In euro's how much would you take for your gun dog?

EPointer=Birdss

Was propositioned recently along these lines to which I declined but started a discussion at home & said I'd spread it hear.

So how much is your dog worth if you were to sell it? What would be minimum can't turn down money?

I know we all say for no money etc but as the saying goes "Every man has his price" or does he....

Thoughts?

snipe02

would never sell but if some fool was willing to fork out 2 grand id take his hand and all, but nothin under that thats what shes worth to me have a pup i wouldn sell either dont understand why someone would sell a good dog they have trained and bonded with hungry f#ckers their hard enough come by

sonofthegun

its a hard one lad i was offered good money by a lad to send the setter to scotland he shoots with us here in september and wanted my lad for grouse shooting on the moors and as a stud dog but i just wont part with him he has being my companion for the last 3 years and will be with me for many years to come hopefully i think its impossible to put a price on that but on the other hand if i was out of work a stuggling as many people are now it may be a different story it is only circumstance that allows me turn down such an offer
sotg

EPointer=Birdss

Ya I was much the same but like that I know lads who wouldn't be short of money who said numbers like 2/3 grand as well. I'd find that amount small for a good dog given the amount of time out in.
Now if your breeding, training, selling on - its different but when notes are waved in front of your snout it's a case of what's tempting to different folks

snipe02

i didnt actually think anyone would actually pay 2\ 3 grand for a dog would they

EPointer=Birdss

snipe02 wrote: »

i didnt actually think anyone would actually pay 2\ 3 grand for a dog would they

You'd be suprised!

moloney

would never sell any of my dogs because it takes too much time and hard work to get good ones but when the cash is waved in front of u its very tempting.i would value my own pointer at five grand . herd of a man selling a ftch labarador lately for 8000

EPointer=Birdss

moloney wrote: »

would never sell any of my dogs because it takes too much time and hard work to get good ones but when the cash is waved in front of u its very tempting.i would value my own pointer at five grand . herd of a man selling a ftch labarador lately for 8000

But does that mean if I had 5k for you tomorrow you'd part with the pointer?
When you see the money made on stud fees & selling a lot of crap dogs coz of the FTC headline the 8k will prob be paid back well

moloney

i say any dog with ftch in front of him isnt crap epointer the reason they are crap is the bitches being bred from are not good enough.its not an easy thing to make up a field trial champion dogs are tested in every way concerning shootingand their ability ie soft mouth speed ground work etc fair enough there are issues with trial dogs but not enough to make the breed crap

moloney

if u turned up with ten k i wouldnt sell the pointer if u saw him work u would understand why

homerhop

I was offered a lot of money a few years back for a springer that I had, he lived a long and wholesome life with me and the same 2 years ago with a pup I had just got.I was up at a game fair in the north and offered €1000 for him . I am one of those people who doesn't see a dog as just a tool but a companion and I could never get rid of one no matter how good or bad that they may be as a working dog.

TriggerPL

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

But does that mean if I had 5k for you tomorrow you'd part with the pointer?
When you see the money made on stud fees & selling a lot of crap dogs coz of the FTC headline the 8k will prob be paid back well

1000 / 1500 euro would take any of my dogs . I know a trailing man got well over the 15 grand mark for a lab ftch dog , bought into the USA for breeding

TriggerPL

moloney wrote: »

if u turned up with ten k i wouldnt sell the pointer if u saw him work u would understand why

Seriously lad u would refuse 10000 for your dog , bull dung . Most trailing men would take the hand off u at ten grand . I bet if I made you that offer Infront of your missus I'd leave with your dog

EPointer=Birdss

TriggerPL wrote: »

Seriously lad u would refuse 10000 for your dog , bull dung . Most trailing men would take the hand off u at ten grand . I bet if I made you that offer Infront of your missus I'd leave with your dog

And the missus

EPointer=Birdss

moloney wrote: »

i say any dog with ftch in front of him isnt crap epointer the reason they are crap is the bitches being bred from are not good enough.its not an easy thing to make up a field trial champion dogs are tested in every way concerning shootingand their ability ie soft mouth speed ground work etc fair enough there are issues with trial dogs but not enough to make the breed crap

I've seen a lot of trialing FTC dogs that I would rate as crap but crap from What I like in a dog. From a trialing wish list they are far from crap.
I.e You could offer me 10 pups from hattonswood broc -I'd have zero interest.

