Reflection of big running Brittanys in a walking trial

It has taken me a few days to get caught up around the kennel here for me to finally sit down and write my thoughts about the walking trial experience with big running dogs.

First off, a young dog with little experience and training in the puppy stakes or derby will run big, period. My primary concern was to not lose a dog that fit into this profile.

Tula, for example is a very big running 11 month old pup. ……….  She ran so big that I had to sing to her the entire stake so that she would not get lost. I apologized to the judges and my bracemate was very understanding. In a walking trial, this sort of dog will not place. That sort of dog belongs in horseback trials.

Of course I could have already put a good bit of obedience on Tula and probably kept her in but that’s not what I want out of her as a pup. I frequently hunt wide open terrain and I like a dog that will range out, stick a point and hold until we arrive. I do not want to stifle her run and make her think she has to stay close at this young age.

On the other hand, young dogs that naturally range closer to the handler (natural as in no training to stay close) did very well in the trial. The puppy/derby winners were closer ranging dogs that hit their objectives with the exception of my open derby winner Piper.

Piper would disappear far to the front for several minutes at a time then would show herself again. She wasn’t slowing down or yo-yo’ing. At the end of the brace we hit an open field and she found a bird on the edge where cut grass meets standing grass. I was able to handler her relatively easy, primarily because Piper had been through my Phase I program and she knows her commands relatively well for a dog that is 16 months old. She did a great job and won.

The big running older dogs that have trialing and hunting experience hunted well to the foot handler. Adult dogs that I have seen cast over a 3/4 mile out on open prairie hunted relatively well to the foot. The cover was tight and they handled as they should.

The bottom line is this, IMHO dogs with experience and good training did fine. Young dogs with hardly any training with the inherent desire to run big ran big and did little to shorten up.

I think this is where folks get confused. They think that if they have an inherently big running pup that it will be too much for them and some of those folks are unwilling to go through the training process.

Pup’s exposure to foot handling when hunting birds teaches them to stay close to the gun and that they will not get any birds if they stay gone and lost. The atv/jeep/horse helps them to open up because they can see you at greater distances yet still handle for the gun. You CAN have both but it takes time for pup to gain the necessary experience .

Now if your dog is genetically close that’s what you get on foot and on a atv/jeep/horse etc. Personally, I want my dogs to open up wide on the prairie and hunt in close when in thickets. That’s what the American Brittany is all about.

P.S. What good is it to have a bigger running dog on the prairie? I’ll tell you this, some birds will flush wild as you approach with your closer working dog. A dog that has ranged out and pinned them down for you at a greater distance just may offer you a shot you would have otherwise never had.

Take care and happy hunting!

Dave