Buying a gun dog; your opinion and prices?

Hunter21

As above, Im after a gun dog for next season. Want it for game birds- pheasants, snipe, woodcock and a nice bit of duck shooting over a river.
Ive shot over pointers a nice few times but people say they are not suited to rivers. (open to correction on this) So Im after another dog that takes to water like a duck and like thick cover.

Have a couple of questions id like those with dogs and others with experiences of dogs as to what type of dog ye would recommend. I shoot varied ground, thick cover most of the time. But I dont like dogs that get too far ahead, annoys me if anything. Also as said already I want a dog that loves water and is a friendly natured breed.
One final question, I dont have time to train my own dog/pup due to work, so what type of money am I looking at to buy a particular breed well trained and moderately trained, stop, get on, dont get too far ahead and retrieve. Would like the dog trained by an experience person too.

I know some say you will never bond well with a pre trained dog, I dont buy that! If you treat the dog well and spend time with it when you have it I feel the dog will bond well with the owner, with some exceptions of course.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Hunter21

Woodcock man

Hunter21 wrote: »

As above, Im after a gun dog for next season. Want it for game birds- pheasants, snipe, woodcock and a nice bit of duck shooting over a river.
Ive shot over pointers a nice few times but people say they are not suited to rivers. (open to correction on this) So Im after another dog that takes to water like a duck and like thick cover.

Have a couple of questions id like those with dogs and others with experiences of dogs as to what type of dog ye would recommend. I shoot varied ground, thick cover most of the time. But I dont like dogs that get too far ahead, annoys me if anything. Also as said already I want a dog that loves water and is a friendly natured breed.
One final question, I dont have time to train my own dog/pup due to work, so what type of money am I looking at to buy a particular breed well trained and moderately trained, stop, get on, dont get too far ahead and retrieve. Would like the dog trained by an experience person too.

I know some say you will never bond well with a pre trained dog, I dont buy that! If you treat the dog well and spend time with it when you have it I feel the dog will bond well with the owner, with some exceptions of course.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Hunter21

Springer is the dog for you from what you discribed........ i have both pointers and springers but for all round shooting and especially cover a springer is the job
For a fully trained dog expect to pay anything from € 650 to € 1500

Hunter21

Woodcock man wrote: »

Springer is the dog for you from what you discribed........ i have both pointers and springers but for all round shooting and especially cover a springer is the job
For a fully trained dog expect to pay anything from € 650 to € 1500

Springers are a fine looking dog and great workers.
Have you purchased already trained springers? if so who would you recommend to go see the dog work and maybe purchase off them

Woodcock man

What part of the country are you ?

Hunter21

Woodcock man wrote: »

What part of the country are you ?

Cork but will travel for the right dog.

Would people on here recommend buying an untranied dog and sending the dog away for training?

mayfly36

Train it yourself. Although if you havent got the time then a trained dog could be your only option, if you buy a young dog now, he will still be a young dog for next year and might not be ready. Oh, it would be a springer for me.

beretta391

yea a springer prob be the best choice but a black lab is hard beat too, especially in water and for reteiving, i bought a lab pub and she only 5months old and shes almost doing everthing, horrid easy to work with, she be ready for september anyways

doyle61

Wire hair german pointer might be worth considering

Glensman

You're describing a springer!
You're a lucky man- Ireland's full of quality Springers!

Monta

Are blacklabs better than blonde??

jap gt

better off buying a pup and training it yourself, if you have time to walk it etc you will have time to train it, half an hour an evening and a few hours at the weekend is all it takes with the right breeding

endasmail

buy a pup and train it yourself
a springer would probably suit

Hunter21

Time isnt plentiful thats the problem lads. Work most days and long hours, more hours in the Summer.
Anyone point me in the right direction for quality springers that are trained?

Also how are black labs in the field? any good for pheasants and migratory birds?

jap gt

buying a trained dog is one thing, a trained dog wont be much use to you if you haven't time to walk it

brianfrancis45

Hunter21 wrote: »

Springers are a fine looking dog and great workers.
Have you purchased already trained springers? if so who would you recommend to go see the dog work and maybe purchase off them

Frank Maunsell is a good trainer and is also on the panel of field trial judges for springers. He is based in Camp, Co.Kerry and his website is www.topclassdogs.com

I know a few lads who have bought part/full trained springers and labs off him and I've only ever heard good feedback.

