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To keep up to date with Dever Valley Gundogs, come and join us on our new Facebook page. August 2011 On-line Shop: August 2011 sees an exciting development for Dever Valley Gundogs, with the launch of our on-line shop. We will be stocking a range of carefully selected gundog training equipment, which we personally use and recommend. It is our aim to stock everything you would need to train your dog to a high standard, without any of the more expensive ‘gadgets’ aimed at emptying your wallet! We are pleased to announce that Dever Valley Gundogs are now stockists of Arden Grange pet foods which can be ordered over the phone or via our on-line shop. Orders of 2 or more 15kg bags will be delivered free of charge within a 5 mile radius of Winchester or Basingstoke. We will also be stocking a range of new and second-hand books, again carefully selected and our personal recommendations for the best training books available. The second-hand books represent a good saving on the new cost, and all are in excellent condition, most looking as if they have never been read! Lastly we have a range of calendars showing the Meadowsedge cockers at work and play, a perfect gift for any cocker lover. The calendar can be ordered to start at any month, for a full 12 months. May 2011 Simmer continued her progress at the start of May by winning the Chiltern Open Working Test, her second win in a row, and both within 5 weeks! A bit of a rest from competitions for her now, and maybe a couple of runs in September before the trialling season starts in earnest. March 2011 March saw Dever Valley Gundogs running at the Kintbury spaniel Working Tests once again. Simmer improved on her win in the puppy class last year by taking first place and best cocker in the novice test, and Dylan showed how much he has improved with an excellent run and a CoM in the open. January 2011 Teal was 2nd at the Meon Valley open cocker in January, narrowly beaten in a run-off for first, and just missing qualification for the championship. Her 2nd run had many people talking, with 3 super finds on pheasants, all marked to the inch, and retrieved to hand on a single command. Dylan (Meadowsedge Marauder) gained his first field trial award in January at the Chiltern novice cocker. He has recently sired his first litter, so a big month for him! December 2010 Switch had a very nice run at the KC Open cocker trial in December. Running very well in thick bramble, she had four nice flushes on rabbits in her first run, which she sat to with no whistle. In her 2nd run she had another nice find on a rabbit, then a good flush of a cock pheasant which was shot and landed only a few feet from her. Sadly when it got up and ran, the temptation was too much. On the plus side, the gallery all said what good job she made of the runner, just a pity she hadn’t waited to be sent! October 2010 Switch won the Midland Counties novice cocker in October, also taking guns’ choice. We were delighted she finally achieved what she has been capable of for so long! She put on an excellent display of hard hunting in very thick bramble, with some good finds, also making a difficult retrieve look very easy. In October we travelled to Northumberland for the Cocker Spaniel Club’s Scottish trials. Kris and Teal acquitted themselves well with a CoM in their first open trial, placing them in the top 6. This was very encouraging for us as Teal has a lot more to come and wasn’t going as hard as we know she can. July 2010 The end of June/start of July A bit of excitement for Bran, Teal and Switch have been sweeping through the pheasant pens before the birds are released June 2010, mad dogs and Englishwomen Summer has well and truly arrived here in Hampshire and a run of blisteringly hot days saw Kris and the cockers heading down to the river Itchen to cool off in the evenings. All the dogs love the water and the hot weather has been a perfect excuse to get the young dogs swimming and retrieving confidently and at increasing distances. Overall training is progressing well and the youngsters are coming on steadily. The older dogs have also had their annual eye-tests done at the Meon Valley clinic this month. We’re pleased to report Mr Mason passed all eyes as healthy and clear/normal for GPRA/CPRA & Glaucoma. Dylan was also DNA blood tested for prcd-PRA and his results have since come back from Optigen as normal/clear too. Good news all round, and no excuses for mismarking retrieves during training now eh... April 2010 On April 17th, Kris and Teal ran in the Kintbury Interclub Team challenge as part of Team Meon Valley, together with Shelli Jones and Ron Walford. It was a good fun event, lots of familiar faces and great to catch up with people, but very hot for the dogs, including Teal who was defintely not on top form. Team Bristol & West won, and MV were in the running for the wooden spoon. Oh well, you can’t win them all! It was still an excellent way to spend a Sunday and some good socialising for the young dogs too. Bran has become a dad! Like buses though, his girlfriends all seem to come along at once. There are three lovely litters currently available, of mainly liver pups (!), one in Gloucester, one in West Sussex (undocked) and one in Southampton. See