If all men were in love with the same woman, many of them would be very unhappy.

Having said that, I wish that my "rough-and-ready" statements on this subject -- which are drawn from some years of experience in the field with pointing dogs and falcons -- will meet with benevolent understanding by those whose tastes and choices differ from mine.

The use of dogs to locate game for hawk or falcon is very ancient.  The oldest pictorial presentation I know of is in Sienna, in Italy, dates from about the first half of the 14 th century and features two long haired dogs pointing quail or partridge for a mounted hawker with a spar or tiercel gos.  The attitude of the dogs is very similar to the pointing style of todayšs American Setters (Ambrogio Lorenzetti:  Effeti del buon governo in campagna).

The very existence of various breeds shows the versatility of human needs and tastes.   It is the practical use with gun and hawk as well as the working tests -- i.e., the field trials -- which have made the dogs we enjoy today.

WHY A DOG FOR FLYING A LONGWING ON GAME

Game sits.  It tries to hide.  Thus, it must be found and flushed for the waiting-on falcon. Some falconers advocate that dogs are only needed in situations where game is only to be found in high cover such as heather.  In this approach, advocates say that a more precise and controlled flush can be obtained without a four-legged assistant in places where game can be spotted, as is often the case with partridge in winter wheat.

While I might admit that dogs are unnecessary for flights out of the hood, I feel that to fly a waiting-on falcon without a dog is missing the point of game hawking:  that to fly using only a spaniel to flush is far from getting all the taste of the sport; that to fly over a short ranging Brittany or German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) is fit only on ground enclosed or overstocked with game; and that only the happy few who can handle a pair of wide ranging English Setters or Pointers to serve a high mounting bird can enjoy the summation of the sport.

To my fellows who claim that such a refinement is superfluous when game hawking and that a "good, all-round (name your four-legged here) is quite enough," I often answer that game hawking itself is a superfluity since it far exceeds the need for the daily bowl of rice.  In my opinion, the only justification for game hawking is the search for one's pleasure through aestheticism.  Of course, your aesthetics can (and probably do) differ from mine.  Mine are such that I know few better feelings in the field than to have a falcon barely visible in the sky which follows the work of two English Setters; to have one of them pointing and the other honoring; and to watch the stoop on the covey they pointed and I flushed.

CHOICE OF BREED

The best way to make a comparison between the qualities of the different breeds available is not to listen to a well-meaning but little-learned friend; nor to a breeder who is necessarily partial to his/her beloved breed.  Instead, observe the results of the competitions.

It is a fact that only some very few breeds rise above others in field trials.

In Europe, where field trials for bird dogs are in far greater number than in the British Isles, and where the stakes have much more competitors, there are separate stakes for continental breeds and for "English" breeds. On the continent, English Pointers and English Setters take the most results in stakes for British breeds (with my apologies to my Irish friends, the Irish Setter is known as one of the "Races Anglaises").  In stakes for continental breeds, winners and qualified dogs are mostly Brittanies and GSPs.

In the U.K. and Ireland, English Pointers seem for the moment to be on the top, with the good Gordon Setters probably making up the greater proportion than on the continent.   English Setters, however, are on the way up, and the good Irish Setters appear more numerous than on the continent.  I have not attended field trials run for continental breeds in the Islands, but I doubt that the small numbers of these breeds whelped could be a match for the original stock.  With the (near?) end of quarantine, it will not be so expensive to buy good stock from top breeders in Europe.

In game hawking, the falconer's attention is mainly on the falcon, so a dog widely marked with white is to be preferred, as it will be easier to spot.  This detail, which is particular to falconry, is not in favour of choosing a Gordon or an Irish setter.

So what would be the choice?

In my opinion, and for my tastes, I would choose a Brittany or an elderly English Setter or Pointer for enclosed country and heavily stocked ground.  For open ground, moorland, and low density game, I would choose and English Setter or English Pointer.

CHOICE OF LINE

In my opinion, this is more important than the previous point.

Show or "bench" stock should be avoided, as few of the forebears, if any, have been thoroughly tried in difficult conditions on wild-hatched game.  Dogs from field trial stock are more consistently good workers and easier to train than the so called "just practical" stock.

In the Isles, lines of dogs which have proven over several generations their quality on snipe or grouse are to be preferred over those whose ancestors have only been trialed on the stubble.  This is mainly because there are so many pheasants and because it is not sure that the game was wild-hatched, in the latter situation.

On the continent, the word "field trial" can cover anything from stakes run on planted game to those where the game is snipe, woodcock, blackcock; or it could also mean the great stakes where only the points on wild partridge can qualify a dog.  From lowest to highest, they are:

GIBIER TIRE:  game shot over dogs.  This entails (usually) planted game, except the stakes on snipe, woodcock, or blackcock, which are of course wild-hatched.  Only dogs proven in these last trials are of interest in a pedigree.  The so-called "Championnat du Monde" (World Championship) is run on freshly released game.

QUETE DE CHASSE:  this is the classic working trial.  A dog coming from this stock might probably be a good one, providing that most of his forebears have qualified in spring field trials, which are run on partridge.  Continental and "English" breeds compete in separate stakes.

