diane303
Posted : 8/5/2008 9:26:44 AM
A fellow bird dog person reminds me that only about 1% of these dogs (usually the AKC registered dogs) are purchased as house pets. The rest are bred and purchased to be hard-wired hunting dogs. - especially English Pointers. They are all really good at escaping a yard to follow a bird (or, heaven forbid, a rabbit). They require a lot of exercise and training from an early age to truly be a good companion dog.
One thing that I love about the English Pointers is that they are specifically bred to be non-aggressive, quiet and pretty mellow inside (no birds around). I trust Grace implicitly with my grand kids. GSPs can be a bit more feisty, but they stay closer to the handler off lead.