Meon Valley Working Spaniel Club

Webmaster - Chris Bridgwater chris@scherzando.co.uk

DOG THIEVES

VW Golf V6 4 Motion LM02 HFR

The silver VW Golf V6 4 Motion which is suspected of being involved in several dog thefts (Dogwatch 692, 693 & 694) has been identified. The registration number is LM02 HFR. It was seen in Yattendon 20 October where the occupants said they had lost their terrier out rabbiting. It was seen again at Hambleden the same afternoon trying to gain access to a farm where a dog was stolen in August (Dogwatch 671). If you see this vehicle please immediately contact DC 3882 Jackie Murdock on 07816 838547 or the police on 0845 8505505, quoting URN 507 of 20 Oct 11.


 

Meon Valley's Annual General Meeting will be held on 26th May 2012.

Lady Colman - President

Chairman - Ted Cleary michaelcleary@tesco.net

Sec / FT Sec - Christine Bridgwater chris@scherzando.co.uk

Treasurer - Nick Cook nick_p_cook@hotmail.com

Gordon Bowers BGWB1@aol.com

John Edwards mafje2@hotmail.co.uk

Shelli Jones fl1ntwell@btinternet.com

Keith Roe keithroe665@btinternet.com

Phil Stubbings phil.stubbings@btinternet.com

 All the above Committee are happy to make themselves available to any Meon Valley member should there ever be any queries or problems... from basic training to Trialling.

FIELD TRIAL CLINIC   at   FACCOMBE

by kind permission of Faccombe Estates Ltd

with Chris Thurston-Woolnough 8^th May 2011

Arrived at the Gamekeeper’s house at 9.15am to find Paul (the keeper) sitting on the patio, bottle feeding lambs!!

Once everybody had arrived we had a cup of tea and a chat and then set off through the “park” to do some training, Paul had kindly allowed us to use his front garden (an endless mass of woodland, plantation and conservation strips) and had also spoiled us by supplying us with some cold game from the freezer and some freshly shot vermin in the way of squirrels and pigeon.

The atmosphere was relaxed and upbeat to say the least, we all had a great laugh and learnt loads from Chris who had kindly given up his Sunday for the Club and its members, he certainly was not shy with tips and advice and all the dogs had every opportunity to hunt retrieve and iron out any issues they may have had.

We stopped for lunch at about 1.30pm and spent an hour or so chatting and admiring Paul’s collection of ornamental pheasants…and those little lambs that were trying to eat our cold game!!

Back out after lunch and we did another couple of hours training with mixed retrieving that included blinds, distractions and an impromptu working test (unscored, just for fun)

The weather looked a little threatening but fortunately the rain held off all day and although it was quite windy it stayed dry and bright, another Trial Clinic completed and a fabulous day was had by all, with a good 5 hours of practical training, demos and picking Chris’ brains. I can safely say that it was definitely value for money!!!

A massive thank you to Paul Howard and Faccombe Estates Ltd, Chris Thurston-Woolnough, Mark Jones and all the attending members for supporting me and the Meon Valley!! (oh.. and the lambs for keeping my daughter entertained).

Report: Shelli Jones

Pictures: Glynn Smith & Shelli Jones

FIELD TRIAL CLINIC   at   HIGHCLERE CASTLE   18th April

Report: Shelli Jones

Firstly can I just say that the Meon Valley WSC has access to some of the best grounds in the country but that does not mean that we should become complacent, we MUST keep promoting our sport in an effort to continue the patronage of our Hosts that allow us to use their grounds.

I arrived at Highclere Castle at 9.15am to be greeted by Eddie Hughes and Valerie Maskell at the gate letting everybody in and they informed me that most people had already arrived in good time…smashing.

It was, however, rather chilly and misty which was a bit of a shame as I had organised a salad lunch with only cold drinks (maybe a little optimistic).

‘Trainees’ had travelled from far and wide, Mid Wales, Chepstow, Maidenhead and Oxford just to mention a few, Peter Jones is clearly a Trialling Hero, loved by many!!