the ‘dogs for sale’ page for more details. (ALL SOLD) March 2010, testing times ahead The end of one season means time to start focusing on young trialling prospects for the next. We’ve earmarked a couple of tests to train towards and to give the ‘pups’ the opportunity to work alongside other dogs and get used to the competition environment. Our first outing was in March at the Kintbury & District WGS spaniel working tests. Mij was a bit overawed by the whole occasion but Dylan and Simmer acquitted themselves very well. Nick & Simmer won the puppy test for dogs under 18 months, and both Simmer and Dylan also did well in the novice test. To top the day off, Kris won the open test with Teal against a high quality field of mainly springers — Teal does enjoy rising to the challenge. February 2010 Time for a short rest, and to start work with the youngsters while there’s still some game around... Jan 2010, the end of another cracking season 09/10 has been very successful season for Dever Valley Gundogs. On the back of Teal’s win, Switch finished the season, as she started it, in top form! She took 2nd at the start of the season at the Cocker Spaniel Club’s Scottish trial, and in the final week of this season she took 3rd at the Cocker Club’s January trial, again against a very good field. This was followed with a 3rd place and Guns’ Choice award at the Leconfield AV, where she was beaten by 2 springers but made an impression with a lot of people. Then (frustratingly) was placed 3rd again at the Chiltern Gundog Society’s cocker trial. That made three placings in 7 days - phew!! Not too shabby, but unfortunately this still leaves Switch chasing that elusive win next season. Our working team, comprising Bran, Diva, Switch and Teal have also had a successful and hardworking season in the beating line and picking-up which we’ve all thoroughly enjoyed, although we’re looking forward to a rest now! The snow put paid to several dates in Dec/Jan however Kris made use of the off-time to come down with Bronchitis, the girls came into season, and Bran quite spectacularly came down with a grass seed infection, leading to a massive abscess and a worrying couple of weeks for us all (he’s on the mend now thankfully). Dec 2009, A good day at the office for Meadowsedge Crackerjack! On Dec 17th Kris and Teal won the Glamorganshire Field Trial Society's novice cocker field trial in Powys. This was run in rushes with a plentiful supply of pheasants that caught many of the dogs out! Teal was on fire and demonstrated her excellent marking on 4 retrieves, including a spectacular retrieve across a large pond of a pheasant which had then run. Teal took a superb line from the rushes at the edge of the pond, out of sight and over the hill! We were delighted with the win, needless to say, and Teal just keeps getting better. Kris is looking forward to putting in some hard work this summer to prepare for running in Open trials next season. At the North Devon novice cocker field trial on 6th December, Dever Valley Gundogs were well represented. There was no 1st place awarded but Kris & Teal took 3rd and Nick & Switch were awarded a CoM and the Mowbray Salver for Guns’ Choice. November 2009 October 2009, Switch makes the run off at the Cocker Club trial, beaten by Peter Jones To kick the season off with some style, Switch ran in the Cocker Spaniel Club novice cocker trial at Lockerbie against a who’s-who of the cocker world. She had two excellent runs picking 5 partridge, but was beaten into second place in a run-off by Peter Jones with Maesydderwen Sublimity. September 2009, the season gets off to a good start As a pre-season warm up, Kris & Teal entered and won the Leconfield Working Spaniel Club’s novice working test at the start of September and took 1st place and the Raker trophy, beating a very good ESS in the run-off. Lets dare to hope this is the start of things to come! The start of the shooting season saw some lovely warm partridge days, picking up and beating in shirt sleeves. We have enjoyed some superb training days in Wales for Switch and Teal, with a couple more at Hamptworth planned. The last of Switch’s pups have now left for his new home, flying up to Aberdeen from Southampton. Our pup ‘Spud’ looks a bit lonely now, poor lad. July 2009 In July 09 Kris ran Teal at the Mid-Sussex Working Spaniel Club’s summer Water Test. She finished 3rd in the novice test, and also won the Ghillie Memorial Trophy for the best cocker spaniel—not a bad feat considering we only had about a 20ft width of the river Itchen to practice in! Kris also had a chance to catch up with one of our 2007 pups, Meadowsedge Cheiftain and his owner Jane. Teal’s been going very well in training recently, and we are hopeful for a good season with her this year. June 2009 On June 21st, FTAW Rowston Simone aka Switch had a lovely litter of 6 puppies by Andy Robinson’s FTW Kiltonbeck Warlord. The whelping went without any hitched and Dam and pups are thriving. March 2009 All of our adult dogs have recently been health checked. Their eyes have been tested for glaucoma and PRA under the BVA/KC scheme, and additionally they have been Optigen DNA screened for genetic hereditary PRA. We are delighted that all are clear/normal.
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