THE FLATCOATED RETRIEVER SOCIETY SHOOTING DOG CERTIFICATE

Introduction  Prior to the introduction of the SDC, the only way of assessing the inherited characteristics (good game finding, temperament, biddability, quietness and a soft mouth) essential for a dog working in the shooting field was Field Trials.  However, historically there had been few Flatcoats at any one time with FT awards and therefore people wanting to breed a working dog were limited by the very small proven gene pool and had to rely on the recommendation of owners as to their dog’s prowess in the shooting field. The SDC was set up in 1981/82 by the late Hon Mrs Amelia Jessel to address this shortfall by encouraging people who had working dogs with the above qualities, but not trialled, to have them assessed in a non-competitive arena.  Mrs. Jessel’s blueprint for Judges was “they should imagine that they are looking for a good working dog to buy that is going to be a useful shooting companion for the rest of its life”.

Guide to Handlers  Dogs will be required to:

1. Retrieve tenderly to hand a minimum of FOUR head of game, live or dead (Note 1)
2. Retrieve fur or feather
3. Be steady and quiet whilst sitting in line at a drive/drives whether on a lead or not (Note 3)
4. Walk reasonably to heel
5. Be able to hunt and pick game from open ground or any cover normally encountered on a shoot (Note 2) 
6. Readily enter water and swim (Note 4)
7. Be under reasonable control at all times throughout the day (Note 5)

Explanatory Notes   Dogs that, in the opinion of the Judges, whine, squeak, bark or have a hard mouth will be eliminated immediately. If you are unsure how to check for the damage caused by a hard mouth, please ask someone on your shoot who knows how to examine a bird properly to advise you. 

1. Where possible, dogs will be asked to retrieve at least one head of live (wounded) game. The Judges may want to move the dogs back at a subsequent drive/s in order to test them on live birds and in cover.
2. Dogs that generally lack confidence or the inclination to hunt and/or retrieve game may not be awarded a Certificate.
3. To be considered steady, a dog should sit freely and without any interference from its handler. If a dog shows a tendency to run in, it must be put on a lead and can then only be considered for a ‘B’ certificate.
4. When no suitable water is available on the day to assess the dogs on game or dummies, a special water test must be completed before the Certificate can be awarded.
5. Handlers will be required to keep their dogs under control all the time and not just for the short periods when in line. To be considered under reasonable control, the dog must be able to walk to heel, take basic directions and be responsive enough to the whistle so that it is deemed safe to take out in the shooting field; the Judges should not be looking for or expect field trial standards.

General Information

1. Normally not more than 4 to 6 dogs will be assessed per day as this ensures the Shoot is not disrupted in any way.
2. The Organiser will co-operate with the Shoot Manager, Keeper and Pickers-Up so that the dogs are tested fully making sure that all birds are picked as usual on a shooting day.  Guns will be requested to refrain from using their dogs whilst the test dogs are being worked.
3. It should be remembered that as SDC participants are only at the Shoot by kind permission of the Host and Gamekeeper, there will be some aspects of the day outside the Society’s control,  eg: availability of game.   
4. There will be two Judges – a KC FT Panel Judge and one from the FT Sub Committee (or their nominee).
5. Completing the day does not necessarily guarantee a Certificate.  To achieve a Certificate, a dog must have satisfied the Judges that it would be an asset to the working gene pool and a useful companion in the shooting field. If a dog has fulfilled that criteria and remained steady off lead all day, it will be awarded an ‘A’ Certificate or a ‘B’ if it had been on a lead. There may be occasions when the Judges will ask for the dogs to be put on a lead, eg: near a road or on transport, but this will not compromise a dog going for an ‘A’ certificate.
6. In order to assist the handlers whose dogs have not achieved a Certificate, the Judges will explain what went wrong and therefore why they have not passed.
7. Out of courtesy to the Shoot and Judges, together with the rising costs (currently in 2007, an average of £27.50 per bird), dogs must have had sufficient experience of picking up in the shooting field, sitting quietly in line at a drive and be able to pick warm game competently prior to undertaking a Shooting Dog Certificate day.  To this  end, participants will be asked to have their application seconded by their Shoot  Captain/Gamekeeper or an acceptable substitute**.
8. **If you would like to apply for a Shooting Dog Certificate but do not have regular access to a shoot or are unsure as to whether your dog is ready, please contact the FT Secretary or any member of the FT Sub who will be able to help you. The application form can be downloaded from the Working Forms Section
9. Extract from the FCRS Newsletter Autumn 1997 by the late Hon Mrs. A. Jessel “To give a resume of the standard required for the Shooting Dog Certificate: dogs should be steady and quiet during a drive which may include many falling birds.  Even if the dog is on a lead as a precaution, (in which case it may be awarded a B certificate), it should not be restless or tugging at the lead.  It should be steady at heel as it will be required to walk at heel between drives.  After the drive is over the Judge will ask the handler to work his dog, either in the open or in cover, so the dog must be obedient enough to go in more or less the direction required, to hunt its ground and to return when called.  It should pick up cleanly either live (wounded) or dead game and deliver it to hand.  Game may be pheasant, partridge, duck, rabbit, hare, pigeon, woodcock, snipe or any other legitimate game and we cannot guarantee only pheasants and partridges. The dog should be capable of hunting for game that it hasn’t seen fall.  It should also enter water and swim although very often this test will be artificial.  There is nothing in the above that a picking up dog should not be required to do.  In fact it should not be used for picking up if it is not capable of the above”.