Last year I also bought a 2 year old springer off him. He was dead straight in telling me that the dog hadn't much experience in the field i.e. only had a few birds shot over him but told me that the dog should work out fine for my needs after getting a bit more experience. He even allowed me to take the dog away for a few weeks to see how I got on with him.
I shot a few rabbits, snipe, duck and pheasants over the dog last season and the dog worked well for me and continued to get better with the more experience he got.

He was a sound lad to deal with and he took me out to let me see several dogs working. The man really knows his stuff and I found him to be very helpful . For example one or two of the dogs he showed me really caught my eye as they were real hardgoing dogs but he advised me against them as he felt that a relatively inexperienced handler like myself would likely have trouble holding them. In other words he tried to match the handler with the dog, which I think is very important. I ended up with a dog that is very biddable and that I can handle easily.

As far as price is concerned, It obviously depends on the dog but the ones I saw were in the range of Euro 750-1500 . The higher priced ones were springers that he bred himself and the cheaper ones seemed to be dogs that he had bought in as young dogs and then brought them on.

In my opinion he is worth having a chat with.

I'd like to add that I have no connection with this trainer apart from the fact that I bought a dog from him that I am pleased with and a few other lads I know did likewise and I've heard no complaints .

Hunter21

jap gt wrote: »

buying a trained dog is one thing, a trained dog wont be much use to you if you haven't time to walk it

Fair enough point, but Ive chatted with numerous lads and they said it takes a nice bit of time to train a dog and a lot of patience (I lack patience) , even sometimes takes a nice bit of time to train the dog the basics. This would take longer then a half hour or an hour walk up the road or down the field imo..
Also id like to know the dog is trained well, a very inexperienced dog person like me might not train him right and waste a lot of time. Thats one reason Im doing research into good trainers and spending time trying to find a dog I hope suits me and my needs.

Hunter21

brianfrancis45 wrote: »

Frank Maunsell is a good trainer and is also on the panel of field trial judges for springers. He is based in Camp, Co.Kerry and his website is www.topclassdogs.com

I know a few lads who have bought part/full trained springers and labs off him and I've only ever heard good feedback.

Last year I also bought a 2 year old springer off him. He was dead straight in telling me that the dog hadn't much experience in the field i.e. only had a few birds shot over him but told me that the dog should work out fine for my needs after getting a bit more experience. He even allowed me to take the dog away for a few weeks to see how I got on with him.
I shot a few rabbits, snipe, duck and pheasants over the dog last season and the dog worked well for me and continued to get better with the more experience he got.

He was a sound lad to deal with and he took me out to let me see several dogs working. The man really knows his stuff and I found him to be very helpful . For example one or two of the dogs he showed me really caught my eye as they were real hardgoing dogs but he advised me against them as he felt that a relatively inexperienced handler like myself would likely have trouble holding them. In other words he tried to match the handler with the dog, which I think is very important. I ended up with a dog that is very biddable and that I can handle easily.

As far as price is concerned, It obviously depends on the dog but the ones I saw were in the range of Euro 750-1500 . The higher priced ones were springers that he bred himself and the cheaper ones seemed to be dogs that he had bought in as young dogs and then brought them on.

In my opinion he is worth having a chat with.

I'd like to add that I have no connection with this trainer apart from the fact that I bought a dog from him that I am pleased with and a few other lads I know did likewise and I've heard no complaints .

Thanks a lot for that. Great post, the kind of good feedback Im after
I will give him a ring some evening and make time to meet him, I like the way he matches the dog to the new owner and doesnt force any dog upon anyone and he makes a quick buck. With his kind of attitude and your appraisal Im sure there are many satisfied customers of his out there

brianfrancis45

Hunter21 wrote: »

Thanks a lot for that. Great post, the kind of good feedback Im after
I will give him a ring some evening and make time to meet him, I like the way he matches the dog to the new owner and doesnt force any dog upon anyone and he makes a quick buck. With his kind of attitude and your appraisal Im sure there are many satisfied customers of his out there

Hunter, just spotted a fresh advert on Donedeal.ie for a 2.5 year old trained Springer bitch, which the advertiser says was trained by Frank Maunsell. He is asking Euro 450 ...... a bargain if the dog is decent !



1 day €450 Cork Springer Spanial Dogs Frank Maunsell trained springer, Liver & white. Top class bitch, great working springer , that works to the whistle. 2.5 years old. Owner...

Hunter21

brianfrancis45 wrote: »

Hunter, just spotted a fresh advert on Donedeal.ie for a 2.5 year old trained Springer bitch, which the advertiser says was trained by Frank Maunsell. He is asking Euro 450 ...... a bargain if the dog is decent !



