KENNEL NOTES

Southland Times, Issue 22729, 4 November 1935, Page 12

KENNEL NOTES

(By

“Setter.”)

[Queries for answer on any Monday, must be received by “Setter,” care the Times Office, not later than the preceding Thursday.] The Southland Kennel Club staged its first field trial on Saturday last. Prior to this event the committee had worked very hard to get things in running order. Its efforts were well repaid. The day was all that could be desired and there was a good attendance of the public, who were very appreciative of the sport provided. Mr S. Lindsay supervised the function and everything went with a swing. He was ably assisted by Mr Ford (acting secretary in the absence of Mr S. D. Stewart, the secretary). Mr G. Dennis, Mr R. Hislop, Pasco Brothers and Mr J. W. Colquhoun. The judges, Mr W. Johnstone of Gore, and Mr T. Double, of Invercar.gill, were thorough in their work and their platings were well received. The shooting was in the hands of Mr Arthur Hamilton and Mr A. Kidd and their work was satisfactory.

During the day, afternoon tea was provided by a group of ladies with Mrs Lindsay at the head. As well as helping the club financially the refreshments were greatly enjoyed. At the conclusion of the judging Mr Johnstone made a few remarks with regard to the trial. He said that although he had been an active sporting man and had had a lot of experience with shooting and gun-dogs this was the first time he had been called upon to judge a field trial. It was a new experience for both him and his partner, Mr Double. The work had proved to be very interesting and enjoyable and he was certain that Mr Double held the same view. There had been some very good performances and when the trials were properly understood and the dogs trained to this special work the future exhibitions would be of a high order. There were several matters that if attended to, would be for the betterment of the trials. The demonstration of the public when a dog was returning with the bird but had not as yet delivered it, should be restrained until the dog had completed his wojk. The position of the shooters was too far forward and seemed to trouble the dogs as they realized that it was not their owner who had fired the gun. A higher position could be arranged for the judges so that no difficulty would be experienced in seeing the dog picking up his bird, a point which was important. The dogs were working under unusual conditions and he was highly delighted with the splendid control in most cases. Control was a most important matter. A dog out of hand would often put a shooter out of temper and his shooting would suffer thereby. To sum up Mr Johnstone expressed himself as well pleased with the fixture and he congratulated the committee on its first attempt. The placings were as follows:— J. Hughes’s black retriever 110 points 1. J. Pasco’s black retriever 105 points 2. J. Friend’s brown retriever 90 points 3. Mr McKenzie’s Labrador 85 points 4. The possible points were 115.

The winning dog is a good worker and retrieves very fast. He is a great favourite with the Jackson Street boys’ cricket team. Pat is a most willing fielder and has a great admiration for a good batsman. He is a life member of the club and although his owner has removed to a nearby suburb. Pat returns with regularity to fill his place in the field. He is capable of holding his own in the bigger trials in the north.

The second dog made a good find, but dropped his bird several times on the way back, but it was quite a good performance. The third dog failed to mark his bird well on the first attempt. When sent out again he made a good job and showed that he knows his work. The fourth dog, a Labrador, went out well and found quickly. His return was good, but he failed to deliver to hand freely. It was an outstanding performance and only required a correct delivery to be well-nigh perfect.

Some of the unplaced dogs were a little unlucky. Mr Heenan’s Labrador retrieved a very easy bird perfectly. The judges desired another run out. The second attempt proved more difficult .and the dog was called off. Mr Colquhoun’s Labrador, a _ very keen worker, just requires experience. She was unlucky missing the scent of the bird. She will in future be hard to beat.

Mr Pasco’s black and white spaniel just failed to line up correctly. He worked quickly. This dog will do well later.

Mr W. Broad’s liver and white spaniel worked hard, but was not in condition and after taking a long time to find a difficult bird, returned in a don’t-care style. The afternoon was too hot for him. Mr G. Dennis’s Labrador was quite green at the work. Age and experience will greatly benefit this pup. The English setter and Irish water spaniel were not very keen and failed to get busy. The chief faults with the majority of the dogs was their short ranging. A really good dog should carry on, widening his circle until he finds.

Bad mouthing was quite common and it was a rare thing to see a dog picking up smoothly on finding. Returning with the bird was of the Government stroke order and many of the dogs require speeding up.

It is proposed by the Trial Club to run a puppy event in about a month’s time. The age will be fifteen months or under. Dog fanciers were sorry to hear of the death of Mr Norman Critchfield, of Invercargill. He - was some years ago a keen member of the Invercargill Kennel Club and took an active part in the working of the club. He successfully bred fox terriers at that time and his stock took high honours on the show bench throughout the South Island. Latterly he has devoted his leisure moments to the breeding of bulldogs and he was establishing a good line of blood when ill-health curtailed his work. He will be missed greatly by all those who knew him best.