We started in the bracken where Peter saw each dog individually and gave the handler advice on the particular ways in which they could improve their trialling skills, the day was for the members so they chose to work on the issues that were personal to them, some worked on hunting, some on retrieving, some on stopping to shot etc etc..       Peter then faced the gallery of handlers and spectators and gave a talk about why he had given that piece of advice so that everybody benefited from each handlers experience of the day.

Finally the sunshine made a welcome appearance so Mark and I went back to the meet point to get the lunches ready whilst the last few dogs were seen by Peter and everybody had been given STACKS of tips, advice and info in a questions and answers session with Peter before lunch.

Being fabulous at everything is quite a hard job and sometimes things get overlooked…like the inadequate amount of cutlery….WHOOPS....well I can’t get everything right… so we had an outdoor finger buffet, which was quite interesting when it came to the Black Forest Gateaux!!!

After a final questions and answers session and a few VERY Funny stories from Peter and Margaret (and the odd book sale) we took the dogs down to the lake and they all had a jolly good swim and a few retrieves courtesy of our most fantastic dummy thrower, Mark Jones.

I would like to thank Peter and Margaret for giving up their day for us, also the members for being great representatives of our club and showing Peter their appreciation. Thanks to Valerie and Eddi for being our “Gatekeepers” aswell as the Game Keepers and I would especially like to thank Lord and Lady Carnavon for allowing us to use the grounds of their home.       I hope everyone had a good day   -   Shelli Jones

Thankyous from....

A great day, thank you Shelli, I learnt loads - what a lovely man Peter is! Sandra Blake

Just a quick note to say big THANK YOU for organising the training day today at Highclere. It was a great day and you even got the weather perfect!  Carla x

Mock Trial  Report      10th January 2011

The Meon Valley WSC were kindly invited by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust to hold a mock trial day at Sir James Scott's beautiful Rotherfield Park, Hampshire on the 10^th January under the expert guidance and care of their  Gamekeeper, Malcolm Brockless.

Our ‘motley crew’ of 8 handlers and judges John Johnson (A) and Christine Bridgwater (B) plus John Edwards (MV Club Founder and first Chairman) arrived at 9am to a warm welcome with tea and coffee.  After an introduction to the guns and a briefing of the plan for the day we set off to some of the most beautiful ground in Hampshire. The weather was fantastic compared to the downpours we had suffered just a few days earlier.

I have to say that I was a little nervous as to how the day would go as Rotherfield Park is a 100% wild bird shoot so, subsequently, only cock pheasants and woodcock  are shot (no hens or ground game).   I was concerned that although there was ample ground and good cover we might not make the numbers required on game for all 8 dogs to have 2 retrieves each.  My fears were soon allayed;  all dogs had plenty of flushes and our team of guns ensured (with ease) that we all had our retrieves.

The cover was nearly all bramble and in places was quite heavy, giving the younger dogs something to think about, whilst the more experienced dogs got stuck in.  Interestingly,  I noticed that the hunting patterns of some of the dogs were subtly altered on this day - it didn’t take them long to work out that there were NO birds running on in front and the game that was present stayed much tighter than on ANY reared bird shoot that I have worked on. This made the dogs hold a tighter pattern and get right under the cover and they had to use their nose..   a totally natural way of hunting and a pleasure to watch.

At lunchtime we returned to the vehicles to find an awning up and over a serving table complete with red checked cloth and we were all served with the most fabulous home made stew and hot dogs, provided by the local farm shop. Followed by chocolates, port and sloe gin....   I really don’t think the day could have got any better and if anybody ever asks me if it is possible to hold a spaniel Field Trial on a 100% wild bird shoot;  the answer will most definitely be YES.

A massive thank you to Malcolm for giving us such a lovely day, his knowledge and experience of wild bird shooting made the day successful. Thanks also go to his stops for ‘hanging out’ in the woods all day, our handlers for supporting the club and the guns who shot so well....last but not least our judges for seeing our dogs and giving up their time for the love of it!!

