which dog to buy

snipe49

sonofthegun wrote: »

I cant agree we hunt red setters here for years but the look of the red setter has being diluted why cant you have good hunting dogs that bear the traditional look of the deep solid red dog my family have hunted over setters for 50 years or more,
sotg

Well said. I have some 20 year old video of my self and my father shoot beet fields with 3 full red setters. And my father still shoots over a full red bitch at the age of 76.

irish setter

sonofthegun wrote: »

I cant agree we hunt red setters here for years but the look of the red setter has being diluted why cant you have good hunting dogs that bear the traditional look of the deep solid red dog my family have hunted over setters for 50 years or more,
sotg

Reading the history of individual dogs will tell you they came in different sizes and shades back then as they do now. My two don't come much darker

sonofthegun

my boy rua. this is how I have always seen red setters its what I grew up with I suppose this is what I think a hunting red setter should look like
sotg

jap gt

irish setter

sonofthegun wrote: »

my boy rua. this is how I have always seen red setters its what I grew up with I suppose this is what I think a hunting red setter should look like
sotg

Lovely dog but not as uncommon as you think. But I'll always pick ability over looks and the red setter is stronger now than it has ever been.

sonofthegun

irish setter wrote: »

Lovely dog but not as uncommon as you think. But I'll always pick ability over looks and the red setter is stronger now than it has ever been.

why cant you have both ability and the look I never said my type of dog was uncommon but are becoming less common also consider the piles of sh1t lads are breeding as "hunting" setters when the lads that own them have never seen a field let alone a shotgun I can name 3 in south tipp alone
Im not knocking you dogs a all lad I just prefer a dark red setter and I don't think you would find a hand full of good working setters around me I would hope that the traditional hunting setter is stronger in some parts of the country
sotg

irish setter

sonofthegun wrote: »

why cant you have both ability and the look I never said my type of dog was uncommon but are becoming less common also consider the piles of sh1t lads are breeding as "hunting" setters when the lads that own them have never seen a field let alone a shotgun I can name 3 in south tipp alone
Im not knocking you dogs a all lad I just prefer a dark red setter and I don't think you would find a hand full of good working setters around me I would hope that the traditional hunting setter is stronger in some parts of the country
sotg

I'm in south Tipp and I don't know of anyone breeding red setters round me. The deep red dog is not the only traditional setter. I agree that there is the world of rubbish being bred and I think the darker dog is nicer on the eye. But I also know there is light coloured dogs that would put darker ones to shame. And the same is the case the other way round. When it comes to breeding if you breed two dogs with average ability the average of the resulting pups will be less. That's why only the ones with the best ability should be bred. That's why there is so much rubbish being bred by people without a clue. That's why for me looks are not the highest priority

blackpearl

had reds for 35 years big heavy boned dark dogs with white on chest and top of head even the latest dogs are from nashes breeding and that is only back to grandfather nearly all of the dogs I had were good retrivers and good in heavy cover it cant have been luck but some people shudder when you mention red setters they say had one never have another.i would not have anything else around the place.

paddy2008

Well lads have my first gundog and she is a nice dark red setter 4 months old any straight to the point tips on starting her to set! Thanks in advance

jap gt

paddy2008 wrote: »

Well lads have my first gundog and she is a nice dark red setter 4 months old any straight to the point tips on starting her to set! Thanks in advance

shes only 4 months, let her be a pup until shes a bit older she will need plenty of birds to get her pointing and steady, but its the wrong time of year to meet birds, build a bond etc with her until august/september then start her on birds,

a red was my first dog aswell, its a steep learning curve, but give time and enough work its hard to beat the red setter

snipe49

paddy2008 wrote: »

Well lads have my first gundog and she is a nice dark red setter 4 months old any straight to the point tips on starting her to set! Thanks in advance

well done took my advice on full red. u could try the rod and wing but may be a bit soon. good look with her

TriggerPL

http://youtu.be/5_GvZpN6Bbw

irish setter

paddy2008 wrote: »

Well lads have my first gundog and she is a nice dark red setter 4 months old any straight to the point tips on starting her to set! Thanks in advance

Well done on your choice. The best thing you can do for her now is take her for plenty of walks and forget about trying to get her to point. If she is bred well enough she will point in her own time given opportunity. People get hung up on trying to get their dogs to point that they end up with dogs with loads of point and no hunt. In time when she is at least 8 months take her to game and let her flush and chase birds and learn to love the hunt. Some reds set early and some take up to 2years. Often the later ones are the best. If she starts to set early I'd take her away from game for a while. The wing on a rod is great to demonstrate how a setter learns to set but it usless as a training tool so I'd avoid that. Best of luck with her

blackpearl

have to agree red setter,the best ones I had were the ones who took 2 years to set,one dog took 3 years that was tough going but by god for the next 10 years retrieving, waterwork, cover and setting I would say he came out top of my league ,so I would say give your dog loads of time don't be rushing him it will come togeather when he is ready.

sonofthegun

blackpearl wrote: »

have to agree red setter,the best ones I had were the ones who took 2 years to set,one dog took 3 years that was tough going but by god for the next 10 years retrieving, waterwork, cover and setting I would say he came out top of my league ,so I would say give your dog loads of time don't be rushing him it will come togeather when he is ready.

+1 building a life long bond with the your dog starts now the ability to set is bred into them and just remember to be patient as a red setter is a slower dog to mature
sotg