Cocked Up Dogs

A repost from this blog circa 8-17-06

This morning I stumbled across the web site of Gun Dog Magazine which has a nice piece on it about cocker spaniels. The author, Chad Mason (aka C. Stanley Mason), writes:

"By now the observant reader will have noticed the recurring qualification: 'field bred.' I have thus cracked the lid on a can of worms, and might as well dump them out. There is a definite split in this breed, and space limitations compel me to focus on one side of that split. I do not mean to diminish the worth of show- or dual-type English cockers. Rather, I am ... making a judgment about which type of dog most readers of this magazine would be happiest with.

I am certainly no expert on show dogs, and will leave their discussion to people more qualified than I. (See 'For More Information' at the end of this article.) My modest firsthand experience with dual-type cockers leaves me convinced that a dual-type cocker is basically a show-type cocker that can pass a 'hunting test.'

More worms will squirm free with my encapsulation of hunting test in quotation marks, but I'm willing to bear the scorn. I've spent a quarter century hunting eight species of upland birds and 10 species of waterfowl in wild habitats from Georgia to Alberta, and I killed those birds over nine breeds of sporting dogs representing all major categories: pointers, retrievers, spaniels and versatile breeds.

I've also witnessed hunting tests for all these breeds conducted by several parent clubs and registries. Among the spaniel ranks, the difference between hunting tests and wild bird hunting seems analogous to the difference between passing a quiz and having a real job. "

A nice piece, and the article is worth a read . Though the dogs being described are not terriers, the words are very close to what can be said about "earthdog" trials and the "one and done" hunting certificates coveted by folks only interested in getting their dogs into the "working dog" ring at a show.

Some things, it seems, are the same all over. Mason has apparently written a book of bird hunting essays entitled Voices On The Wind, which is available from www.countrysportpress.com. I have not read it, but it looks interesing ...
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