Margot’s 2024 Season

For the first time in over 20 years of training and competing Gundogs I was invited to run at the England Retriever Team Selection Day with my dog, Margot. The selection was held at Checkley, Near Nantwich. There were over 30 handlers and dogs invited to form a team to represent England at the Skinners World Cup at Hamstead Marshall Park in May, the Scottish Game Fair at Scone Palace in July and The Game Fair at Blenheim Palace later in July.

The ‘best of the best’ were running to make up the teams consisting of 5, 3 and 3 members respectively plus a couple of reserves.

The dogs being put forward must be capable of competing in open working tests at the top level and must have won a field trial award. The pressure that both dog and handler will be under when running at these events is extreme. Hence, the criteria for choosing the team is not just how they complete the tests on the Selection Day but how the handler and dog copes with technical retrieves, with the dogs working out of sight at times and keeping a line on undulating ground. Although the dogs were retrieving dummies, the tests were carried out on land where live game was prominent with some of the retrieves set in cover crops giving the dogs plenty of opportunity to mess up!

Test 1 was a walk up with four dogs in line and two Judges. A mark (a dummy thrown in the air which the dog can see) was thrown 300 metres behind the line with a blind (unseen dummy) on the same line 50 metres shorter in cover crop. I was asked to pick the blind first followed by the memory mark. Margot went out in one cast, one stop, a left command and she picked out of the crop. I then sent her back for the memory mark which she did in a single cast. We walked on and two marks were thrown out in front for each dog. The first approximately 80 metres with the second a further 20 metres on the same line. My running partner was asked to pick those. The two other dogs in line then picked their retrieves and I was asked to pick the two marks in front, similar to my running partner. Margot nailed them in one cast on each. Her memory is phenomenal!

Test 2 was two water retrieves. Water is Margot’s nemesis! As a youngster she got “hang tail” from water work and as her memory is so good she isn’t as keen as other Labradors on water work! However, she no longer suffers from hang tail now that I am aware of it so there is improvement in her enjoyment of swimming. The first retrieve was a blind on a tight angle over the corner of a small reservoir. This is where I made my mistake. Instead of aiming her up the channel in front of me I took the angle; she briefly touched the water and made the retrieve without the need for any particular swimming! This would have lost me points. The second retrieve I did aim up the channel and she took my line. The aim of this exercise was to see if your dog would handle well in water and whether you could get your dog to exit at a particular point on the right hand side between two logs. I am pleased to say she took every command in the water and exited at the correct point and delivered both dummies to hand tenderly. However, it was our Team Captain who judged this test and I knew this had put paid to my chances!

Test 3 was a blind up a hill over undulating ground with a large valley between the handler and retrieve with the added distraction of a mark on a tight angle to the left of the blind. We were asked to pick the blind first and then the memory mark. Margot took a good line. I stopped her at the top of the hill to give her a slight left back command to straighten her up to reach the blind in the correct position for wind. She picked that nicely. I then sent her for the memory mark. She remembered it well but the dummy fell into long grass. With the speed of her outrun she went passed it and I had to handle her back to the area to hunt. She hunted nicely but took some time to pick. This retrieve was set to see how the dogs hunted and whether they held their area well. Also to see how the handlers coped with the pressure and whether they remained calm when handling. 

The highlight of my day was when the A Panel Judge on Test 1 told me Margot completed the four dog walk up better than any dog he had seen that day (we were one of the last to undertake Test 1). Bearing in mind I was competing against the best handlers and dogs in the Country that felt quite good!

Until the team is announced by the Team Captain I am not at liberty to mention who got in but I can say I wasn’t one of them!

I am as always delighted with Margot and felt privileged to be invited to the Selection Day. She is a marvellous dog to run and has achieved two B qualifications for the IGL Championships in her career to date which makes me very proud as both were achieved in Scotland on very difficult terrain. Her claim to fame was eye wiping King Charles III’s dog at Bowhill in Scotland last season who later went on to win the IGL Championship.

It was good to meet up and compete against my friends again who I generally only get to see during the trialling season.