You raise a good point about trialing dogs been bred to poor bitches but I blame the sire owner for allowing for for the sake of a stud fee. Ruining breeds for short term gain.

PS incidentally I was offered 4k for my pointer at 2yrs old by an Italian Gentelmen. He was told no. If you offered it for my other dogs you could take em - some dogs I find you just bond with & money is irrelevant.

customrifle

I thinks theres a few that would let the missus go before the dog, and for less money . Most lads once they do their own bit of training and they start to see it paying off would find it very hard to let them go. I know myself the weimaraner can test me sometimes but at the end of the day hes part of the family, even though some days he can be across between an UPsetter and DISApointer

jellybaby21

TriggerPL wrote: »

Seriously lad u would refuse 10000 for your dog , bull dung . Most trailing men would take the hand off u at ten grand . I bet if I made you that offer Infront of your missus I'd leave with your dog

I bet if you made that offer for my two dogs infront of my missus and I took it (and I would take it lol)you would have to put me up because my bags would be packed and out I'd be lol.

TriggerPL

jellybaby21 wrote: »

I bet if you made that offer for my two dogs infront of my missus and I took it (and I would take it lol)you would have to put me up because my bags would be packed and out I'd be lol.

Yea and no ten grand to get ya started because she taken it

moloney

seriously i wouldnt sell him for any money and the missus would agree with me and ure right about some dogs u just bond and money is irrelevant.but u cant blame the trialing dogs for making the breed crap it takes alot of time money and travelling and effort to trial dogs yes u are right some trialing dogs are not of a good standard but i think there s not too many of them ftch. if u were to disect it and examine whats been done with certain breeds.trigger summed it up there in his comment he said i was speaking dung well im not in it for the money i love watching dogs work and say to ureself how did he cent that bird from there or made a cracking retrieve. thats wats wrong too many fellows trying to make a fast euro breeding ****e and their not trialing men .their entitled to their stud fee the same as joe down the road breeding to johnnys dog with nothing behind them then some lamb buys a bitch and goes to a ftch dog and when they dont turn out any good this the stud dog is wrong . and as regards pups epointer u could have a litter of ten pups from good stock and only one or ywo might make it its like a lottery

EPointer=Birdss

moloney wrote: »

seriously i wouldnt sell him for any money and the missus would agree with me and ure right about some dogs u just bond and money is irrelevant.but u cant blame the trialing dogs for making the breed crap it takes alot of time money and travelling and effort to trial dogs yes u are right some trialing dogs are not of a good standard but i think there s not too many of them ftch. if u were to disect it and examine whats been done with certain breeds.trigger summed it up there in his comment he said i was speaking dung well im not in it for the money i love watching dogs work and say to ureself how did he cent that bird from there or made a cracking retrieve. thats wats wrong too many fellows trying to make a fast euro breeding ****e and their not trialing men .their entitled to their stud fee the same as joe down the road breeding to johnnys dog with nothing behind them then some lamb buys a bitch and goes to a ftch dog and when they dont turn out any good this the stud dog is wrong . and as regards pups epointer u could have a litter of ten pups from good stock and only one or ywo might make it its like a lottery

