[quote=Centurion75]
Thank you for the suggestions. Out of curiosity, why would you not recommend the Clumber? I can find very little first hand experience of them.
Thank you
I will answer based on my experience at a RGS fun trial here in TC a few years ago. Its basically a "meet and greet" event to promote RGS and build support for the local chapter. In the flushing dog class I had my brace of FBECS entered plus a couple Springers, a Golden, a bunch of labs, a AWS and two Clumber spaniels. I had never seen one in the field before. The Clumbers were 50-60 pounds each, longish body, short legs, HUGE long and thick coat, and droopy eye lids which would collect copious amounts of debris in the woods/ fields.The birds were good flying chuckers salted down the fields.
My Rocky, who was around 2 yo at the time, was braced with one of the Clumbers. Rocky took off like a rocket and cleaned the field of birds except for one which the other guy walked up and shot and Rocky promptly retrieved to me. The Clumber was s*l*o*w*, painfully slow, snuffling along with his head on the ground and never got 50' from his master for the entire half hour.It was like watching a glacier move. Literally!! The other Clumber moved down the bird field exactly the same way. Rocky took second.
I suppose that if a guy had severe arthritis in both knees and had to use a cane to walk in the grouse woods, a Clumber spaniel might be a good fit for his grouse gunning???
Hope this helps.
NB