1 day €450 Cork Springer Spanial Dogs Frank Maunsell trained springer, Liver & white. Top class bitch, great working springer , that works to the whistle. 2.5 years old. Owner...

I'll have a look into that.. Thanks

ace86

Hunter21 wrote: »

I'll have a look into that.. Thanks

The dog was trained by frank mansell but a wise man said once you will never sell a good dog and 2 1/2 yrs old i would be very slow to move on one, some cases could be genuine but alot of guys train them from pups and you get to know the dog and his temperment but i know you havent time to train them.

Hunter21

Right lads, Ive bitten the biscuit and I am going to buy a dog and train it myself. Going to make time to do it!

Just a few questions- Is it always better th buy a proven bloodline dog?
What is the ideal age to buy one to train? Also what age should I consider as Id like to take the dog out on the field hunting come next season in Sept/Oct? If the dog had a gist of the basics like- sit, return when called and swim and show good signs id be happy. Wouldnt exect a dog to be unreal and very experienced for this season so what would be an ideal age to purchase?
Also what type of money are various types a springers making? What I mean by types are bloodline ones, to normal ones and ones with papers etc to ones with no papers

Spunk84

donedeal is your friend;) there are dogs from 150-600
look for a dog that it states going into water + cover and returning to the whistle. Maybe anything over 7-8months for this season coming? Then the only problem is to find out the bullsh@ters from the real deal. I would ask the seller to see the dog work cover and water, i know this will hit a nerve:rolleyes: but i would want to know if the dog was gun shy or not, so i would ask if they have been shot over.

Training wise there are many books for that but i found youtube the best for helping me train my springer.

As i said donedeal!!!! At the minute there is a few springers there which look promising, the only thing you have to find out why they are selling a good trained dog for not a whole lot of money:o

Hunter21

Spunk84 wrote: »

donedeal is your friend;) there are dogs from 150-600
look for a dog that it states going into water + cover and returning to the whistle. Maybe anything over 7-8months for this season coming? Then the only problem is to find out the bullsh@ters from the real deal. I would ask the seller to see the dog work cover and water, i know this will hit a nerve:rolleyes: but i would want to know if the dog was gun shy or not, so i would ask if they have been shot over.

Training wise there are many books for that but i found youtube the best for helping me train my springer.

As i said donedeal!!!! At the minute there is a few springers there which look promising, the only thing you have to find out why they are selling a good trained dog for not a whole lot of money:o

Thanks a lot Spunk84. Id be bringing a mate with me anyway who would also give me a second opinion.
Opted away from a trained dog as there are more bull****ters in that section selling up then genuine ones and I dont want to be stuck with a lemon. Plus I now feel it would be more rewarding working with a dog that I have trained myself.

brianfrancis45

For what you are wanting to get i.e. a dog that has the basics done and you want to bring on a bit more before the start of the new season in Sept/October, if it was me I'd be inclined to go for a dog about 10-12 months old.

I've seen a few pure bred (non registered) springers that were bought cheap and turned out to be good dogs but personally I'd go for something out of good hunting stock/proven bloodlines as I feel that the chances are far better of ending up with a good dog that you will want to keep !

Pricewise, I would expect to pay about Euro 400-500 for a decent young dog which is part trained (all the basics done) and from good bloodlines. There are a few young dogs on Donedeal at present which seem to fit the bill.

In my experience its all well and good seeing a dog sitting/staying etc.. on command in the Sellers back yard but if the dog looked interesting to me . before I would part with my money, I would want the Seller bring the dog somewhere nearby where there are a few rabbits and especially some cover , to see how the dog hunts and responds to commands in the field.

Also I'd definitely be asking that a shot be fired over the dog ,even if its a starting pistol while the dog is on a rabbit or just going out after a dummy.

Good luck !

td5

A Cocker from proper working lines is hard to beat just be careful of its breeding. Some very good examples but also some useless examples out there

Spunk84

brianfrancis45 wrote: »

In my experience its all well and good seeing a dog sitting/staying etc.. on command in the Sellers back yard but if the dog looked interesting to me . before I would part with my money, I would want the Seller bring the dog somewhere nearby where there are a few rabbits and especially some cover , to see how the dog hunts and responds to commands in the field.

Also I'd definitely be asking that a shot be fired over the dog ,even if its a starting pistol while the dog is on a rabbit or just going out after a dummy.

Good luck !

Great point brian!! Seen many dogs which would do everything but shoot the pheasant for you in the back yard but when their smells and senses in the field take over its like a junkie in Colombia:D:D:D No whistle are command will stop them LMAO