geoffwales Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 Just watching Alan Davies on tv rescue dog type programme, this got me wondering what us the smallest breed of dog people use in the field to retrieve pugeons ir rabbits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 Seen a few terriers doing a tidy job over the years. I have only owned one terrier personally and it was hard as hell killed everything and if it was edible it got eaten. Was great with rubber balls though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffwales Posted July 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 Seen a few terriers doing a tidy job over the years. I have only owned one terrier personally and it was hard as hell killed everything and if it was edible it got eaten. Was great with rubber balls though Lol, i like jack russels but i think pigeons or rabbits are to big Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Lol, i like jack russels but i think pigeons or rabbits are to bigI have a patterdale terrier and he can easily carry a large rabbit. Whether the rabbit would be good for anything by the time you get it from him is a different matter!I would have thought a Nova Scotia Duck tolling retriever is the smallest of the true retrievers. Edited July 22, 2015 by silver pigeon 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Lol, i like jack russels but i think pigeons or rabbits are to big with my own eyes I have seen a pink plucked from the tide and pulled back up the bank by a Border Terrier. My mates mum has a terrier that picks up pheasant on their shoot. The leg length prevents a true carry of larger game but I have never seen one quit once it sets its mind to something getting shifted by dragging. Mine could carry rabbits just far enough away so I couldn't get them before they were eaten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee-kinsman Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Theres an old bloke on a shoot where I pick up and he has a jack russel as his peg dog. I have to say it marks birds and retrieves them perfectly. First time I saw it I thought all kinds of things would get mauled but I have to say it's alright and alot better trained than most the other dogs. Smallest gundog breed is a cockerlier (Cavalier x cocker). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I used to have a American cocker spaniel....and that was the buis.................i would dearly like to cross a american cocker with a springer...i bet you would get something good out of it ,... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I would have thought a Nova Scotia Duck tolling retriever is the smallest of the true retrievers. Guess it depends on how true of a small retriever you're talking about - this here be 25 pounds of sho' 'nuff honest truth retriever called the Boykin Spaniel. Which like the Irish Water Spaniel, is recognized as a retriever in North America and rather justifiably so. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Looks a cracking dog and like you said recognised as a retriever, are there any in the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Believe there were a couple of Boykins in the vicinity of Tamworth some years back and a Yank airman had one maybe at Chicksands? But Boykins are only recently "getting into the public eye" from their native realm of South Carolina, for which they "serve" as official state dog. Recognized by the (A)KC in the last decade. They play well above their weight as retrievers, but they make their crust as the smallest retriever on the smallest gamebird, the mourning dove which leads one to believe they also would be a smashing success worked from the hide on wood pigeon. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver pigeon 3 Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I bet they would be great on the pigeons and also partridge shoots. If they ever make it over here I would definately have a look. Are they a good flushing dog as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Maybe not cocker or ESS "good" as a good flushing dog, but good good just the same. Especially on ruffed grouse and - naturally, within their spaniel purview - on brer rabbit. The Boykin's other speciality is as "the little dog that doesn't rock the boat" - you wildfowl hunt them out of a canoe or pirogue without a ripple, then you scoop them right back into the bow of the boat with you after they've delivered the duck. Most of that's done in streams or creeks, but they ain't terribly bashful about "rougher seas" when it comes to retrieving MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I actually thought a NSDT was not actually a true retriever other than in name, where originally worked with the commercial nets and would sort of drive/walk the duck/wildfowl into the catching area at the up stream side. Think it worked because they are fox coloured and duck would quietly swim away from the 'fox' and into the catching area. Think 1 still works the nets at slimbridge? or some big wildfowl reserve. My mates got a couple of Irish water spaniels and he's got them to a very good standard, but he put a hell of a work into them to get them to that standard, could put 50% of the work into a lab to get to a similar standard U won't really get much smaller than a cocker or modern FT springer, and to be honest in my opinion the modern FT breeding some of the dogs are actually too small now, a small cocker/springer does almost struggle with a large cock pheasant or hare esp over rough ground or heavy vegetation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E.w. Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 I actually thought a NSDT was not actually a true retriever other than in name, where originally worked with the commercial nets and would sort of drive/walk the duck/wildfowl into the catching area at the up stream side. Think it worked because they are fox coloured and duck would quietly swim away from the 'fox' and into the catching area. Think 1 still works the nets at slimbridge? or some big wildfowl reserve. My mates got a couple of Irish water spaniels and he's got them to a very good standard, but he put a hell of a work into them to get them to that standard, could put 50% of the work into a lab to get to a similar standard U won't really get much smaller than a cocker or modern FT springer, and to be honest in my opinion the modern FT breeding some of the dogs are actually too small now, a small cocker/springer does almost struggle with a large cock pheasant or hare esp over rough ground or heavy vegetation + 1 the modern cocker is more of a toy breed in my eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldweld Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 Small retriever and large wounded cock Pheasant quickly ends in a hard mouthed Dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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