You see everyone thinks their dogs are great & want to breed to the best dogs.
The best dogs are automatically the FTC. The average joe will never trial so the best dog for them may not be a dog of quick, flash, robotic responsiveness etc
The upside as you've touched on is the price they can put in pups as the sire is x. I think it's negligent to breed your dog to any aul bitch for the sake of stud fees. This is done for financial gain rather than the benefit of the breed. I won't name names but there are gents in the trialing circles that have made incomes off this practice.
As responsible dog owners we should all strive to keep proper dogs & not breed off flawed ones. I personally have had to put down a very promising pointer bitch & start replacing a sun standard springer this year. I could of bred from these dogs & pollute the gene pools further but what would the breeds gain

As for pups - you couldn't be more correct. Ive seen world beaters & egg beaters from the same litters of most breeds!

moloney

i think we agree on most of the debate epointer but i still think why should the blame rest with the man that has the ftch dog after all he is improving the breed by making him a champion in the first place how is he to acess every bitch that comes to him now there is alot of ftch dogs being over used that i dont agree with but i still say its not the reason for the breed being crap

Alchemist2

moloney wrote: »

i think we agree on most of the debate epointer but i still think why should the blame rest with the man that has the ftch dog after all he is improving the breed by making him a champion in the first place how is he to acess every bitch that comes to him now there is alot of ftch dogs being over used that i dont agree with but i still say its not the reason for the breed being crap

Imo it all boils down to regulations or lack there of, in Germany to sell pups as working dogs both sire and dam have to pass certain tests ones that would prob put our trials to shame... They really are trying for the betterment of the various breeds

moloney

Yes thats right and thats the way it should be but i ask the question why are some of their breeds agressive and some hard mouthed

Alchemist2

moloney wrote: »

Yes thats right and thats the way it should be but i ask the question why are some of their breeds agressive and some hard mouthed

You are referring to hpr breeds i take it are you are correct part and parcel of the tests is to find and retrieve foxes and cats as well as location of big game the emphasis being less on game birds this i believe explains the agressive nature and hard mouth, its bred into them

EPointer=Birdss

moloney wrote: »

i think we agree on most of the debate epointer but i still think why should the blame rest with the man that has the ftch dog after all he is improving the breed by making him a champion in the first place how is he to acess every bitch that comes to him now there is alot of ftch dogs being over used that i dont agree with but i still say its not the reason for the breed being crap

Well first of all I don't paint all trialing men the same but cartels there are.
He's improving the trialing breed by fine tuning the animal for such purposes. However that doesn't mean the actual breed is doing any better for it. The desires for speed & flash in springers trials has had detrimental effects in the physical ability of the breed. Anyway - besides that any good work they are doing is vastly undone by breeding to inadequate bitches - hence leading or at least playing largely to the development of crap.
Alchemist hit the nail on the head - it's regulation or lack there of.
The specific supposed flaws with the German dogs is more likely to do with the desired traits & execution rather than the merits of regulation which we seriously lack.

TriggerPL

Alchemist2 wrote: »

Imo it all boils down to regulations or lack there of, in Germany to sell pups as working dogs both sire and dam have to pass certain tests ones that would prob put our trials to shame... They really are trying for the betterment of the various breeds

The only trailing circuit that is a joke in this country and in England is the spaniel, and it not because its ran badly it just the way springer have progressed ,

we run retriever trails and we have people coming from Europe all the time to run at our trails because of the high standard , can I ask have you ever been to a trail in this country .

Pointers are been sold from this country as far as Japan ( from what I know knock Dante father of e pointers dog ) , and the pointer trails are ran to the highest standard on grouse in the Irish mountains .

moloney

it really all boils down to laws and regulations that we dont have .if we had these we wouldnt have or have very little problems if we had .the body over this should monitor it more closely and then u wouldnt have joe and johnny breeding unless they had all criteria in order. like everthing in this world its down to human error why we have these problems and not enough of people concerned enough to do something about anyway i had a great weekend over my dogs two pheasants over the pointer yesterday and three woodcock and four pheasants over the springer today which is what it is all about seeing the dogs work and having a bit of sport not about fiancial gain

