Don't care what breed you buy, you risk getting a bad dog. I've had a bunch of shorthairs, number of pointer's and a couple. E. Setter's and today I have Red Setters. Easiest to work with were the Shorthairs and Red Setter's. Accident getting into Red Setters. Went to Washington to judge a shooting dog stake and saw my first Reds. Beautiful dogs and one gave the best performance I've ever seen at a trial. I bought a pup out f her next litter and never looked back. Always though my last dog would be a shorthair but looks like a Red Setter now! Hair not as soft as my E Setter's were and they don't load up with burrs as bad. Hair all over is much shorter than E Setter's and much easier to maintain. Much smarter and much more biddable than AKC Irish Setter's. I've also trained a few Brittany's and you might look there. Looking at AKC dog's it's best to avoid those with Ch in front of their name, show champions. While some can hunt more aren't worth feeding, bunt been bred out of them. One exception might be the Brittanys. The Brittany club of America used to require a show at field trials to keep the instincts strong. Unfortunately I don't think the same thing happened at shows. One of my favorite dog's I ever trained was in fact a Brittany! Other breeds are certainly worth looking at, just beware of show breeding only! What you get out of any well bred field dog will depend on your training more than anything. I would if I were you avoid Pointer's completely. Some can be taught to hunt closer but the majority run huge! That said I saw a young female years ago that would not run big, they do exist! You might do yourself a favor and go to some field trials and watch some breeds that might intrest you. Word of caution, watch the gundog stakes, all age can be renegades! Dood place to go watch would be shoot to retrieve trials, NSTRA. NSTRA has dogs much more inclined to be hunter's than AKC or Amer Fld, that is if you want a hunting dog. AKC and Amer Fld both sides glorify the All Age dog and they suck to hunt over.
