A good country dog is rarely off duty. Whether yours spends the morning at the yard while you muck out, the afternoon at heel on a shoot or tearing across a wet field, and the evening steaming gently by the fire, the right kit makes life easier for both of you. As the mornings turn colder and the yard and the walks get muddier, it is a good moment to look at what your dog is wearing and carrying. Here is a run through what we keep for dogs at The Gun Cupboard, from the smart Barbour coats and leads to the whistles and dummies for the working gundog.
Barbour make a dog coat for whatever the day throws at you, and we keep a good spread of them. For the wet, the waterproof coats shrug off rain and are quick to rinse down after a filthy walk. The classic wax coats are the ones that look the part in the country and only improve with age, the same waxed cotton as their famous jackets, just scaled down. And the quilted tartan coats are for the cold rather than the wet, a warm layer for an older dog, a thin-coated breed or a chilly evening. Several come in the Barbour tartan, so your dog can match the flask and the picnic rug if you are that way inclined.
Do not forget the dog that spends the morning standing about a cold, wet stable yard while you muck out, either. They feel the chill just as much as a dog on the hill, and a good coat earns its keep at the yard as much as on the walk. Choosing between the styles really comes down to your dog and your weather: waterproof for the downpours, wax for all-round country wear, quilted for warmth.
The coats come in a full range of sizes, from the long and low to the small and stout, so the dachshund and the French bulldog are as well catered for as the labrador. There is a rough breed guide to get you started, a terrier is usually a small, a spaniel a medium, a retriever a large and a pointer an extra large, and each coat has its full size chart so you can match your dog’s own measurements. Or better still, bring the dog in and we will help you fit one properly. A coat that is too long or too short is worse than none at all. And if you catch Dave modelling one by the window, do not be fooled: he is our longest-serving model, never late, never sheds, and the only one who will hold a pose all day.
On the everyday kit, the Barbour leather and tartan leads and collars are the smart-but-tough sort that last for years and look good doing it. If your dog pulls, or travels in the car a fair bit, the harnesses are worth a look: the wax step-in and the comfort harnesses spread the load far better than a collar, and the tartan travel harness is made to clip to a seatbelt so your dog is secure on the road. For quick on and off at the field, the shoot or the yard gate, we also keep rope slip leads from both Barbour and Bisley, the kind you can slip over the head one-handed while your other hand is full. The collars and harnesses have their own size guides too, worked out by neck and chest measurement, so a quick measure with a tape gets you the right fit first time.
It is not all serious. The Barbour dog toys are a genuinely lovely bit of the range and they make an easy present, for the dog or for the dog-mad friend. There is a pheasant, a flying duck, a wellington boot and even a Highland cow, and a reindeer that comes into its own at Christmas. They are soft, well made and cheerful, and at under twenty pounds they are the perfect small gift or stocking filler for someone whose dog is very much part of the family.
And for the card to go with the gift, we keep a rack of country and gundog greeting cards in store, beautifully drawn and full of knowing humour about life with a spaniel or a labrador. They are not on the website, so they are one more good reason to call in and have a look.
This is where being a proper country store rather than a fashion shop counts. Alongside the Barbour gear we keep the kit for training and working a gundog, and we are happy to talk it through. The Acme dog whistles come in different pitches, and the numbers on them, 210, 210.5, 211.5, are exactly that: the pitch. A gundog is trained to respond to one particular pitch, which carries cleanly across a field and means the dog next to yours ignores it, so it is worth choosing the right one and sticking to it. If you are not sure, ask us.
For the retrieving itself, the Bisley dummies are the standard way to start and build a dog. The lighter puppy dummies and the soft beanbag dummy are made for young dogs just learning to carry and hold, and you move up to the full one-pound dummies as they grow into it. And for the step beyond hand-thrown dummies, we have just added the Bisley dummy launcher to the range, which fires a dummy far further than you could ever throw it, ideal for teaching a dog the long, marked retrieves out across a field. It is a proper piece of training kit, and if it is new to you we are glad to show you how it works. Add a lanyard to keep the whistle round your neck and to hand, and you have everything you need to bring on a young dog, all from the one shop.
Whether you are after a smart coat for the yard and the dog walk, or you are starting a young spaniel on the dummies, we would rather help you choose the right thing than sell you the wrong one. Bring the dog in if you can, it is by far the easiest way to size a coat or a harness, and we are always glad to see them.
We know dogs here, and always have. Tuppy and Dennis kept us company at the counter for years, and Archie holds the fort now. So bring yours in, they will be in the very best company, and we will keep the kit for the whole of their country life, from the first puppy dummy to the warmest winter coat.
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