Alchemist2

Yes Trigger i have been to trials not springer ones mind as i believe its a waste of time... pointing dogs are bred to roam and find game and yes trials do replicate this to a degree... its all time based though and therein is one problem, apart from the uk, we are the only country that do not have our pointing/setting breeds retrieve save hpr's.... personally i dont see this type of sport offering any great contribution to the breeding standards as the conditions of these tests do not reflect the type of hunting 90 odd percent of dog men encounter through their rough shooting days... have you ever tried to train an irish bred pointer/setter to retrieve that hails from ft breeding(not easy)... i think this conversation has cropped up before and there are imo two different breeds of gundog trialling and rough shooting... now i am all on for the obedience which is shown at trials i think its brilliant and i aspire to train my dogs to this standard but i have found over 20yrs of learning/making mistakes that hunting machines(term often referred to as hard hunting dogs) dont come from trialling backgrounds i find them that bit softer than rough shooting bred dogs now there may be no scientific basis for my opinion but i guess at the end of the day thats all it is;)

highduck

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

Well first of all I don't paint all trialing men the same but cartels there are.
He's improving the trialing breed by fine tuning the animal for such purposes. However that doesn't mean the actual breed is doing any better for it. The desires for speed & flash in springers trials has had detrimental effects in the physical ability of the breed. Anyway - besides that any good work they are doing is vastly undone by breeding to inadequate bitches - hence leading or at least playing largely to the development of crap.
Alchemist hit the nail on the head - it's regulation or lack there of.
The specific supposed flaws with the German dogs is more likely to do with the desired traits & execution rather than the merits of regulation which we seriously lack.

I agree and disagree EP.

I do think that the standard and quality of gundogs have dropped dramatically.

I dont blame the man with the FTCH stud dog.He has invested a lot of time,money and effort to get his FTCH and I think he is entitled to make money from that dog.
I'd bet that if we asked any FTCH stud dog owner how many men turned up and said "I have a usless c~nt of a bitch here thats hard mouth,barks when hunting and wont face cover AND I'd like to breed it with your dog they would say its never happened.
Guys have used Champion dogs telling their owners that bitch was a machine,could have won trials if "I was into trialling". Bitch owners lie to use the dogs success's to try and hide/breed out flaws in their sub standard bitches and primarly for money from pups.How many time do we an ad see FTCH out of a good hunting bitch.(says who?)

The stud owner is not the police force for the breed. It should be law that all dogs are registered. Unregistered dogs add nothing to any breed if any thing they F it up. I have seen unregisterd dogs from origanlly top class registerd breeding that were class animals but could never add to the hunting gene pool because their breeding couldnt be recorded.

Dogs that trial are there to be viewed and judged by anyone who wants to take the effort to look at them.In looking at a dogs ability and pedigree at least anyone who is interested in improving the breed can make an informed decision.

EP- You have made a great effort to show the capabilities of your dogs on youtube and I think that adds to the good breeding of gundogs. Your dogs are their to be judged(like most trial dogs) on the internet by anyone and I think if more people did what you do we may not have to depend on trial performance to make breeding choices.

IMHO Unregisterd dogs, breeding of sh~t bitches to tested dogs,the abuse of donedeal ads and people who put no effort into getting the best from their dogs have f'd up gundogs and not the trial man/trial breeder.

Can you imagine if guys thinking of breeding" a good" registered shooting bitch put up that bitch hunting on youtube(not fannying around the garden but hitting cover,flushing game and more importantly retrieving it without mauling it to death. The buyer then can look at the pedigree and view the bitch working before buying a pup.That when we would be making a start down the right road.


