Kennel Club Gundog Working Tests take place at Chatsworth House

The Kennel Club Gundog Working Tests were held at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire by the gracious permission of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire on 16th and 17th June 2018. The event was kindly sponsored by Skinner’s Pet Foods.

The two-day event saw gundogs tested on their natural working abilities under the relevant sub group: Spaniels, HPRs or Retrievers. Each sub group is tested on a variety of different skills. HPRs are required to demonstrate that they are able to hunt with style and purpose and retrieve with efficiency, Retrievers are required to mark the fall of a dummy and retrieve quickly to hand with pace and drive, and Spaniels are required to hunt with style, pace and courage, and retrieve quickly and cleanly to hand.

The principal winners from the two days were:

  • 1st Open Retriever – Brackenbird Lucas, Labrador Retriever owned by Mr PW Travis.
  • 1st Open Spaniel – Gorsebay Snipe, English Springer Spaniel owned by Mr C Lewis.
  • 1st Open HPR – Hawkstalon Aberfeldy at Turtonmoor, Hungarian Wire Haired Vizsla owned by Mr A Blackledge.
  • 1st Novice Retriever – Hookamslade Zulu Warrior, Labrador Retriever owned by Miss P Graystone.
  • 1st Novice Spaniel – Shalloakwest Sol, English Springer Spaniel owned by Mrs J Thatcher.
  • 1st Novice HPR – Water Germander over Borderpoint, German Shorthaired Pointer owned by Mr and Mrs R Steel.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “Once again, the level of working ability on show at Chatsworth in the Kennel Club Gundog Working Tests was clearly evident. Congratulations to the winners in the Open and Novice tests on such great performances. The level of talent we see in working gundogs is exceptionally high so these handlers should be incredibly proud of their dogs for coming out on top.  We wish them every success in the future.”

Read more information about gundog working tests.