Shelli Jones

Special Mention for the Caterers at Rotherfield Park - they were the Bowtell Farm Shop  http://www.bowtellfarmshop.co.uk/  Offering outside catering to Shoots and Trials.  We had hot dogs (with home grown pork sausages) and large mugs of thick game soup with crusty bread. All served under a canopy, piping hot and scrummy…  Highly recommended :-)

L-R Chris Bridgwater, Shelli Jones, John Johnson

Trial Training Day

Meon Valley Training Classes  2010

By one of the Trainees, David Hine

I arrived at Hamptworth Estate on Sunday 2^nd May for  two hour, group fortnightly training sessions with Nick Gregory. I wasn’t sure what to expect but the estate was magnificent boasting a huge rabbit pen, large lake and a variety of ground cover. Although I was nervous I was made to feel very welcome by Kim and we were split into two groups puppy and novice.

I went into the novice group with my two year old English Springer Spaniel Gunring Breakthrough (aka Cashew) who is from show stock.

The lessons were challenging and varied and one of our first exercises was a “stay” which I thought was easy until Nick removed live pigeons from his bag and put them down in front of the dogs!!!!

On the last training day we had a working test there were twelve dogs and 5 tests which comprised of:

. 5 minute stay

. Blind retrieve

. Water retrieve

. Retrieve over fenced area

. Hunting, drop to shot finishing with a dummy retrieve.  

“EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY” and Cashew scored highly on each task making him the overall winner. I was very proud and was presented with a bottle of malt whisky.

The following week we had a Trial Training Day this gave us the opportunity to experience a real shoot situation.

Graham Shepherd and his working cocker Krug who is only one year old started in the puppy class and by the end had progressed to novice and did extremely well on the Trial Training Day. He was awarded a silver plate by Nick for the dog who had made the best progress.

Although I had basic training, I found this course very beneficial and now feel confident to enter the shooting field. This is all thanks to Nick’s expertise. I will certainly return next season as I have met some lovely people.

David Hine and Cashew

L-R Kim and Hazel carrying the geese,     Graham Shepherd with Krug, Nick Gregory and David Hine with Cashew,      Nick Gregory

Meon Valley's Annual General Meeting was held on 9th April 2010.

Lady Colman kindly remains as our President

Chairman - Ted Cleary michaelcleary@tesco.net

Sec / FT Sec - Chris Bridgwater chris@scherzando.co.uk

Treasurer - Nick Cook nick_p_cook@hotmail.com

Shelli Jones fl1ntwell@btinternet.com

Keith Roe keithroe665@btinternet.com

Phil Stubbings phil.stubbings@btinternet.com

 All the above Committee are happy to make themselves available to any Meon Valley member should there ever be any queries or problems... from basic training to Trialling.

Field Trials  2011 - 2012
By the way... you are welcome to enter as soon as dates are advertised, before the schedules go out.

See events page

Field Trial Entry Fees £30 - Open Qualifiers     £25 - Others 
Please note the Meon Valley rule - £50 Extra Fee for Non Member Handler

Downloadable Entry Form click here   pdf FT Entry Form.pdf  Don't forget to enclose SAE with your entry

There are new DEFRA Regulations that cover the welfare of the transportation of dogs

If you phone 0845 603 8395 they will send you a form for Authorisation of Transport - should NOT affect day to day transport of shooting dogs

For Docking Regulations... check DEFRA's site

Meon Valley's local Vet who will only dock working bred puppies is Mr Cartmell in Wickham 01329 834030

This wasn't specially set up - I took this picture myself !

 
Tail docked too long! ESS running in Trial January 2008

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR EXCELLENT TIPS ON INSURANCE

 http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1130761827,56015

Would you like a portrait of your dog??

Excellent work from photographs by Nathan
www.nathanart.co.uk
Please have a look at the detail - the pictures are absolutely fabulous

He has designed the logo for our new Banner - it will be at all our Events and on display at CLA Game Fair!!