Winning with a gentle touch

It’s unfashionable these days to suggest that men are better than women at sport, or indeed that there are things that women are more successful at. However, it is often said that women are a step ahead in the world of gundogs.

We are now getting into the swing of working test season for my dogs and I am looking forward to a summer filled with exciting competition. I have an open test this Sunday with Briar and Keepa that I entered a few weeks ago. This particular competition has 20 dogs entered but I was surprised to see that only five of the handlers were men. I had a quick look at the entries for many of the other tests I have entered and the theme seems to be the same. The vast majority are women.

If you look at field trials, the numbers seem slightly