The road to Ragley

The HPR Home Internationals are held each year in July at The Game Fair, where teams from each of the four Home Nations compete against each other in a competition that is set up similarly to a working test but also as an opportunity for us to showcase the work of HPRs, for the public to watch and admire. Each team is made up of six dogs and handlers with four running in the competition.

The Home International arena has a variety of cover crops, long grass and fences and is devised to allow our dogs to hunt across the arena before being asked to do a variety of retrieving exercises. Two HPR A Panel judges score the dogs on their hunting ability as well as the individual retrieves. The team with the highest overall score wins of course!

As captain of the Scottish team, it is my job to select the team, support their training and ensure we are as prepared as possible for the competition. This year our team is made up of a group of HPR handlers who have a variety of experience from competing in field trials or working tests as well as working their dogs throughout the season.

We are fortunate in Scotland to have wonderful heather hills and wide-open moors, so the Home Internationals are a very different experience for our dogs. They enjoy covering the ground on beautiful wide open grouse moors, taking part in pair counts in the Spring and brood counts in July and early August, or hunting across the hills on a walked-up partridge shoot or across rough ground with mixed cover on a walked-up pheasant shoot.

A different approach

Therefore, it was important to spend some time teaching the dogs to hunt closer and stay within a smaller beat than they would normally do. We did this by selecting areas of ground in which we could create an “arena” using the natural lay of the land as boundaries and reminding the handlers to keep their dogs in tight. For our dogs who hunt using the wind and can really open up to cover the ground and find the all-important birds, they had to adapt to the restricted space. 

The Home International arena has no game on it, so again, for our dogs, who are first and foremost hunting dogs working in areas with game – asking them to work an area that has no game on it can be hard, especially for the experienced dog who quickly realises the ground is bare and is keen to move on. Therefore, the handlers had to take this into consideration when practicing the hunting, ensuring sections were not missed by the dogs and their ground treatment was good. 

It was a fine balance between practicing the hunting to allow the dogs to get used to working closer and in a more controlled manner, but also not to overhandle them and risk them losing their flair and initiative when hunting. 

When it comes to the retrieves, we never know what to expect, therefore we practice a range of different retrieving exercises to ensure the dogs are prepared and confident and will handle the exercise successfully on the day. From past events we know there are likely to be fences to jump, pens to enter, and the odd blind retrieve in cover. 

Therefore, we build the exercises up – ensuring the dogs carry out the exercise successfully at a close range before increasing the distance. We also break exercises down into the different parts to allow the dog to succeed and build trust in their handler and confidence in their ability. 

Obedience is such an important part of the retrieving exercises, and the team have focused on brushing up their dogs’ obedience to support them carrying out the exercises successfully first time. 

As we don’t know what to expect – or if on the day the sense of occasion and nerves may kick in for the handler – we also practice directional work with the dogs, so that in the event they don’t run straight out to pick the dummy, we can handle the dogs into the right area and ensure they are successful in picking the dummy. 

We have some dogs in the team that are very enthusiastic and therefore asking them to “hold” an area to find that all elusive blind dummy can be hard. This is where the hunt whistle can be invaluable, encouraging the dog to put its head down and search a small area until it finds the dummy. As part of this training exercise the dummies are buried in the long grass, so the dogs had to really work hard to find them. 

The one part of the competition that is difficult for us to replicate is all the sights and sounds that are part and parcel of The Game Fair, as well as having the audience up close to the boundary fences of the arena – which for dogs that are used to working on open moors in Scotland can be distracting and potentially overwhelming. We therefore encourage our handlers to head down to a local park to practice their retrieving where there are lots of noises, people, dogs and distractions as a way to help the dogs become more accustomed to the sights and sounds they may encounter at the Game Fair. Most of us also visit the Scottish Game Fair in early July, which is another opportunity for our dogs to be at a busy bustling event. Taking part in the scurries is good fun but also a simple way to give the dogs more experience working with an audience.

Finally, no matter how well our dogs hunt, or how well they go out and pick the dummies – if we don’t have a good delivery, we will lose those all-important marks! So as part of everyone’s training and homework we practice the delivery to hand, so that the dogs come in nice and gently and proudly present their dummy well. 

Dedication

Our team spans the length and breadth of Scotland, so meeting up to train together requires many hours’ travelling, with team members regularly driving three to four hours each way to attend a training day together, and many more hours’ training at home or in smaller groups of one to two people. Why, you might ask. Well, we are of course extremely proud to represent our country and will put the work and commitment in to prepare for the Home Internationals. But for us the most important element is that our dogs have fun and enjoy training and working with us. Whilst we may focus on precise areas of an exercise, ensuring the dogs enjoy it is by far one of the most important elements to each of us in the team; we want to see them bound out and come back tail wagging and happy. That is in itself a reward for all the hard work and commitment that we all put in to prepare for the competition. 

None of our training would be possible if it wasn’t for the generosity of all those who offer us ground to train on, advice and support with our training. We feel very fortunate and grateful for that support and for that of our sponsors, who provide uniforms, leads and whistles, as well as to all the companies and individuals providing prizes for our fundraising prize draw to raise money to support the team getting to the competition. 

Last, but by no means least, we are also so lucky to have such overwhelming support from the Scottish HPR community who send words of encouragement and support as well as dipping into their pockets to take part in the prize draw. Thank you to everyone involved in helping the Scottish HPR Team get to Ragley and take part in the competition, from Katrina & Teasel, Stewart & Gem, Mick & Roxby, Catriona & Zena, John & Dexter and Mark & Sky.