Gastric dilation torsion, or bloat, is not common in dogs – but it is often fatal, as the winner of our Best Family Gundog award discovered, sadly. David Tomlinson describes the symptoms
ONE of the most enjoyable tasks I undertook last year was judging The Field’s inaugural Gundog Awards. Even better than the judging was meeting the winners at a celebration lunch at Burghley in September. I’ve always been a fan of golden retrievers, so was particularly pleased to pat David Beckenham’s beautiful four-year-old golden, Charlie (pictured), winner of The Best Family Gundog award. Show-bred Charlie had been trained successfully as a proper picking-up dog, becoming a favourite with the guns and beaters, yet remaining a much-loved family pet.
Sadly, I had an email from a distraught Beckenham in November: “We lost Charlie on Saturday evening as a result of bloat. I rushed him to the emergency vet and he was operated on but they were unable to save him. As you can imagine, I’m devastated. Charlie was my first working gundog and was enjoying his best season yet. We would have been out picking up again on Saturday.
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Esta historia es de la edición March 2018 de The Field.
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Rory Stewart - The former Cabinet minister and hit podcast host talks to Alec Marsh about the parlous state of British politics, land management and his deep love of the countryside
The gently spoken 51-year-old former Conservative Cabinet minister is a countryman at heart. That's clear: he even changes into a tweed waistcoat for the interview, which takes place at his London home and begins with a question about his precise career status. Having resigned from the Commons and the Conservative Party in 2019, the former diplomat and soldier has reinvented himself, first with an unconventional but promising run as an independent for the London mayoralty (abandoned because of COVID19 in 2020) and then as a media figure, co-hosting one of the country's most popular podcasts, The Rest Is Politics, alongside Alastair Campbell, the former Labour spin doctor.
Fodder
Local fare with the feel-good factor.
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