually down to us. Successful gundog training requires time and that’s in short supply with my job. So, for most of my life I’ve eschewed gundog ownership and been part of the darker world of terrierdom, where general mayhem isn’t an abomination but an expectancy.

Then, I had a mad idea. Would it be possible to have a gun terrier, the misdemeanours of which would be written of as tyke typical while it could still find game on rough and pigeon days? Enter Betsy, the three-quarter Sealyham x one-quarter Jack Russell bred by Harry Parsons, keeper of the working Sealyham flame.