Flatcoats

[Peter Kennon]

This is my first post and relates (naturally) to the recent interesting notes about Flatcoats. Having trained and trialled more of this breed than most other trainers, I thought some of my views may be relevant.

Firstly, I don't believe that the "show" people highjacked the breed but rather, the working folk neglected it. Very few shooters or triallers conducted breeding programs aimed specifically at improving working ability and as a result, Flatcoats did fall from favour.

It's definitely true that one has to be a breed enthusiast to perservere but even so, time and time again I see Flatcoat owners give up and revert to Labradors when they don't achieve quick results. That's probably a sensible thing to do but if some of us don't perservere, Flatcoats will dissappear from the trial scene altogether and if nothing else, we do add a bit of variety.

I came away from Bill Ecketts seminar with a new outlook on my Flatcoats. I realised that very little of retrieving in trials is natural. Apart from the dogs inherent drive and trainability, nearly everything it does at a trial has to be taught and learnt. No retriever lines or casts naturally, not even a Labrador ! This being the case, I now see no reason to use a Flatcoats so called lack of "natural ability" as an excuse. Sure, they do mature more slowly than other breeds but that only means the training process will take longer and as the latest English Field Trial Champion (the first for 26 years) has demonstrated, it's still possible to make a Flatcoat competitive at the elite level. As I also hope to prove.

The one thing that does make Flatcoats difficult is their slow maturation and it's entirely reasonable that most trainers, especially the Professionals, can't afford or can't be bothered waiting for them to grow up. I often wonder how many Flatcoats might have made the grade if only their owners had been a lot more patient with them.

[Prue Winkfield]

Good for you Peter and hope you do really well with your Flatcoats - always thought if I did not have GSPs, a Flatcoat would be nice but having seen quite a lot of Wayne and Teresa's they are just like GSPs in the maturity stakes! GSPs are not worth much in retrieving until they are 4 or 5. My sister in the UK is about to get a pup for pheasants on their farm - it will be interesting to see what it is like as I imagine it comes from show lines as they want a pet first and gundog second and probably would not have the contacts to check out working lines.