More Than Just Hot Air?

Today’s field triallers rely on their whistles but go back a century and gundog owners had only pipes between their lips. Are we over-reliant on the devices.

- David Tomlinson

I RECENTLY looked through a fascinating series of photographs of field trials, taken in the early years of the past century. Though old and faded, most were remarkably sharp. They revealed the favoured dress of the time: for the men, tweed shooting suits with baggy plus-fours, always topped by a hat. On wet days a long raincoat, no doubt called a mackintosh, was clearly acceptable. For women, who are much outnumbered by the men, extravagant hats and ankle-length skirts were the norm, sometimes with a foxfur stole draped around the shoulders.

What, however, is missing is any sign of a whistle. Lots of the male handlers have a pipe clamped between their teeth but definitely not a whistle. In contrast, go to any field trial this season and I guarantee you will not see a single handler without at least one whistle hung round his or her neck while your chances of spotting a puffing pipe are remote.

The absence of whistles raises a number of questions. How did those handlers communicate with their dogs? Did they whistle through their teeth or shout commands? It seems more likely that they allowed their dog much more freedom than we see today, expecting the dog to use its natural instinct and ability rather than rely on its handler. I’m sure that there are many handlers today who simply couldn’t work their dog, or dogs, without the aid of a whistle, so much is it relied upon.