June Profile: Judy Hempstead
This June we spoke with Judy Hempstead Gundog Trainer. She tells us a bit about her life with Irish Water Spaniels, gundogs, shooting & game management & her gundog training business WhipCurl Canine Resolve.
I was brought up with show cockers, Irish setters, American cockers and English Springer Spaniels, and from the age of 7yrs I was a very competitive junior handler in the show ring handling my parents show cockers, American Cocker and also handled many other breeds for friends and family at shows. Influenced by a family friend who took me out on shoots, my passion for working dogs developed and so a new interest was forming.
Within a year of meeting an Irish Water Spaniel at my secondary school owned by my biology teacher, I had my very own at 15 yrs of age, I began training her as a gundog finding myself a new interest which laid the foundations of my career as a trainer today. I bred a litter of Irish Water Spaniels with the support of my parents at the age of 17yrs. I find the clownish nature of the IWS endearing and somewhat of a challenge, but every day they make me smile! I take great pride in the fact that my dogs are dual purpose and fit for function and can hold their own in the show ring.
In 1984 my Irish Water Spaniels represented the breed in Gerald Bishop’s book called ‘Spaniels’. Today I work and show my Irish Water Spaniels along with working my English Cocker Spaniels & Field Spaniel.
‘’ I have never felt the need
to look for an alternative gun dog
The Irish Water Spaniel was meant to be’’
My first job before leaving school was as a racing greyhound exerciser for a race kennels in Surrey on leaving school, I was offered a position as a vet nurse assistant & kennel maid at a veterinary practice & quarantine kennels in Oxted, Surrey. Sadly, with the separation of my parents, the family home was unstable and so I had to find work and accommodation, I was employed as an assistant house mistress and then over the years as a house mistress in boarding schools in Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk & Scotland, my hobby always being my dogs which luckily, I was able to have with me. My work at boarding schools was diverse and I often found myself working as a class room teaching assistant, during these years I developed an interest for teaching and gradually put myself through university and attained my PGCE. I was now working on a small holding which ran a centre for young adults with learning difficulties, teaching them skills, in horticulture, animal management and dog training, here my Irish Water Spaniels were used as therapy dogs working with the students as a teaching aid. Eventually with further training I was given the opportunity to set the farm up as an educational centre of which we where given NVQ status to run educational programmes for the students. The farm and educational centre was eventually sold and I moved to Shropshire taking up a position at a college as a lecturer teaching animal management, wildlife & conservation & livestock management. From there I moved back to be nearer to my father as he was unwell and assisted him with the running of his boarding kennels, sadly my father passed away and I took a position at a college in East Sussex lecturing in agricultural & Game Management. In 2017 I left the college to set up my own business WhipCurl Canine Resolve for gundog and pet dog training and by 2019 I gained Accreditation with the Kennel Club as a registered gun-dog Instructor, I am an assessor for the Working Gundog Certificate & a Championship Show Judge for Irish Water Spaniels. In 2021, I was awarded Trainer of the Year at Crufts by the Kennel Club. WhipCurl Canine Resolve is flourishing and in 2024 I was certified with the Royal Kennel Club as a Listed Status Club, running the Good Citizen Scheme.
As a Kennel Club Accredited Instructor, I enjoy training a variety of breeds from pet dogs to competition gundogs, training in many counties for gundog clubs and private sessions, endeavouring to make my sessions enjoyable & achievable for all. I attend many country shows and game fairs putting on gun dog training demonstrations and rare gundog breed appreciation events. One of my biggest aims is to encourage young people to continue to work with dogs and in countryside and I do as much as I can to encourage young people to handle my dogs and come training with me.
I have been awarded numerous prizes at Championship & Open shows over the years and in 2025 I was awarded Best Game Keeper Team with three of my Irish Water Spaniels at Crufts in the BASC class & my bitch Eider was best Game keeper Any Variety Spaniel. I featured in the main ring which was an amazing experience. I have competed in working tests to open level and in 2024 I made one of my IWS up as a full Champion.
For many years I have enjoyed beating and picking up with all my dogs on numerous shoots in many counties and currently alongside my dog training business I work as a Gamekeeper- Ranger in East Sussex managing the birds and their welfare and maintaining habitats. Working closely with the estate as they continue to diversify in order to survive moving from intensive agriculture to organic production, with a major focus on species rich ancient wildflower meadows & ancient woodland management. Conservation is at the heart of the estate and I am pleased to be a part of this continued development.
‘’Female gamekeepers face several unique challenges
due to the traditionally male- dominated nature of the industry,
overcoming stereotypes,
navigating biases & facing
harassment to name but a few’’
In 2019, I established the Working Minority Retriever Club with several like-minded people who love the rarer retriever breeds, the club has gone from strength to strength with many members enjoying working together with these fascinating breeds. In 2023, I was asked to run a major minority breed competition at the Game Fair, Ragley Hall, this proved to be popular and the invite was extended to 2024 & 2025 this is an amazing opportunity to highlight the lesser-known gundog retriever & Spaniel breeds. With my passion for the rare and vulnerable gundog retriever & Spaniel breeds, I bring together teams of handlers keen to showcase their dogs’ natural working ability, in the demonstrations I put on at various country shows and the Game Fair you could see in action any of the 5 minority retrievers which include the Irish Water Spaniel, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Curly Coated Retriever, Flat Coated Retriever & the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever & the 7 minority spaniels Clumber, Field, Sussex, American Cocker, Welsh Springer Spaniel, Spanish Water Dog & Lagotto Romagnolo.
I have had an amazing life so far travelling to Ireland for shows & collecting a puppy sired by my own dog. French showing & working tests with my Irish Water Spaniels and to collect my field Spaniel puppy, Denmark to be part of an Irish Water Spaniel seminar as a speaker on working gundogs.
I am looking forward to the future and so much more to come from my world of dogs and the gundog world.
