Do our Irish Setters lack pointing instinct in comparison to the other pointing & setting breeds? - Exclusively Setters2024-03-29T15:02:42Zhttp://irishsetters.ning.com/forum/topics/do-our-irish-setters-lack-pointing-instinct-in-comparison-to-the?commentId=865021%3AComment%3A864001&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI applaud and fully agree wi…tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-26:865021:Comment:8827382012-01-26T15:44:17.804ZPathttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/PatriciaPatHaddrell
<p>I applaud and fully agree with Susan, Catherine and Cornelia and it is so encouraging to hear of their ongoing training of their Setters. Like them, I have trained my Setter on ALL types of terrain and varied the training venues as much as possible - whether that is grass, stubble, moorland, forests or boggy fields for him to gain as much training as possible. I was also lucky in his early years to have the use of a rabbit pen and a pheasant pen which taught him steadiness. I have…</p>
<p>I applaud and fully agree with Susan, Catherine and Cornelia and it is so encouraging to hear of their ongoing training of their Setters. Like them, I have trained my Setter on ALL types of terrain and varied the training venues as much as possible - whether that is grass, stubble, moorland, forests or boggy fields for him to gain as much training as possible. I was also lucky in his early years to have the use of a rabbit pen and a pheasant pen which taught him steadiness. I have stopped him many times on hares and one of these actually rose up under his chest but he still obeyed the stop whistle.</p>
<p>First and foremost my boy is my pet and companion and his natural appitude for the gundog 'work' is a bonus. To watch your Setter, which YOU have trained entirely YOURSELF, in action across whatever ground you have use of is immeasurable in a great sense of personal achievement. If anything that I have done with Ray encourages others to do the same with their dogs and to just enjoy them then that is reward enough.</p>
<p>Pat</p> When I did my training here,…tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-26:865021:Comment:8828652012-01-26T15:08:29.831ZCarmel Murphyhttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/Clannrua
<p>When I did my training here, around my own area(flat grassy fields near a bog and river), we were happy to find pheasant and snipe! No grouse! When we did our qualifier up on the Wicklow Mountains we only found snipe on the day! My girls were happy;o)</p>
<p>When I did my training here, around my own area(flat grassy fields near a bog and river), we were happy to find pheasant and snipe! No grouse! When we did our qualifier up on the Wicklow Mountains we only found snipe on the day! My girls were happy;o)</p> No doubt you are right, Marga…tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-26:865021:Comment:8825612012-01-26T14:27:40.114ZSusan Stonehttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/SwissSusan
<p>No doubt you are right, Margaret: when looked at from the purist's angle this would not be the ideal place to train your field trialler.</p>
<p>I see your comment has already provoked reactions from both Catherine and Cornelia, who are voicing my thoughts exactly: We have to make do with what we can get!</p>
<p>In an ideal world I would be born into a 'dogging' family, become head keeper of some rich gentleman's hunting estate and have access to the grouse moors to train my setters. I'd have…</p>
<p>No doubt you are right, Margaret: when looked at from the purist's angle this would not be the ideal place to train your field trialler.</p>
<p>I see your comment has already provoked reactions from both Catherine and Cornelia, who are voicing my thoughts exactly: We have to make do with what we can get!</p>
<p>In an ideal world I would be born into a 'dogging' family, become head keeper of some rich gentleman's hunting estate and have access to the grouse moors to train my setters. I'd have a rabbit pen to teach steadiness, I'd spend the first months teaching my pup the basics (trust, recall, drop, trun to whistle and handsignal) and I would then first take him out onto the barren grouse moors to get him to quarter into the wind, ensuring control at all times. Once that stage is reached I'd take him out with a well trained steady dog and get my youngster to point behind the older dog, holding the lead whilst the grouse are flushed... </p>
<p>I'd actually follow the training scheme outlined by Bob Stakelum on the Irish Breed Club's website <a href="http://www.irishredsetterclub.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=31&Itemid=64" target="_blank">http://www.irishredsetterclub.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=31&Itemid=64</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sadly, as Cornelia has written, Switzerland is a country where game is scarce - apart from deer and fox. No grouse moors avaialble within a range of 1500km... Still, I was fortunate that Glen despite being trained on mainly pheasant, some quail, partridge, snipe and woodcock, was actually intelligent enough to cope with grouse after just three days of training on the grouse moors. 3 days was all he'd had prior to gaining his CoM on grouse. So though it may not be ideal, as I say: we must take what we can get and use it as best we can.</p>