GRANDE QUETE:  these stakes are the cream of the cream among English Setters and Pointers, with seldom the appearance of a Gordon or an Irish Setter.  Dogs run fast and far, at least 500 meters on both sides; they have to find and point the game -- only points on wild partridge can qualify a dog; they must be unconcerned by fur; they have to dominate the other dog, but not pass game, and honor the matešs point.  Many faults can put them out, e.g., the need for too much whistle; of "help" from the handler to back; unsteadiness on wing; interest in fur; being "not in tune" (which means not mastering enough ground or game); running wild; false points; and more.

To quote numbers:  there are about 30,000 setters and pointers whelped every year in Europe, and dogs run in GRANDE QUETE (G.Q.) are from three to eight years old; among these approximately 150,000 dogs (3 to 8 yrs. old), only 200 or so run in G.Q., and only a very few of these who run qualify or win. Of course, they are all of the same lines. It is the same as with horses -- the number of thoroughbreds which run the Derby or the "Arc de Triomphe" is also very small compared to the number of horses foaled each year.

It is those animals which are of interest in a pedigree as they pass their high qualities to their offspring, but usually to a lesser degree, which makes these more adapted to the ordinary man or woman.

A dog will live ten to twelve years  sometimes more.  It will work most efficiently from about three to nine years old.  The portion of the initial cost of buying a dog will be very small compared to the cumulative expenses of upkeep, food, vet care, training, etc.  While general upkeep will be the same for a crack, a moderately good, or a poor quality dog, training, in fact, is likely to be more difficult and expensive for a second rate animal.  One is more likely to find pleasure in serving a longwing with a partner from the very best lines one can find and afford.  So it is probably a mistake to be tight when buying the partner who will make or mar your falcons for at least six seasons.

The quality of dogs bred for field trials has tremendously improved on the continent during the last twenty-five years.  So has their easiness to be trained and their understanding.  With all due respect to my friends who breed good pointing dogs in the Isles, I feel that, except for Irish and Gordon Setters, a falconer is likely to derive satisfaction with a partner from spring field trials stock if his choice is for a Brittany or a GSP, or from "Grande Quete" lines, should it be an English Setter or Pointer.  The fact is that several of the continental falconers who come every year to Scotland have preferred to go through the trouble and high expenses of the quarantine to import one or more dogs -- English Setters or Pointers whose ancestors have been trialed in "Grande Quete" -- rather than to buy one in the Isles; to me, this proves that the above assertion is not without ground.

PUPPY, YOUNG DOG OR OLD DOG

Most want to take a puppy because they feel that it will be easier to train to their own style of sport.  Usually also, the strain on the wallet seems to be lighter with a puppy than with an older dog.  Here again, one has to think the question out.

A puppy bought when two to four months old will seldom take his first points before nine to eighteen months old.  It will not be reliable for the highly skilled work needed in order that the falcon shall not be too often deceived before two or three years old.

What do the field trials addicts do to have good dogs?  They breed or buy from what they feel is the best stock.  Instead of sticking to a single pup, they keep and train -- more or less partially -- several dogs; and after several months or years, end with fewer, but they hope better, top-class dogs than that with which they began.  It is rather foolish to think that having only one pup, the odds are that (because it is yours) it will turn out to be "the great dog."

A falconer who can keep and train several dogs can do the same as do the doggy people:   if his choice, dedication, skills, and resources are average to good, he or she will probably end with success.  On the other hand, if he or she is -- or if the spouse dictates he or she become -- a "one-dog" falconer, choosing a pup will put him/her off a practical dog for a good while and leave too much to luck.

The young dog bought when twelve to thirty months old, in my opinion offers better prospects.

First, all disease and trouble with growth will have been handled by the previous handler.   The dog will probably be only a few weeks or months before being able to work for the falcon.  He will have been properly shown working on game by the handler (note that I did not say "shown working properly" -- it will still be too young for that).  This I say assuming the falconer is wise enough not to buy a "dog in a poke."  Of course, it will not be finished yet; it means that you and the dog have a good opportunity to become real partners.

If the young dog comes from a field trial or practical kennel, it will be the one which the handler has judged to be "near to best," as he has chosen to keep it, and partially train it, and maybe even trialed it, but has in the end, chosen to relinquish to another owner (having kept for himself the one he judges to be the very best). Providing you make only a few mistakes, you will have a chosen partner for a long while.

Of course, the momentary cost will seem bigger than that with a pup.  But think about the cost of food, vet, traveling to and from training grounds, the hire of training grounds, the time and cost involved in training. You will soon find that you could not produce a young dog out of one pup for the cost of a ready-made young dog. The breeder or handler has all these expenses for cheaper than you ever could, and pays them off with several dogs instead of only one.

We should also have a good look at the opportunity to find with a field trial addict or handler, a six- to nine-year-old dog.  In this case, it will be a certain good one, as it will have been kept so long by an experienced doggy man or woman.  It will probably have already more experience of game that you could ever give it.  It will be ready to work hard for your falcon, and it will enjoy it so much from the outset, that being naturally mentally turned towards the bird -- you will not exert as much pressure on it as did its previous handler, so it will work more freely.

Also, its cost is unlikely to be (quite) so high as you might fear.  In most cases such as this, the vendor usually has to make room for young stock and might be happy to see an old partner going to a good home, where it will continue to enjoy its lifešs work.

The only drawback would be its relatively short time in service.  But the problem of the retirement of an elderly dog is the same with a "first class" dog which will have shared with you some of the best years of its life, as with a plain one who will have spent all its life with you.  You will have to face it sooner or later.