shorthair pointer

[AberFowl]

Anybody on here have a GSP as a wildfowling partner?

Seen a woman with 2 out on the mud this morning with their little camo vests on.

Never had them down as a fowling dog due to the thin short coat but can they cope with sitting wet in the cold?

[TONY R]

Yes and yes if you put a little thought into down time re the cold, oh and vest help.

 

And they are fast in that they dry faster than any other breed, because they have very little to dry, and retrieving they cover ground at a rate of knots only other breeds can dream about, cary geese no problem and jump creeks with geese with ease, on open marshes where dogs are barely swiming much of the time they exell, they are most of the time out the water with them having long legs, and in mud they seem to cope pretty good far better than some other shorter leged dogs, I was woried about this when i first got them 30 years ago, but they are not at all ungainly in mud as you would expect.

They winge and moan about sunshine never mind cold and all that shivering they do that on summer days its more hhyped up tension rather than cold much of the time.

Water retrieving is in my experience the worst part of GSPs as waterfowling dogs, some swim like fish all my three have hatted water, they go but are reluctant. forget lots of decoy training they dont need it and wont do it, force fetch is the only way with them in my experience, mine have all needed lots of verbal encouragement to get them retrieving, but once it clicks with them whats going on they are ok.

GSPs i read are not a retriever and if they retrieve from land or sea its a bonus, But in my GSPs the retrieval instinct as been very strong, and as for locating ducks and geese in big reed beds they are exeptional.

They are not Labs or Springers, But they will do the job, and do it ok. Its water retrieval thats in my opinion a weekness, They are slow to take to this i have a 2 year old dog now hes retrieved maybe 60 duck and 20 geese in his time so far but hes a staller on fast flowing tides, he ends up hanging about and makes what could be easy retrieves quite long hauls sometimes.

I hope he shapes up this season his dummy work is ok so think he will but time will tell.

Edited October 14, 2016 by TONY R

[Scruffydog]

+1 on all that Tony R has said. My old feller (Jed) is one of the best rough shooting dogs I've known but he just won't learn to swim.

 

Got him before I took up wildfowling, so never taken him out with me. He's too used to flushing to be any good and he's not got the patience to sit still (my fault, not his, he was originally a hawking dog so he's always been encouraged to flush).

 

Although they have short hair, it's a very thick and waterproof coat. With a neoprene jacket, the cold shouldn't be too much of a problem. Jed can work all day in horizontal sleet and his skin will stay relatively dry.

 

The main problem I think would be temperament. They're active dogs and enjoy the "H" part of HPR too much to sit still for long periods. The bitches are supposed to be calmer, but I've always had dogs (can be willful little ******* at times)

 

Wouldn't swap him for the world though.

[TONY R]

+1 on all that Tony R has said. My old feller (Jed) is one of the best rough shooting dogs I've known but he just won't learn to swim.

 

Got him before I took up wildfowling, so never taken him out with me. He's too used to flushing to be any good and he's not got the patience to sit still (my fault, not his, he was originally a hawking dog so he's always been encouraged to flush).

 

Although they have short hair, it's a very thick and waterproof coat. With a neoprene jacket, the cold shouldn't be too much of a problem. Jed can work all day in horizontal sleet and his skin will stay relatively dry.

 

The main problem I think would be temperament. They're active dogs and enjoy the "H" part of HPR too much to sit still for long periods. The bitches are supposed to be calmer, but I've always had dogs (can be willful little ******* at times)

 

Wouldn't swap him for the world though.

And to add to this even when you get them sat stady they cry like the most wingey misserable baby you ever met, boy do they winge, Moan like you would never believe. They are not happy. But soon as the geese show up they are galvanised into action they lay still quiet and of all the dogs ive evere known they never break untill you send them, its cjust like its built into them somehow running inits like its not in their remit some how. , ...Well i dont knbow if its how ive trained mine but they are bomb proof in this respect.

Dont think they are for everyone but there is a lot of pretty strong prejudice against them i honestly dont feel they deserve. GSPs are the one breed i would not want to ever give up, if we were ever down to one breed this would be my choice for everything i do .

Edited October 14, 2016 by TONY R

[GADWALL41]

I will be in the market for a new Pup myself in the not to distant future and it will not be a GSP .

 

No Prejudice , just practical experience . I have shot over at least 5 GSPs and 2 Wire haireds for good measure , all types of shooting . Boy are they hard workers and hard work to control , as is any dog that is not properly trained .

I would advise anybody contemplating getting one to try and see these dogs working in the field first hand . Yes I will have to say that some of those I have seen were not the best trained , to the point that to get one to return to heel

a smoking hole was usually left in the ground .My next invite there was politely declined .

 

I myself had a Llewellyn setter that would retrieve duck from any location for me and stayed quiet as a mouse on flights . All breeds throw up the whinger , I am miserable get me outa here type and a few hours of that would put a

sane man off his shooting mighty fast .

 

My next pup will be what the guys in the gun club here call an old mans dog , my run of Springer spaniels is coming to a close and a Labrador pup is the next plan. But to each his own.

Edited October 14, 2016 by GADWALL41

[TONY R]

I will be in the market for a new Pup myself in the not to distant future and it will not be a GSP .

 

No Prejudice , just practical experience . I have shot over at least 5 GSPs and 2 Wire haireds for good measure , all types of shooting . Boy are they hard workers and hard work to control , as is any dog that is not properly trained .

I would advise anybody contemplating getting one to try and see these dogs working in the field first hand . Yes I will have to say that some of those I have seen were not the best trained , to the point that to get one to return to heel

a smoking hole was usually left in the ground .My next invite there was politely declined .

 

I myself had a Llewellyn setter that would retrieve duck from any location for me and stayed quiet as a mouse on flights . All breeds throw up the whinger , I am miserable get me outa here type and a few hours of that would put a

sane man off his shooting mighty fast .

 

My next pup will be what the guys in the gun club here call an old mans dog , my run of Springer spaniels is coming to a close and a Labrador pup is the next plan. But to each his own.

As you say each to their own i can honestly say i have not found any of my three to be anything like hard to control.

I run Labs Springers and GSPs each i use for multiple tasks and as i said if i had to pick one out the three for versatility it wopuld be the GSP, but i dont want to be without any of these breeds myself like the one gun only threads i could get by with one but i want the choices and the variety choice offers without compromise which only one of anything will inevitably bring to the table .

Edited October 14, 2016 by TONY R