HD

kermitpwee

I have been biting my tongue but no longer! Trialing has ****ed the ESS and that isn't ****ing maybe. Trialing rewards dogs that have speed and can be kept under control in areas laced with game that a gamekeeper has pushed into the area. Trialing men in response to this have bred smaller dogs as they are faster, softer dogs as they can be trained to be a robot, dogs that are lacking in markings and are bordering on white as a white dog looks quicker and is flashy, they also have bred dogs that are lacking in drive so that they can control them in these areas laced with game. These dogs must be turned on when young with rabbit pens and loads of game, you often hear of them going down a gear or two when in training and needing to be put back in the pen to bring them up to speed.
So modern trialing has sought the following qualities in ESS
1. Small dogs
2. Softer
3. White dogs
4. Lacking in natural prey drive
So yes trialing men have ****ed up the ESS for us rough shooters, we are looking for a bigger strong boned brute that will hunt concrete without scent for the day and be delighted to do it!
We want a springer that is testing our training all the time due to his drive, after keeping him in check for the first 4-5 years of his life we want to marvel how well we have done and how exciting it is to shoot woodcock over these ESS's that are on the edge of breaking from our grasp.

Ps I hold no hatred for trialling men but they have ****ed up the ESS gene pool, the non reg dog is in most cases bred by men who are trying to breed back the old springer(whether they have the knowledge to do this is a question for another day)

EPointer=Birdss

highduck wrote: »

I agree and disagree EP.

I do think that the standard and quality of gundogs have dropped dramatically.

I dont blame the man with the FTCH stud dog.He has invested a lot of time,money and effort to get his FTCH and I think he is entitled to make money from that dog.
I'd bet that if we asked any FTCH stud dog owner how many men turned up and said "I have a usless c~nt of a bitch here thats hard mouth,barks when hunting and wont face cover AND I'd like to breed it with your dog they would say its never happened.
Guys have used Champion dogs telling their owners that bitch was a machine,could have won trials if "I was into trialling". Bitch owners lie to use the dogs success's to try and hide/breed out flaws in their sub standard bitches and primarly for money from pups.How many time do we an ad see FTCH out of a good hunting bitch.(says who?)

The stud owner is not the police force for the breed. It should be law that all dogs are registered. Unregistered dogs add nothing to any breed if any thing they F it up. I have seen unregisterd dogs from origanlly top class registerd breeding that were class animals but could never add to the hunting gene pool because their breeding couldnt be recorded.

Dogs that trial are there to be viewed and judged by anyone who wants to take the effort to look at them.In looking at a dogs ability and pedigree at least anyone who is interested in improving the breed can make an informed decision.

EP- You have made a great effort to show the capabilities of your dogs on youtube and I think that adds to the good breeding of gundogs. Your dogs are their to be judged(like most trial dogs) on the internet by anyone and I think if more people did what you do we may not have to depend on trial performance to make breeding choices.

IMHO Unregisterd dogs, breeding of sh~t bitches to tested dogs,the abuse of donedeal ads and people who put no effort into getting the best from their dogs have f'd up gundogs and not the trial man/trial breeder.

Can you imagine if guys thinking of breeding" a good" registered shooting bitch put up that bitch hunting on youtube(not fannying around the garden but hitting cover,flushing game and more importantly retrieving it without mauling it to death. The buyer then can look at the pedigree and view the bitch working before buying a pup.That when we would be making a start down the right road.


HD

In Fairness I agree with most of not all of the above & we all know great lads with great bitches that aren't worth a hat of crabs. Yet whether by emotional attachment or the chance of financial gain they breed to a well known dog for a pup of their own or a litter of 350+ pups. Therefore being at fault heavily also.

But the sire owner by the nature of who they are should know a good bitch after 5 mins. If interested in the breed should say sorry lad I'm off! The question should always be if I needed would I actually want the pick of the litter. If breeding beyond this then that old practice is redundant & it's purely €€€s.

