Q: Where and when did you win your first trial and with what Dog? A: Mallowdale Smut at a trial at Spy Park, Chittow, Wiltshire Q: When did you make up your first Champion and with what dog? A: Ftch Raffle of Rytex 1985 Q: How many Champions have you made up and in what breeds? A: I have made up 98 FT Champions. Wendy my wife and partner has made up 10. All Wendy’s have been cockers, I have made up 30 Cockers, 57 Springer Spaniels and 11 Labradors. Cockers under the Mallowdale Prefix and Springers under the Rytex prefix. Q: Your best results? A: I have won the Spaniel Championships 6 times; the Cocker Championship 3 times; the Irish Chamionship once; and Wendy was second in the Irish Spaniel Championships with a Cocker. Q: You are better known for spaniels but you also had quite an illustrious career in retrievers. When did you purchase the first Labrador for training and trialling, What was its breeding and name? A: 1983 Palgrave breeding from Eric Baldwin: Palgrave Nicholas Q: How many trials have you won? A: Hundreds – I no longer keep count – I try to average about 15 per year. Q: How many Champions have you made up? What are their names? A: As I said earlier 98 – my Dad used to keep records – I don’t just have full records to hand. Q: Which of your dogs to date would you rate as your best dog and why? A: FT Ch. Rytex Rod who always gave his all. Q: Which breeds have you trained and which breeds do you prefer training? A: I have trained virtually all the gundog breeds including pointers setters, most breeds of retrievers and spaniels. Q: What is the best dog you have trained for someone else? A: That has to be FTCH Garendon Captain which won the Retriever Championship but I have trained many other dogs which took their titles and were placed in championships for other people. Q: Which breed do you prefer training and why? 66
Summer 2013 Countrysports and Country Life
A: Spaniel – they are more fun and not at all boring plus you can rough shoot as you are doing it. Q: Do you prefer training dogs or bitches? A: I love training ‘ any good one’ – sex is immaterial. Q: Throughout you career you must have met, seen and been influenced by many handlers can I ask you who of these handlers most influenced or impressed you? A: I have been influenced by many people but obviously John Halstead Snr stands out both for his own track record and his willingness to give advice. I don’t consider I know it all and I am very open to using new techniques. Q: Other than your own dogs which dogs would you rate as some of the best you have seen or judged? A: FTCh Breeze of Drakeshead Q: You are an A Panel judge what do you look for when judging a dog? What do you dislike? A: Something pleasing to the eye – style drive – natural ability but yet under control. I dislike a high tail action in a lab. Q: What changes have you seen over the years in judging and running trials that (a) you think are positive; and (b) more negative? A: You see better trained dogs meaning that the standard of competition is higher; and one negative I feel is that there are too many people in the game who do not shoot. Q: How important is nutrition in conditioning your dogs for trials? A: Over the years I have come to the conclusion that keeping a dog fit and in good condition is very fundamental to getting the best out of it. Good food, regular grooming, worming and taking anti flea, mite etc steps is very important to us. Very! Q: What you look for in a dog and bitch that you are going to breed? A: I like to breed Champion to Champion. I look for dogs that are keen to please and have given big hearted performances. I also want to breed dogs with a sound mouth. Q: You must have had many highlights as a trainer and handler as well as some disappointments can you share with us (a) your highlights; and (b) your biggest disappointments? A: (a) Nowadays, I get as much pleasure from watching clients win as I do from myself; and (b)