Labs—British vs. U.S.
 Much
has been written and said in recent years about British Labradors,
particularly in ways they compare to American Labradors.
My wife,
Jan, and I have studied, imported and trained British Labradors
for nearly 20 years. In that time we’ve learned
there are indeed differences between the two types of Labradors.
But
to fully appreciate the nature of those differences, prospective
retriever owners and others interested in Labradors need to know
not only about British and American Labradors, but about British
and American cultures and the ways hunting and shooting are practiced
in both places.
For while there are differences between American
Labradors and their British counterparts, they aren’t founded
in mystery. Rather, they are the result, primarily — over
time — of
differences in training priorities, training methods and the way
retrievers are field-trialed in England and the U.S.
If an American
can understand these differences, he can maximize his gun dog’s
potential for becoming a quiet, steady companion that is highly
effective in the field.
History, please
Let’s begin by expanding on the last sentence,
particularly the words maximize his gun dog’s potential
for becoming a quiet, steady companion who is highly effective
in the
field.
The key word here is potential.
Each dog, like each human, is blessed
with certain natural abilities. The degree to which those abilities
are nurtured and developed
varies from individual to individual.
While it is theoretically
true that two dogs — or people — with
identical natural abilities (if such a thing were possible) could
develop identically if they were given the same opportunities,
it’s not true in a practical sense. Too many variables exist
for identical development to occur.
That said, it remains true that
a puppy that possesses a natural tendency to be quiet (not bark
excessively) is more likely to develop
into an adult dog that is quiet.
Similarly, a puppy that possesses
a natural tendency to retrieve is likely to develop into an adult
dog that retrieves.
And so on.
Previously, we have discussed traits we consider desirable
in companion retrievers.
Good health is one. We also want a dog
that is quiet in the kennel, pleasing to the eye, retrieves naturally,
is athletic and intelligent
and possesses a kind temperament.
In general, those traits can
be found in most British retriever lines, which is why they have
enjoyed increased popularity in America.
In
general, those traits are less likely to be found in combination in
many American retriever lines.
Note the emphasis here on the words “in
general,’’ because
exceptions abound to each rule.
Keep in mind our original precept:
good retrievers, even great retrievers, come in every breed and
color.
Yet some lines of retrievers have greater potential to develop
into certain types of retrieverss than others.
And British Labradors,
generally speaking, have, in our opinion, a greater likelihood
to develop into high-quality companion gun
dogs than do most American Labradors.
U.S., Great Britain differ
Here’s why that’s true.
Great Britain, as a nation
and a culture, values, in a broad sense, tradition.
Yes, the U.K.
is a modern nation in every sense of the word. But virtually all
aspects of its culture — everything from its
monarchy to its architecture to its sense of style — is influenced
by the past.
American culture is also affected by tradition. But
its influence here is considerably less evident.
The U.S. and its
people are more often guided by change.
Everything about America
changes virtually everyday — or
so it seems.
These significant differences between Great Britain
and the U.S. are evident in the types of retrievers that inhabit
the two countries.
Example: In England, retriever field trials are
held in much the same fashion today they were 100 years ago.
Typically,
a British retriever trial begins when members of a field trial
society send their entries to the trial secretary.
Perhaps 100 or
more retriever owners will attempt to enter a trial. But unlike
in America, where trial entries are unlimited, only
24 dogs are allowed in a two-day stake in England (12 dogs are
allowed in a one day stake).
Those selected to run a trial are drawn
from a hat containing all entries.
This is a critically important
component of the British retriever field trial “system,”
and one that plays a key role in its retriever development.
Because
English field-trial entries are limited, even trialers who belong
to a number of field trial societies — people
who attempt to enter 40 to 50 trials a year — will only average
between four and eight trials a year.
So a retriever field-trialer
in England must not only be a good handler with a good dog, he
must be lucky enough to have his name
drawn regularly. Only then can he give his good dog enough opportunities
to make him into a champion.
That’s why four, five or six
years sometimes pass in England before even some great dogs are
made into field trial champions.
A British field trial dissected
Let’s take a good look at
a British retriever field trial.
Imagine yourself a bird soaring
high above a two-day retriever stake in England.
Below, beginning
at about 8 a.m., you see vehicles gather in a field on a large
estate.
In some vehicles are trialers and their
dogs. In others are judges.
Walking about are the guns, or men who
will be shooting birds on this day. Also there is a trial steward,
as well as various other
people helping with the trial.
Also present are men and women who
will be in “line’’ during
the walk-up phase of the trial. These people carry walking sticks
that they will use to “beat’’ the cover, whether
sugar beats or bracken, in an attempt to put birds to wing.
In fact,
the first day of a two-day trial typically is spent “walking
up.’’ During a walk up, four or five dogs might be
under judgement at any give time in a line of people that can
stretch 100 feet (in heavy cover) or as much as 75 yards (in
row crops
such as sugar beets).