I've turned down a number of guys asking me to breed as I didn't like their motives or they weren't interested in showing me the bitch work.
Maybe I live in la la land but I personally wouldn't breed unless I wanted a pup which trial lads generally won't, or if I hadn't seen & rated the bitch so feel I'm adding to the breed.
Yes they like me or you are entitled to make a few bob for the countless hours put in but the good of the breeds means more to me than the money I could make. Even when I had the bitch I had planned one maybe 2 litters to try & get a good pup & have a few for the list of lads who have asked me. I could keep 2 bitches or more & be breeding & exporting pups internationally which YouTube has opened but again it's not for me. All I want is to do right by my dogs & only add to the breed for my part. If I do stud to a suitable bitch I don't feel I'll be disimproving the breed as ill have screened the bitch somewhat first.

I suppose what I'm saying is there is blame be to shared but a trial man with a good dog should be more selective in his choice & not just take a man at his word, let the dog do the deed & head home ignorant of the potential crap he could be breeding or even the suitability of his trial dog for the hunting field.

Like you say law or regulation might be the only way to sort this out.
Otherwise there will be countless crap bred annually & only for a few folks breeding true working dogs & keeping lines alive wed have nothing.

Springers seem most affected but like Alchemist said earlier in this thread or another the pointing dog world is not so bad but like him I detest the fact retrieving is not desired. To say a not retrieving trial Pointer/ setter is equally as capable in the real field is BS which I often do hear (& requiring a picking dog is worse again). I had a right old Barney with lads at game fairs preaching the undesired retrieve etc. To listen to the tit I over heard in Sligo few months back call the English pointer limited to a man enquiring about the breed sickened & saddened me. Limited why - as people are breeding limited animals due to trialing wants. HPR work is the truest form of complete dogwork IMO & dogs with this are much more rounded animals & suitable to 'one man & his dog' field activity. I strived to select my pointer from hunting stock with trial blood. I had raw speed & talent & with training carved a round diamond into a proper all round hunting dog. I'd like to think a few generations of his blood line would yield a more HPR type pointer.

Anyway back on thread - how much would tempt you??

syklops

TriggerPL wrote: »

Seriously lad u would refuse 10000 for your dog , bull dung . Most trailing men would take the hand off u at ten grand . I bet if I made you that offer Infront of your missus I'd leave with your dog

How much do you want to bet?

highduck

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

In Fairness I agree with most of not all of the above & we all know great lads with great bitches that aren't worth a hat of crabs. Yet whether by emotional attachment or the chance of financial gain they breed to a well known dog for a pup of their own or a litter of 350+ pups. Therefore being at fault heavily also.

But the sire owner by the nature of who they are should know a good bitch after 5 mins. If interested in the breed should say sorry lad I'm off! The question should always be if I needed would I actually want the pick of the litter. If breeding beyond this then that old practice is redundant & it's purely €€€s.

I've turned down a number of guys asking me to breed as I didn't like their motives or they weren't interested in showing me the bitch work.
Maybe I live in la la land but I personally wouldn't breed unless I wanted a pup which trial lads generally won't, or if I hadn't seen & rated the bitch so feel I'm adding to the breed.
Yes they like me or you are entitled to make a few bob for the countless hours put in but the good of the breeds means more to me than the money I could make. Even when I had the bitch I had planned one maybe 2 litters to try & get a good pup & have a few for the list of lads who have asked me. I could keep 2 bitches or more & be breeding & exporting pups internationally which YouTube has opened but again it's not for me. All I want is to do right by my dogs & only add to the breed for my part. If I do stud to a suitable bitch I don't feel I'll be disimproving the breed as ill have screened the bitch somewhat first.

I suppose what I'm saying is there is blame be to shared but a trial man with a good dog should be more selective in his choice & not just take a man at his word, let the dog do the deed & head home ignorant of the potential crap he could be breeding or even the suitability of his trial dog for the hunting field.

Like you say law or regulation might be the only way to sort this out.
Otherwise there will be countless crap bred annually & only for a few folks breeding true working dogs & keeping lines alive wed have nothing.

