Gundog Training Weekends
organised by the
Irish Red and White Setter Club of Scotland
 LtoR: Lester Anderson, Robert Mitchell (Club President), Peter O'Driscoll (Instructor), Eileen Vielvoye (Instructor) |
As the Irish Red and White Setter was originally bred for work, it is the aim of the Irish Red and White Setter Club of Scotland to promote the working aspect of the breed by keeping the natural working ability to the fore. As very few of the committee had any experience of training a Setter for work, it was decided professional help was needed, and the first person to volunteer his services was Peter O’Driscoll. Peter is well known amongst the working and field trial fraternity for his success with his Fowington Pointers.
Building on Peter’s experience in training novice handlers, as well as novice dogs, it was not long before the club was able to introduce a gundog training weekend, which offered Irish Red and White owners/handlers the opportunity to find out what an Irish Red and White Setter was bred for. In addition they would have the chance of running their own Irish Red and White on a grouse moor, followed by an assessment as to their own dog’s natural working ability.
Mr Wilson Young, of Eskdale Shooting Services (later to become one of our Honorary Patrons), had no hesitation in giving this club the use of a grouse moor in the Scottish Boarders for our training weekends.
The format for the weekend consisted of three classes (1) Beginners, (2) Intermediate and (3) Advanced. As each class was allocated a stretch of moor on which to work, Peter brought in some friends to help supervise the classes and asses each individual dog as it took its turn to run the moor. Wilson enjoyed supervising the Advanced class personally, while others, such as Bill Thayne, Lester Anderson (both HPR field trial judges), along with Bob Truman and Eileen Vielvoye (Gordon Setter experts, as well as being Setter/Pointer field trial judges) to name but a few, were all eager to help and encourage handlers.
As the weekends were only held in February, the weather was always going to be a dictating factor, so on the few occasions we could not take the dogs to the moor, we moved into the function suite of the headquarters hotel and improvised. There we did some obedience training, watched videos on gundog training and had a general discussion on the problems some handlers were experiencing, so we still managed to get something out of the weekend.
Over the next few years the popularity of this event spread throughout the “dogging fraternity” and, as a result, requests for a place were coming in months in advance.
Needless to say, people travelled long distances to attend this event, so ultimately every hotel and guest house within a 5 mile radius of Lauder was fully booked. To keep the relaxed atmosphere where participants could meet and continue their dialogue, the club organised a buffet supper at the headquarters hotel for those who were interested.
These training weekends were originally for Red and White Setters only, but as the numbers dropped, enthusiasts from the Pointer, Setter and HPR breeds asked to fill their places, so the weekend became an annual event for all breeds of bird dog, with the few remaining Red and Whites in attendance getting priority.
 R/W Setters within Scotland. LtoR: P Ralston, Dave & Carol Pipe, A Sutherland, Briam Pilmer & Rob Mitchell |
Most of the club’s gundog training took place on the moors around the Borders area, with the exception of one “members only” weekend in October 1995, which was held further north on the Logiealmond Estate in Perthshire, by kind permission of our other Honorary Patron, The Earl of Mansfield.
The members weekend had a slightly different format from before, with a seminar on the Saturday covering Hill Management and Field Trial Etiquette by Peter O’Driscoll and Bill Thayne, then on Sunday a day on the hill with dogs, under the watchful eye of Mr Roddie McKintosh, Head Keeper to Lord Mansfield.
The Irish Red and White Setter Club of Scotland no longer hold gundog weekends, but as a result of our endeavours similar groups have now taken up the challenge and are doing very well.
Click here for more photographs from the Gundog Training Weekends organised by the Irish Red and White Setter Club of Scotland