As the line moves through the cover, typically
there is little talking. Indeed, the entire operation is conducted
with a sort
of reverence for the surroundings and particularly for the game
that has been cultivated on the estate.
Unlike in America, where
trials often are held on grounds groomed specifically for retriever
training, in England, as mentioned
earlier, trials are held on large estates.
The trialers are present
on the estate at the invitation of the estate owner. Typically,
the estate owner will supply the guns.
Sometimes these will be friends. On other, less frequent occasions,
they might be paying guests.
In some instances, the shoot will
be sponsored by the estate owner for the specific purpose of accommodating
the host field
trial
society.
In other instances, the trial is being held essentially
in conjunction with a shoot the estate owner had otherwise planned.
Estates
of this kind can range in size from several hundred acres to, in
the case of one estate owned by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
II, many thousands of acres.
The Queen’s Sandringham Estate,
on which she holds the British Retriever Championship every five
years (typically), comprises
more than 20,000 acres.
But regardless an estate’s size,
game on it is carefully cultivated. In many instances this means
pheasants are reared for
release to supplement a wild population. In other cases, such
as at Sandringham, the pheasant population is nurtured, but it
is
not supplanted by pen-reared birds.
In all cases, gamekeepers
employed by estates will protect game by killing foxes and other
vermin. Hawks and other aerial predators
also were killed in the past but laws now protect these birds.
Considerable
effort is expended on shooting estates to arrange cover types to
accommodate the movement of game. Pheasants are
not beat out of woods without the keeper knowing exactly where
the birds are likely to fly.
That way the guns can be placed strategically,
ensuring a productive day’s shooting. The gamekeeper also
wants surviving birds to remain on the estate.
Before a shoot or
a field trial, a keeper and his helpers might move game into key
areas by beating it from one spot to another.
This can’t be done with exact precision. But good keepers
are remarkably adept at moving game from place to place.
Reverence
is appropriate
Given the cost of operating a shooting estate,
it’s understandable
that field trialers and their dogs must do nothing to interfere
with the gamekeeper in his effort to fulfill his many duties,
or the guns in their desire to enjoy the outing.
Fundamentally,
it’s also good manners for the handlers and
their dogs to behave civilly. Foremost among their responsibilities
is to minimize any interference with game that has yet to be
shot.
Recall that the estate owner has a considerable amount of
money, not to mention pride, invested in his estate. He wants to
put
on a good shoot.
Recall as well that the gamekeeper is a professional
who prides himself in the quality of game he presents.
Therefore,
dogs participating in the shoot must perform their duties while
otherwise remaining, essentially, invisible.
So, too, the handlers.
In America, where field-trialers where bright
white jackets, their English counterparts dress in traditional
country colors,
muted
greens and browns. Why? The better to blend in.
Similarly, in
America, field-trialers often use big megaphone-type whistles.
British field-trialers employ small, quiet whistles.
The better
to not scare game that has not yet been put to wing.
Looking below,
and learning
From our perch high above a British trial, we see a
walk up being organized in a series of large sugar beet fields.
The test will
be especially challenging for dogs from northern England and
Scotland, where row crops are not typically grown.
Such fields
give dogs many opportunities to follow their noses and open up
their legs rather than listen to the whistle. Dogs
that are too hot or otherwise disinclined to listen to their
handlers are the most likely to be sent packing in this type
of cover.
Alongside the line of judged dogs, guns, beaters and
judges as it begins to move through the first field are dogs and
their
handlers who are not yet under judgement.
With them is the gallery,
which,
except for the national championship, is usually not very large.
The
dogs that are not being judged are affixed to their handlers by
rope leaches attached loosely around the animals’ necks.
No
matter how many birds fly ahead of the line, or how many rabbits
or hares are flushed, and regardless the amount of shooting that
ensues, none of the dogs at the side of the field whine or otherwise
show signs of nervousness.
Nor do any tug at the ends of their
handlers’ leashes.
Instead they stand calmly at heel, aware
of their surroundings, and certainly aware of the flying birds
and shooting. But they
are under control.
More accurately, they are controlling themselves.
Or seem to be.
So too the dogs under judgement. These dogs, walking
smartly at the heels of their handlers, are not leashed.
These
dogs are subjected to nearly continual game scent — and
game itself. As the line moves, pheasants, partridges, hares
and rabbits scurry ahead.
This is another reason everyone participating
in an English shoot wears drab colors, and why dog handlers use
quiet whistles. No
one wants to scare the game before it can be shot.
Because this
is the first morning of the trial, initial birds and fur given
the dogs will be felled more or less straight ahead.
As dogs are eliminated, more difficult retrieves will be given,
with dogs on the left end of the line asked to retrieve birds
felled
at the right, and so on.
We see on the far left end of the line
a woman and her yellow Labrador. The dog is heeling nicely. The
handler, as required,
is not speaking
to the dog — not even admonishing it in a whisper.
