Grouse pointing test, Barningham Moor, 29/07/06

This being my first, even I was hoping all would come together and everyone would have a good day.

I was first to arrive at the Scotch Corner Hotel, and waited patiently for people to arrive. The judges for the day were Keith Scattergood and Eddie Kania. Since the weather had been very hot all week, we were all praying for a bit of a cooler day and a bit of breeze.

The final runners were seven HWV’s, five HV’s, two GSP’s and one Bracco. It was lovely to see all the russet working dogs together. When everybody had turned up, we set off to the moor with Roy Bebbington in front, being that he was the only one knowing where we where going. We were met at the moor by the keeper Roy and his under keeper Matt. On the moor the weather was being kind to us. There was a bit of a breeze that kept the dogs a bit cooler, which would also help with scenting.

It was decided to run the adults first into a cheek/back wind. I must say at this point that quite a few adults were beginners. All the dogs had problems with the scenting conditions as it was very dry, and had been for a while. There was a nice amount of birds on the moor, just the odd little barren patch. When all the adults had run, it was time for the juniors to have their go. The judges then turned and headed back towards the car’s and into a head wind, as all the runners and their dog’s were new to this and some had never seen a grouse, let alone smelt one. I think they should all be very proud of their dogs; they all worked hard and ran quite well.

When we got back to the cars we had lunch, and the judges told me which dogs they wanted to run again. We duly set of to run those dogs again. After those dogs were run, the point of the day came as we where walking back to the cars. A couple of dogs started to pull on the leads to the left of the handler and Roy the keeper told Andy Peers to let his dog have a go. The dog crept slowly on point for about five minutes till it was told to flush and five grouse got up. Back at the cars the judges gave me their results;

Four dogs where awarded:

Dogs name	awarded	class	breed
Ayita Independence Day	good	junior	hwv
Zachary des Champs des Dunes at Gonegos	excellent	adult	hwv
Friedewald Merrimac	good	adult	gsp
Gonegos Sarika	good	adult	hwv

The judge’s were thanked and given a bottle of wine as a thank you. The keeper was thanked and then the judges gave a few words.

All in all a very good day was had by all and it was so nice to see so many wires out and having a go.

Let’s hope this is new beginnings.

Mark Lovell