About us
George first had a gun in his hand aged ten years and started beating on Muggleswick grouse moor at the age of eleven. However, it took him 43 years to become a member of the woodcock club.
We married in 1973 then got our first "serious" Labrador in 1976. This was a bitch called Derwenside Shadow which was to be the start of the Shadowbrae line!
She was mated to Drakeshead Tinker and produced Sweep who gained 36 F.T. awards. Sweep was an all rounder used for flushing, retrieving and picking up. She was still working on the moors at twelve years old. She produced our first Champion "Drake" out of her only litter when she was six.
Most of our current dogs go back to Shadow.
Margaret also has a great interest in Fieldsports - she also shoots but hasn't run in a field trial since 1984 simply because of economics. But she still trains and works our dogs as well as caring for all the puppies.
Although George competes in trials, he is a shooting man first and dog man second. This is why gamefinding ability and a biddable temperament come first and foremost.
We pride ourselves in the fact that Shadowbrae dogs are natural gamefinders. Perhaps this is why George has only competed in one working test for 24 years, with the exception when he ran in the English team in 1998 and the Pedigree formula weekend at Windsor, when he won with Butler.
