Hello,
Any Pointer (English) owners on here who I could get some info from please?

Thanks,

Jeff.

Not a Pointer owner myself, but one of my friends is a breeder. Feel free to ask any questions and I can relay them if no-one on here responds.

I own three pointers. What do you want to know?

Thanks both, my main question is how reliable are they off lead - generally speaking? I know it will vary depending on dog and owner.
Jeff.

Out of the six, two of my friends go awol on a very regular basis. We have vast areas of moorland on our doorstep so she is able to let them run free but they do disappear on a regular basis. Nowadays she doesn't often let them off lead together as they tend to lead each other astray. When hunting fences and walls are no obstacle, they sail over high stone walls as though they are a cavaletti. The others are much better but still cover a huge amount of ground whilst free running.

I absolutely love the breed, but to be honest I think I would find exercising them just too stressful.

Thanks for the info, and to think my OH said they would be easier than an Afghan! Only joking - before we get a tirade!
Thanks again.
Jeff.

Generally they are reliable off lead if you train them! They are bred to work a long way away from the handler so do need some open space, my lot get to gallop off lead everyday, I think they would be very unhappy if they didn't get this "blast" time. They have been taught from a young age that come back really does mean come back! They are a biddable breed particularly if you start when they are young, I also think you musn't be scared to let them off the lead as that can build up problems when they finally do get to gallop!!

They are wonderful and I don't think that I would have any other breed of dog now!

Thanks for the info, might have to pm you to pick your brain some more - if that's Ok - if things progress.
Thanks again

Jeff.

No worries! They are wonderful (but I think I might be biased!!)

I know of 2 boys that live together (father and son) and they are regularly let off lead and are VERY obedient.  The guy is a show guy and always paranoid about dog attacks so he keeps his dogs really close to him and if he see's any dogs approaching, he gets a solid re-call and clips on the lead.  He's also been known to put the dogs over a fence(into the sheep fields) to 'escape' from said strange dogs too!lol.  The big pointers just stand there waiting!! My lot would be offski, exploring the field.
Please bear in mind, my dogs are all obedient, but these boys are another level.

Interesting reading other people's experiences. I hope I didn't give the wrong impression about my friend. She is a very experienced pointer lady and has been in the breed many years and does put a lot of time into their training.

The dog who is the worst culprit is trained up to KCGC Gold and the most delightful dog you could know. Get him on the scent of something though and his nose takes over.  I regularly see one of his litter brothers being exercised in the distance and the ground he covers is phenominal, swinging back to his owner in huge great circles. There is no way either of these two could be safely exercised in a normal park as the area they range over is just too large.

The bitch in question is only young but from a very early age my friend feared she was going to be like her dog so put in a huge amount of work, but she still goes deaf if on the scent of something. As mentioned previously these two are not let off lead together, but one at a time with the rest of her dogs, all of who have a good recall.

The other dogs all still run and hunt, but stay closer and respond to the whistle. Having said that I couldn't help but laugh when she was in a panic a few months ago thinking she had lost a bitch who always returns to the whistle. This time no response and some 15 minutes later when she was fearing the worst and rounding up the search party, she spotted a white flash in the long grass. Lo and behold it was the bitch pointing at a bird and as the grass was so long it had hidden her from view.

Good luck if you decide to go ahead. If it helps I will ask my friend if she would mind me passing over her contact details.