Instead
she carefully watches ahead.
There!
Thirty yards ahead and slightly to the right, a cock pheasant
flushes. As the bird rises into the sky, the left-hand barrel
of a 12-gauge
double cracks. The pheasant helicopters down.
Long moments pass.
The line stops and the judges allow matters to settle.
The judges’ first
job is to assess whether the bird is dead or simply wounded — or
what the British call a runner.
If they believe it to be dead, they
may wait an extra moment before signaling to one of the handlers
to send his dog. If it’s
a runner, the judge likely will act more quickly, getting a dog
on its way.
In either circumstance, a dog is soon off.
Unlike in an American
trial, in which a retriever likely will spring to the area of the
fall with its head up, its British
counterpart
probably will run with its nose down.
This is encouraged because
the handler ultimately has no idea where the bird is. He knows
where it fell. But if it is a runner,
it
possibly could be running back toward the line, rather than away
from it. For that reason, the dog — while moving quickly
to the area of the fall — must hunt along the way.
Amazingly,
en route to the fall, the British retriever typically will flush
other game. It might be another pheasant. Or perhaps
a rabbit or hare. Maybe even a partridge or woodcock.
Though guns
are encouraged not to drop secondary birds in the area where the
first bird fell, game that arises while a retrieve
is
underway nevertheless is sometimes shot. But no matter. The British
retriever must ignore it — though the dog can be whistled
off the second fall by its handler — and concentrate on
retrieving the first bird.
Which brings up another difference
between British and American retrievers. In British trials, absolutely
first-rate noses are
absolutely required of retrievers to succeed.
Without the ability
to track game, a retriever will never make its mark in England.
In
America, by contrast, a good nose can even hurt a dog in a field
trial, where dogs are required to run long, straight lines,
with
their heads up. This can be spectacular to watch and can be impressive
in many ways.
But the encouragement of good noses by British field
trials results in retrievers better suited for tracking, and therefore
for hunting.
Watch now as the black Lab bitch sprints from the line,
released by little more than a whistle.
The little girl, weighing
about 55 pounds, puts up a hen pheasant en route to the fall.
The
bird is allowed to climb over the line.
Then it is shot.
The Lab watches this momentarily, then continues
to the fall. In this instance the bird is stone dead, and it’s
an easy pick. Happily, with the pheasant in its mouth, the bitch
races back to
her handler and gives up the bird.
The funnel narrows
But the test is not yet passed.
The bird is quickly given by the
handler to a judge, who turns it over, inspecting it. Any sign
whatsoever that the skin of
the bird has been pricked by the dog will send the dog and handler
home.
In Great Britain, a soft mouth in a retrieving dog is critical.
As
we begin to understand more about the British retriever trial,
this, too, makes sense in a very practical way. For a day’s
end, game that is shot is not given to the guns, even if they
have paid a handsome price for a day’s shoot.
Instead, the
birds, rabbits and hares (except for a brace of birds, which typically
is given to each gun) are retained by
the estate
owner for eventual resale on the open market.
Thus — and
this is important to understanding the British retriever — the
role of economics pervades of a day’s
shoot in England. Game must be cultivated. Habitat must be managed.
And people participating in the shoot, from the estate owner
to the man trailing behind with spaniels and Labs “picking
up’’ unretrieved
game, must play by a set of rules that allows for the best shoot
possible.
Therefore participating dogs must be absolutely quiet
so as not to scare game away before it can be shot.
Participating
dogs must also be absolutely under control for the same reason.
Quiet
whistles also are used so as not to scare game.
What’s important
to understand is that many, if not most, of the traits required
in British retrievers participating in shoots — and
trials — can’t be trained for, they can only be bred
for.
Quietness? An inherited characteristic.
Steadiness? A trained characteristic
best achieved with a dog predisposed toward it.
Soft mouth? Inherited.
Biddability? (Trainability?) Without this
characteristic, a British dog could never be trained — as
just one example — to
ignore game it flushes and continue to a downed bird.
Great noses?
Inherited.
Remember, the electric collar is not used in England.
So what is achieved through breeding is what a trainer has to work
with.
Consequently, in Great Britain, careful breeding is all important.
Yes, retrievers there must be trained. But because so much is
required of these animals that are factors of temperament and,
virtually,
temperament alone — quietness, steadiness, soft mouth,
biddability — they
must be very demanding in the type of dogs they breed.
Don’t
forget, if a handler has to so much as whisper to a dog to remind
it to stay at heel while in line, both will be eliminated.
And
if a retriever lets out so much as a peep or a squeak while under
judgment, he — or she — also will be eliminated.
So,
rather than waste time and effort, a typical British field-trialer
will focus on purchasing the right type of retriever puppy from
the outset, then work to accentuate that pup’s natural
tendencies — tendencies
that the American hunter in search of a shooting companion also
values
Up next: The Color of Labradors |