Springers seem most affected but like Alchemist said earlier in this thread or another the pointing dog world is not so bad but like him I detest the fact retrieving is not desired. To say a not retrieving trial Pointer/ setter is equally as capable in the real field is BS which I often do hear (& requiring a picking dog is worse again). I had a right old Barney with lads at game fairs preaching the undesired retrieve etc. To listen to the tit I over heard in Sligo few months back call the English pointer limited to a man enquiring about the breed sickened & saddened me. Limited why - as people are breeding limited animals due to trialing wants. HPR work is the truest form of complete dogwork IMO & dogs with this are much more rounded animals & suitable to 'one man & his dog' field activity. I strived to select my pointer from hunting stock with trial blood. I had raw speed & talent & with training carved a round diamond into a proper all round hunting dog. I'd like to think a few generations of his blood line would yield a more HPR type pointer.

Anyway back on thread - how much would tempt you??

I think that we are on a similar wave length and like all good debate can agree to differ on some points.

Back to the point.I have got 4000 euro for a fully trained lab five years ago. i ran him in one trail as a 2 yr old and brought him picking up on a shoot where he pulled off 2 fabulous retrieves one on a runner over 400 yards,he had to jump a deer fence and cross a small river into a wood to pick the bird.The other was on an island in a lake where 3 or 4 dogs had failed on a mallard and when all dogs were back I tried him and he swak out and after about 2 minutes we saw him digging down into a pile of sticks and pull out a live mallard and swim back.my chest was out.that day one of the guns offered me 2 grand and i turned it down.two weeks later he phoned me and offered 3 and i turned him down.About a month later i was picking up on a different shoot and he was there and offerd me 4 grand.im not a well off man and we had just had our first little girl so i decided that the 4k would pay a lot of bills with a newborn baby in the house.

I would have sold a nice few springers around the 1000-1500 mark and others 500-1000.All good hard going dogs with an engine and all trial bred.Touch wood i have never had to sell or give away a dog as a pet.One with a mouth like a crocodile went to the uk as a drug dog.

The guy that gave me 4 grand phoned me 2 years ago looking for another trained dog for his son and i didnt have one and I phoned a load of guys in ireland and the uk and couldnt get him one.

garyc007

id find it hard to part with my springer bitch for any amount of money. id rather try train a new dog and sell it instead

TriggerPL

I do tend to move dogs on as they get on in age as to not be feeding dogs that are doing nothin , and giving dogs to lads that are slowing up them selves

EPointer=Birdss

highduck wrote: »

I think that we are on a similar wave length and like all good debate can agree to differ on some points.

Back to the point.I have got 4000 euro for a fully trained lab five years ago. i ran him in one trail as a 2 yr old and brought him picking up on a shoot where he pulled off 2 fabulous retrieves one on a runner over 400 yards,he had to jump a deer fence and cross a small river into a wood to pick the bird.The other was on an island in a lake where 3 or 4 dogs had failed on a mallard and when all dogs were back I tried him and he swak out and after about 2 minutes we saw him digging down into a pile of sticks and pull out a live mallard and swim back.my chest was out.that day one of the guns offered me 2 grand and i turned it down.two weeks later he phoned me and offered 3 and i turned him down.About a month later i was picking up on a different shoot and he was there and offerd me 4 grand.im not a well off man and we had just had our first little girl so i decided that the 4k would pay a lot of bills with a newborn baby in the house.

I would have sold a nice few springers around the 1000-1500 mark and others 500-1000.All good hard going dogs with an engine and all trial bred.Touch wood i have never had to sell or give away a dog as a pet.One with a mouth like a crocodile went to the uk as a drug dog.

The guy that gave me 4 grand phoned me 2 years ago looking for another trained dog for his son and i didnt have one and I phoned a load of guys in ireland and the uk and couldnt get him one.

