Shooting Times Article

This is a copy of a recent article published in Shooting Times by David Tomlinson

Italians with flair

Though the Bracco Italiano is one of the most visually striking of gundogs, it is also one
of the rarest, as I noted in a recent Gundogs (Positive Spin, 24 February).

Following the article’s publication, I was delighted to receive an email from Michelle Ansell, who told
me that she has two braccos, both of which work. The older of the two, Digger, is now
coming up for seven; he was also her first HPR. Digger is a regular on shoots in
Staffordshire, working on partridges, pheasants and ducks, and also goes grouse
counting on different moors in Lancashire, the Yorkshire Moors, Derbyshire Dales and
in Wales.

Her second bracco, Dozer, is rising three, but last season’s stop-start nature robbed him of his introduction to the shooting field.

Michelle reckons that braccos are at their best on moors, where they “just go all day and
love it”. There’s no moorland, of course, in their native Italy, but this is a breed that
clearly relishes working in broad open landscapes where a wide-ranging dog like a
bracco can perform at its best.

Michelle admits that the bracco isn’t the easiest dog to train, but once they have learned what’s expected of them “they are amazing dogs as their effortless trot and their ability to cover so much ground makes them ideal when
game is scarce”. Couple this with a fine nose and you have a dog that is a great game
finder.

Michelle and her partner Robin’s enthusiasm for the breed has also taken them to Italy
several times where they have meet many of the leading breeders and seen braccos
working in their homeland. Here they also had the chance to compete in a raduno, a
weekend event, starting with showing on the Saturday and concluding with a field trial
on quail on the Sunday, “all held in the beautiful Trentino mountains”. I gather that the
food and wine were memorable, too.

Digger has also won four open HPR working tests, an impressive achievement,
competing against everything from GSPs to Vizslas, so he is clearly an accomplished
performer. I loved Michelle’s photograph of Digger and Dozer in January’s snow.