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All gundog work originally had a basic, common purpose - the
production of game for the table. Thus, long before the advent of
gunpowder in the context of fieldsports, the ancestors of our
pointers and setters were essential adjuncts to the netting of
partridges or for use with long winged falcons and the
progenitors of our spaniels drove game into prepositioned nets
worked with short-winged hawks.
From then on they served the improved flintlocks after the new
vogue of shooting game flying was introduced from France and then
afterwards, the percussion muzzle loaders.
It would be difficult to determine when gundog work ceased to
become a mere food gathering exercise and became a sporting
activity but we might be safe in assuming that when game ceased
to be shot on the ground by a squire's retainers (who hardly
would be allowed to risk wasting powder and shot through taking
flying shots), and the squire and his guests sallied forth to
shoot over dogs with their flintlocks, as depicted in old l8th
century sporting prints, we can be fairly certain that game
shooting had entered a sporting dimension and the sportsmen of
the day were particularly anxious that the game would supply
them with sporting shots. A prerequisite was that the game had to
be on the move, which could not have been the case should the
questing dog(s) catch the game on the ground before it could
take to its wings or legs, although among the early pioneers in
North America, a game catcher was esteemed because it saved shells.
However, in our culture, it was a recognised fault if a spaniel
were to catch unwounded game and to this day, in pointer and
setter field trials, a dog is eliminated if its teeth so much as
clicks behind a flushed bird, even though it may not so much as
remove a single feather.
Field trials were originally inaugurated to find the most
competent and pleasurable dogs to shoot over, so small wonder
that the catching of unwounded game in British field trials has
always attracted condemnation.
It must be appreciated,however, that game does not always act in a
manner which is conducive to it's self preservation and under
such circumstances it is a considerable bonus if a spaniel will
practice scent discrimination, which either can be induced by
specific training, or which in some spaniels seems inherent.
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by Keith Erlandson