I've read a few times that HPR's tend to be quite 'difficult' compared to other gundog breeds, I was just wondering what it was about them that makes them more difficult?
1 they are continental, and we all know that our European cousins are far more temperamental than us! 2 They were bred to be a "jack of all trades" gundog unlike the setters and points, spaniels and retrievers. 3 This being so, they are required to display a FAR greater initiative than the other 3 as of course they need to HUNT, POINT, FLUSH AND RETRIEVE; none of the other sub groups do this. 4 They were also bred in many cases to stand up to quarry that is far tougher than what we expect in this country ie Boar, Deer, Fox etc. 5 In addition some of them had to rid the residence of vermin (this could include cats) and, often protect and defend the owner.
I would say it is a mixture of being very intelligent, independent, very high energy and very 'worky'. A lot of the retrievers, spaniels, setters, etc., working instincts have been considerably dumbed down due to generations of breeding strictly for pets. Most of the HPR's don't have anywhere near the level of popularity of many of the retrievers and spaniels, nor are they generally pushed on the pet market as much. They therefore tend to remain more true to their working roots. They think on their own two feet (unlike your Labs, Goldens, etc., who are very handler dependent and hang on your every word!) and think their way is best. Oh, and did I mention how smart they are?
Apologies if this is a stupid question but what is an HPR, is it a general name for pointers, vizlas (sp) etc? Im confused!
Hunt Point Retrievers -- they do all three elements! Not all pointers come under the 'HPR' category -- English Pointers for example are just pointers, but German Pointers are HPR's.
HPRs are one of the 4 (now 5) sub groups of gundogs HV HWV GSP GLP GWP Weimaraner IS Brittany Bracco SHRP etc etc
The HPR's basically can do everything that the other gundog groups do individually. For example, the retrievers (labs, goldens etc) do just that, retrieve whereas the HPR's do that as well as hunting and pointing. Is that what you were meaning? They firstly hunt out the prey (bird/deer etc), then indicate that they have found something (point) and flush it out on command. They then retrieve it after it has been shot.
Are they classed as 'difficult' because they are harder to train for gundog work then? Or do they roam more than other gun dog breeds, or not as owner focused as other breeds?
I think they are classed as difficult because they are generally 'more' than the other gundog groups... more bouncy, more stubborn, more driven, more energetic etc etc. They are very intelligent and need training which reflects that. They can be quite sensitive so that needs to be taken into account in training too. Saying that, Sika is one of the easiest dogs I know, I'd absolutely recommend her as a 'first' dog. I guess they are all different!
HPR's are expected to range further than spaniels when out hunting too. I'm just recalling from memory here so am probably wrong but spaniels range to about 50 yards when hunting and HPR's range to around 200 yards, depending on the terrain. Of course, the dogs dont know the rules so you may get a spaniel that works further out and a GSP who works closer but thats the expected ranges. I think HPR's are said to be more difficult because, from a training point of view, there are many elements involved compared to the other subgroups. They have to have initiative because they work at distance and are often out of sight of the handler (retrieving or hunting in thick cover or over the brow of a hill etc) plus most are ruled by their noses. Brains and a good nose are a dangerous combination!
I had to giggle at this thread a little. I found my Springer Spaniel to be much harder work than my 2 HPRs! Yes they ranged further but I never had any problems with them. Maybe we were lucky?
I have had many HPR (GSPs) over the years and always found them easier, maybe that is just me though. Oh and please no one tell Ollie he is not supposed to be easy!!!! hahahaha
