Gundog work
The gundog breed group although has a wide array of different breeds, more recently on shoots, the most popular breeds to be seen are Labs, ESS and WCS. We love the WCS breed!
There's a huge pleasure being able to shoot over your own dog. There's nothing like it! The jingle of the cabinet keys sends a wake up call to the dogs that work is about to commence. And they absolutely love thier work! It is said that spaniels were deliberately bred to have OCD for thier game. Repitive hunting and retrieving is what we need in the shooting world.
In the Trialling world, these skills are honed to perfection. A flush will see an instant sit from the hunting dog and they won't twitch a muscle until told to move -watching amother dog retrieving 'thier' quarry is a skill not many rough shooting dogs can do.
Trials are run all over the country to award the best dog of the day. Typically, two dogs are run at a time on live game and live shot -just that of a typical shooting day. But the style and pace of the trialling dog differs quite greatly! Training for trails starts early and most dogs can be seen to be achievers or non-starters by the age of 6 months. In contrast to rough shooting dogs where training will only be starting at 6-9 months old.
Field tests differ from field trials. Tests are one dog marked against a standard whereas Field Trials are against up to 20 dogs marked against each other. There are also separate tests for each category of gundog -retrievers, spaniels, HPR'S Trials are eithsr for the novice dog, open or championship level.
Agility
We also compete in dog agility. This is great fun for both dog and handler, and if you demonstrate a good team you may be awarded by rosettes!
Lexi has shown some amazing ability in this type of work and is a very strong and worthy opponent currently competing at grade 6.
If you are interested in trying out agilty, see our agility page where you can learn more.
Breeding
We do not believe in producing the maximum amount of litters per bitch permitted by the Kennel Club. We don't breed for profit; we only breed to produce dogs fit for purpose and trainability. We carefully select health tested studs the are suitable and offer the gene pool an enhancement by our pups.
Dogs bred with OCD for work (as described in above section) can become destructive, highly charged children that are too smart for thier own good if they are denied the proper stimulation - physical and mental - needed for the breed. They are a very busy creature. Very loyal. Very intelligent and very trusting. That's why it breaks my heart seeing people breeding just for money. Too many people are breeding for colour and money and this type of selfish breeding by pairing any random two dogs without much thought to suitability is spoiling the breed standard.
As a responsible breeder, you have peace of mind that you will be getting one of the best bred and reared pup around. All pups are sold with a puppy contract and are microchipped for your peace of mind. We are happy to export pups, but be aware we dock our pups for work and we are aware sone countries will only have full tails. So feel free to get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Studs
Scottish breeding is getting far too close! Responsible breeders do our best to enhance the breed, reduce health problems and lower the in-breeding statistics.
Our stud dogs are available to approved bitches only. Pedigrees, hereditary clear health results and thier physical abilities should all enhance the breed lines of Scotland. For more info see my dogs page.