I wish the England Team the best of luck this year and will keep everything crossed for an England win over the three competitions.

Margot and all my Rushbrigg Gundogs are fed on Bentleys Taste of the Ocean which keeps them in the best condition for competing at the top level in my sport. Geoff and Toby provide invaluable nutritional support and are always so helpful when I come up with another new enquiry!

What a season for Margot. Although I was disappointed not to get many runs I was very pleased with Margot’s performance throughout the season. Her first run was not until 23rd and 24th October at Windsor in the UGS Two Day Open. We were privileged to walk up through the deer park over the two days with a drive to start in dense woodland with high bracken. Margot did not put a foot wrong. She had some challenging retrieves that she made look so easy. A nice eye wipe on a partridge, followed by a wing tipped partridge that she took beautifully whilst another dog was being handled close by. On day two she had a blind pigeon in woodland and had to be handled out of sight. She took every command perfectly and again made the retrieve look very easy. At one point on day two we had a dry run with three other dogs. Margot was the only dog who didn’t ask questions. It was on fairly open ground and the dogs were in full sight. She got on and did her work making the other dogs look sticky. She had a marked hen bird on day two in high white grass. Her marking is exceptional and she nailed that retrieve perfectly even though she couldn’t have seen the fall. The result was a third place and a cup for best marking dog.

Our second trial was at Bowhill in the URC two day on 30th and 31st October. We were number 1 and our first retrieve was probably the toughest over the two days. Five birds were shot, one had both legs down and flew on to the right into a fir wood. We were sent for the furthest bird over a fence, down a bracken valley, up the other side, over another fence and another 80 yards into white grass. She did it in one cast, one right command and a back command! Quite incredible! Her second retrieve was closer but the bird was out of sight – still approximately 150 yards. The fence at this point nearest us was higher as the ground dropped away and she hit herself as she banged into it. Not perturbed she turned round and fought her way through the fence between the stock fencing and the higher strands. Again she had a good memory of where she thought the bird had fallen and I just had to hunt her into it as it had fallen down the bank from the fall. On her route back the cliff had fallen away creating a sheer drop and it was impossible to navigate so she had to find her way back to an area where the valley was passable. Margot’s claim to fame in this trial was eye wiping David Lissett handling King Charles III dog who subsequently won the IGL Championship in December! It was a partridge which had fallen by a high stone wall but the route there was tricky on an incline covered in bracken where the dogs had to take a straight line on a diagonal gradient. She made it look easy! Day two was fairly uneventful just needing one more bird to pick to finish her trial which was a hen bird tucked into the base of a dry stone wall. She did it in one cast. Subsequent handlers who had similar retrieves struggled to get their dogs to hold the area of the base of the stone wall as the wind was not in their favour. The result this time was a second giving Margot a B qualification for the Championships.

Our next two day open with the Kent Surrey and Sussex on 6th and 7th November again at Windsor walking through the deer park. Once more she didn’t put a foot wrong, had a nice eye wipe and made blind hares look like a walk in the park! On day two she was in line for three hours without getting a retrieve! Eventually we retrieved two hares which she took in one cast. The result this time was Fourth.

We had a couple of other runs again looking very smart but being unlucky on pricked birds where we went out first dog on a runner and on another occasion not finding a bird in a wood because I held her in the wrong area (although we didn’t know that at the time!) 

Margot was a pleasure to run again this year. She is a very special dog that I believe only comes along once in a lifetime. I was so disappointed not to qualify for the IGL this year as I felt she had proved herself sufficiently. 

This sport of field trialling is a testament to our ability to continue to train, remain calm and persevere because one day the stars do align and our dreams do come true! 

My thanks once again go to Guy Bennett of Halverholme Gundogs as my coach, without his patience, support and perseverance I wouldn’t be competing at this level, my dear friend Laura Hill who trusted me with Margot and puts up with me on our various trips throughout the year and the rest of the group of friends I train with (you know who you are) who give me moral support and encouragement.

 As always my dogs are fed on Taste of the Ocean dog food supplied by Bentleys Dog Food which keeps them in excellent condition for working and competing.