That's interesting now. When you sold the dog did you have regret after or just get a new one & move on? (I think you motives at the time were sound in fairness)

Alchemist2

Tbh if i was in a position to own what i deem an excellent dog i wouldn't part with it for the simple reason as we all know getting a dog thats 'on your wave lenght' is a real lottery and for the time and effort it takes to get the dog to a decent standard its not worth it imo... a few G's doesn't last pissin time now whereas 8-10 yrs of shooting over a well trained dog.... Priceless;)

moloney

syklops wrote: »

How much do you want to bet?

i dont bet on a dog that i trained myself and cherish what he does for me i mean what i say i wouldnt sell him for any money

kermitpwee

TriggerPL wrote: »

I do tend to move dogs on as they get on in age as to not be feeding dogs that are doing nothin , and giving dogs to lads that are slowing up them selves

What age do you usually start moving springers on? Just wondering what I should be expecting out of my guys!

TriggerPL

kermitpwee wrote: »

What age do you usually start moving springers on? Just wondering what I should be expecting out of my guys!

Normally round to 7 year mark that way someone else get a bit of time out of them ,

But I've seen springer working when there 10 and 12 just wouldn be able to do it 2 day in a row

highduck

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

That's interesting now. When you sold the dog did you have regret after or just get a new one & move on? (I think you motives at the time were sound in fairness)

I told him that if he was not happy at any stage that i would give him every penny back.I put the money in the credit union and didnt touch it for nearly a year(just in case). I have a framed photo of the lab in the house and i would class him as the 2nd best dog that i ever owned.

He was a good shooting partner and he paid his way more than any other dog ive owned. i took one litter of him. 11 pups. 7 dogs 4 bitches. i kept one, gave one to my best mate and shooting buddy and gave one to a gamekeeper friend of mine.the rest were sold for 450 euro each. I used the money to buy a new burren trailer and 6 dipped galvanised kennels.

Do i regret selling yes. But his new owner is now a good friend and the dog helped me pursue what i love doing which is training and breeding the best dogs that i can.

I see him every year at driven shoots.the polish has gone on his obedience training but id say hes 8 comming this year and would have retrieved thousands of birds.not a bad life for the seven week old pup that i drove to Bristol for many years ago.

Me and my mates still talk about the amazing retrieves and the quality offspring that he left and thats a good second best to having him lying at your feet.

HD.

Have some old video tapes of him and must try and dig them out and upload them if possible.

E. Fudd

highduck wrote: »

I told him that if he was not happy at any stage that i would give him every penny back.I put the money in the credit union and didnt touch it for nearly a year(just in case). I have a framed photo of the lab in the house and i would class him as the 2nd best dog that i ever owned.

He was a good shooting partner and he paid his way more than any other dog ive owned. i took one litter of him. 11 pups. 7 dogs 4 bitches. i kept one, gave one to my best mate and shooting buddy and gave one to a gamekeeper friend of mine.the rest were sold for 450 euro each. I used the money to buy a new burren trailer and 6 dipped galvanised kennels.

Do i regret selling yes. But his new owner is now a good friend and the dog helped me pursue what i love doing which is training and breeding the best dogs that i can.

I see him every year at driven shoots.the polish has gone on his obedience training but id say hes 8 comming this year and would have retrieved thousands of birds.not a bad life for the seven week old pup that i drove to Bristol for many years ago.

Me and my mates still talk about the amazing retrieves and the quality offspring that he left and thats a good second best to having him lying at your feet.

HD.

Have some old video tapes of him and must try and dig them out and upload them if possible.

Hi Highduck,

Is that dog your talking about down around the Kerry area by any chance?

terminator2

years ago when i started shooting i had no dog , my wife bought me a springer spaniel , i was asked to bring him beating which i did , some of the retrieves that dog accomplished are unbelievable , one noteable one he dived off a bridge to retrieve a duck which had been shot , absolutely fearless he was , .......he died when he was about eight years old , ............no amount of money could buy the amount of pleasure that dog brought ...... in short its like trying to put a price on your best friend btw i paid one hundred pounds for that dog

Shoot2kill

I genuinely couldn't put a price on my dogs.