Field trial pointers and setters

About field trial pointers and setters

Pointer and setter field trials are run on grouse moors and on lowland partridge ground, where dogs quarter wide country at speed and point gamebirds for the guns. Unlike other gundogs, pointers and setters are not required to retrieve in UK trials, and the Royal Kennel Club holds no gundog working tests for this group, so their work is assessed in the field: at trials, or at Working Gundog Certificate days for dogs that point live game. Working lines are kept going by a relatively small number of dedicated breeders.

What this work involves

Dogs run in pairs, called braces, and their handlers walk close together as though shooting. Each dog must quarter its ground systematically with pace and style, working the wind to find gamebirds by air scent. When one dog points, judges credit a bracemate that backs the point naturally. On command the pointing dog works its point out freely, without the handler touching it or stepping in front, and it must be steady to flush and shot and, where birds are shot, to the fall. It should not be gun-shy.

Judges credit stamina, pace, style on point, drive, natural backing and quiet handling, and the regulations ask them to look for merit rather than hunt for faults. Eliminating faults include flushing birds upwind, chasing fur or feather, unsteadiness to game, whining or barking, blinking a point, stealing a point, interfering with the other dog on point and missing gamebirds on the beat.

Open stakes take 16 to 40 runners. A dog becomes a Field Trial Champion by winning the Pointer and Setter Champion Stake, or two open stakes at two different meetings under two different A-panel judges, with at least 16 runners in each and one win in a stake open to pointers and all setter breeds.

Who trains and supplies these dogs in the UK

Pointers and setters for the field are bred by private breeders and trained by their owners or by the professional handlers who campaign them. No organisation supplies trained grouse dogs. The Royal Kennel Club licenses the trials, approves judges and records awards. Pointer and setter breed clubs and field trial societies run the stakes, and the Royal Kennel Club and some clubs hold training days with approved judges. The Champion Stake has been organised on the Royal Kennel Club’s behalf by the Scottish Field Trial Association, as it was in 2022.

Because the working community is small, pointer breeders UK-wide and working English setter breeders tend to know each other, and good litters are often spoken for early. Expect a breeder to ask you as many questions as you ask them.

Breeds and lines

The Pointer and the English Setter have the largest working followings and long-established trial lines. The Irish Setter has a smaller but committed working following, while the Gordon Setter and Irish Red and White Setter are kept in the field by a handful of breeders. The English Setter, Gordon Setter and Irish Red and White Setter are all on the Royal Kennel Club’s list of vulnerable native breeds. A working English setter is usually lighter, with less coat, and far more driven than its show cousin.

For the English Setter, the RKC Health Standard’s Good Practice level includes hip scoring and prioritising genetic diversity, with elbow scoring and BAER hearing tests at Best Practice level.

What to ask a breeder

• Which stakes have the parents run in, and which awards do they hold?
• How wide do the parents run, and do they back naturally?
• Are the parents steady to sheep? The RKC’s code expects it, because grouse trials run on moors with sheep.
• What health tests have the parents had?
• Is this litter bred for trialling, for shooting over dogs, or for active homes?

Legal and welfare notes

• In England and Wales the Game Act 1831 sets the seasons that govern trials on live game: grouse from 12 August to 10 December and partridge from 1 September to 1 February. Scotland and Northern Ireland set their own dates for some species. Outside the season no birds may be shot, so trials then test finding and pointing without game being killed.
• The RKC’s code for pointer and setter competitors asks handlers to carry drinking water, especially in hot weather, and pinch, prong and electric shock collars are banned at licensed trials. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 applies to working dogs as to any other.

Frequently asked questions

Do pointers and setters retrieve in UK field trials?

No. The regulations ask them to find and point birds and to be steady to flush and shot. On a shooting day, the retrieving is usually done by another dog.

What are grouse dogs?

A general term for pointers and setters worked on grouse moors, whether in setter trials and pointer stakes or when shooting over dogs.

Can a working English setter live as a family dog?

Yes, with plenty of exercise and something to do. These dogs are bred to run all day, and a bored setter is hard work.

If your pointers or setters run in pointer and setter field trials or work the moors, list your kennel so people looking for working pointer and setter breeders can find you. Add your listing.