WHAT’S THE FIRST thing you turn to when you open your copy of Shooting Times? I start with Dog of the Week, not simply because it happens to be the first page, but because it invariably brings a smile to my face. There’s something really cheering about seeing readers’ dogs. They may not be field trial champions, they may not even be very good workers, but they have their week of fame, their week in the spotlight.
Quite how satisfying it is to have your dog featured in Dog of the Week was brought home to me two weeks ago, when my sprocker, Emma, featured (6 January). OK, I may be a weekly columnist, but her appearance was not at my request, but at the invitation of the deputy editor.…
