HD55
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Afternoon allHi all
I have just realised that I have probably been lurking this forum for a year without posting. So....I have a Pointer which I am training primarily for counting grouse (although she doubles as the family pet). She is 20 months old now and, having only had secondhand experience of labs and cockers in the past, can honestly say that the last 18 months have been a roller coaster of frustration and joy...pleased to say that the joy is now out weighing the frustration!
I am a big fan of the Pointer; always impressed with their speed and bird finding abilities (on Friday had a point on the moors which when measuring back from the flush to the initial acknowledgment was 195 feet!).
Thoroughly enjoying this forum. Hello to you all
Howard
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Helen
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Welcome to the board Howard. I have 3 pointers, an english setter and 2 gwp's who are used for grouse counting in N Northumberland. Where abouts are you? Where did you get your pointer from?
Helen
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HD55
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Hi Helen
I have followed your posts with interest over the year and gathered that your interest seemed similar to mine with regards bird dogs. I live in North Wales and have a background in countryside management. I have been actively involved in the management of a few moorlands over the last 18 years (oh, that makes me sound old!) predominantly in an effort to increase the area of habitat suitable for black grouse but 5 years ago changed jobs to one that centred on national strategy and policy. I love the job but missed the contact with the uplands. I then decided that I would like to train a dog for counting hens and broods (as I was already regularly counting lekking males each spring). This was pretty easy to organise as I had maintained contacts that I had made during my earlier job. So, the choice of dog....
I had always loved Pointers. My uncle had one when I was a child and I had since seen them worked on the Berwyn (an upland area near my home). I was pretty sure that I didn't want a FT bred dog as I also have three children and a wife who wanted a pet...whatever we chose it had to be comfortable living in the house, get on with many children, plus do a reasonable days work for some of the year. I decided, with this in mind to go for a bitch from a litter that had a fair smattering of Peakdale and Crookrise lines, and ended up searching out a breeder in Leicestershire. So far training has been reasonably ok. Her bird finding ability is second to none and her speed and tenacity is excellent. She is quite hard headed though and I have to be constantly on top of her to keep her in check. This I guess may be down to her breeding. Whatever the case, she is turning out to be a good worker, despite her lack of FT pedigree credentials and managing to live up to our expectations as a pet (we love her to bits really). It has taken a lot of work to get this far though.
I have been, over this very weekend, planning changes to our garden. I will make space for a kennel and my next Pointer will be from pure working stock. I am pretty much addicted to working my dog and have decided that our next one (in maybe a years time) will be handled very differently. She/ he will be kenneled and only managed by me, with no distracting children to confuse her! I have learned a lot over the last nearly two years, as much about myself as I have about training a dog. I am thoroughly impressed by the level of competence being achieved by a dog from non FT lines and can only guess at the difference breeding will make to the next. I suppose with Pointers we are lucky. Work and show lines have yet to diverge too far and all pedigrees contain working stock of some standard or another without going back too far. I am also lucky in that I can train on a moorland near to my home, exposing her to grouse from an early age. All good fun and thoroughly rewarding.
I organised a brood count not far from me this July but with my dog too young enlisted the help of the handlers of a GWP and a wirehaired viszla. It was a good day despite poor results. This was nothing to do with the dogs, which worked well; more a result of the awful weather we had over the spring and summer.
Sorry to have gone on at length. I could become very boring on this subject I will shut up now! 
What lines are your Pointers from Helen?
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Helen
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Sounds like an interesting career. We do the grouse counts on black and red grouse, and do the lek counts. I love watching the leks, fantastic site. Rob, my OH, used to do chick work with his old dog, who is nearly 15 years old and still running around  but since he no longer needed to do that work, we don't have a dog trained for that kind of work. It may change in the future and we are thinking about training one next year.
I came into pointers quite late. Rob had two when I met him and I have to say, they were on the list of breeds that I never really liked. However, there is something about a pointer on the grouse moor, but, they aren't the easiest of breeds to live with. I went for an english setter when I needed another grouse dog. She has taken a long time to mature, but been very good. Ours are kennelled, apart from the oldies who live half in and half out. Our pointers and setter are from the Upperwood kennels and I would highly recomment them.
Helen
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Pitbull
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welcome.
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windem bang
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Hi Howard, welcome. I've only trained one pointer and she was of Crookrise lines. She turned out to be a good retriever too!
Good luck with your dogs.
Bill T.
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HD55
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Thanks all for your very welcoming replies.
Howard
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sako75
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Hi Howard ,
Nice to have you here , welcome to the forum !!
Barry.
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munstyman
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Hi Howard,
Nice to see you've come out of the `lurking' woodwork, sharing is all part of learning...especially when it comes to working dogs  
Welcome to the forum
Peter
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Mike
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Hi Howard, sorry for the tardy welcome
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