SPORTING ANSWERS
The experts
THE ULTIMATE SHOOTING QUIZ TEAM
BILL HARRIMAN
BASC’s head of firearms and global authority on guns
MAT MANNING
Airgunner and journalist from the West Country
BRUCE POTTS
Shooting Times rifle reviewer and stalker
DAVID TOMLINSON
Highly regarded writer and ornithologist
LIAM BELL
NGO chairman, Shropshire gamekeeper and keen wildfowler
GRAHAM DOWNING
Shooting consultant and sporting author
TONY BUCKWELL
Veterinary surgeon with a special interest in gundogs
TOM PAYNE
Professional shooting instructor and avid pigeon shooter
JEREMY HUNT
Runs Fenway Labradors and a professional gundog trainer
TIM MADDAMS
Former head chef at River Cottage and runs a shoot in Devon
SIMON WHITEHEAD
Author, professional ferreter and rabbit controller
IAIN WATSON
Keen stalker and senior CIC international trophy judge
Contact the team
Email: stanswers@ti-media.com
By post: Shooting Times, Pinehurst 2, Farnborough Business Park, Hants GU14 7BF
Cooling down a hothead
GUNDOG TRAINING
Q My six-month-old Labrador has been a natural retriever since we got her at nine weeks old — always carrying things about. My son has been working with her but while he’s concentrated on her natural ability to hunt and retrieve he hasn’t done enough with her general obedience, so she’s turning into a bit of a hothead with selective deafness. Can I switch to some more formalised obedience work — sits and stays and heelwork — without undermining her raw but impressive working qualities?
A You can definitely go back to some basic training without turning off her natural ability. The good thing is that you have a young dog that’s keen, but it looks like she’s taken it upon herself to do what she enjoys and is playing to her own rules, and that cannot continue.
I see so many puppies