<p> </p> When you live in the South of…tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-26:865021:Comment:8825572012-01-26T13:23:19.591ZCatherine Carterhttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/CatherineCarter
<p>When you live in the South of England, mountains and hills are rather rare....we have the chance that Salisbury Plain is owned by the MOD and the Southern Pointer Club gets regular permissions for us to go and train there. Here we hope for pheasants and partridges as this is the game the setters/pointers will encounter on their week-end shoots</p>
<p>When you live in the South of England, mountains and hills are rather rare....we have the chance that Salisbury Plain is owned by the MOD and the Southern Pointer Club gets regular permissions for us to go and train there. Here we hope for pheasants and partridges as this is the game the setters/pointers will encounter on their week-end shoots</p> I would have thought big gras…tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-26:865021:Comment:8828152012-01-26T11:48:37.473ZMargaret Sierakowskihttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/MargaretSierakowski
<p>I would have thought big grassy fields were not the first choice for a place to train setters (no grouse and too many rabbits), unless they are going to be worked/trialled entirely on partridge, and even then stubble fields are better than grass. The first choice in Ireland , Scotland and the north of England would be mountains,hills and grouse moors covered with heather, which are the habitat of grouse. And in Norway it is much the same</p>
<p>I would have thought big grassy fields were not the first choice for a place to train setters (no grouse and too many rabbits), unless they are going to be worked/trialled entirely on partridge, and even then stubble fields are better than grass. The first choice in Ireland , Scotland and the north of England would be mountains,hills and grouse moors covered with heather, which are the habitat of grouse. And in Norway it is much the same</p> Oops, sorry I missed this pos…tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-26:865021:Comment:8826882012-01-26T08:55:24.848ZSusan Stonehttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/SwissSusan
<p>Oops, sorry I missed this post, Ann.</p>
<p>IMO the point you raise here would merit a completely new discussion:</p>
<p>Does the pride, joy and love of the individual for their own dogs leave room for a critical and balanced view of the breed as a whole?</p>
<p>I think you are right, Ann. It is a bit unhealthy... both for the owner and even more so for the breed.</p>
<p>Oops, sorry I missed this post, Ann.</p>
<p>IMO the point you raise here would merit a completely new discussion:</p>
<p>Does the pride, joy and love of the individual for their own dogs leave room for a critical and balanced view of the breed as a whole?</p>
<p>I think you are right, Ann. It is a bit unhealthy... both for the owner and even more so for the breed.</p> Thank you, Pat, now those are…tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-26:865021:Comment:8827992012-01-26T08:45:33.664ZSusan Stonehttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/SwissSusan
<p>Thank you, Pat, now those are the kind of fields we need for our setters here in Switzerland... who cares about mountains, anyway??? ;-))</p>
<p>Thank you, Pat, now those are the kind of fields we need for our setters here in Switzerland... who cares about mountains, anyway??? ;-))</p> Lovely photo Susan.
Pattag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-24:865021:Comment:8821032012-01-24T20:07:07.029ZPathttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/PatriciaPatHaddrell
<p>Lovely photo Susan.</p>
<p>Pat</p>
<p>Lovely photo Susan.</p>
<p>Pat</p> Ann,
I am not giving up....se…tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-22:865021:Comment:8811542012-01-22T19:33:00.146ZCatherine Carterhttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/CatherineCarter
<p>Ann,</p>
<p>I am not giving up....see my last two blogs....but I train to have dogs that can do some rough shooting , I don't think I will ever enter a field-trial. :-)))</p>
<p>Ann,</p>
<p>I am not giving up....see my last two blogs....but I train to have dogs that can do some rough shooting , I don't think I will ever enter a field-trial. :-)))</p> tag:irishsetters.ning.com,2012-01-22:865021:Comment:8812372012-01-22T18:21:54.568ZSusan Stonehttp://irishsetters.ning.com/profile/SwissSusan
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