The Rubber Reel Lady and I have been cleaning up an old mobile home that we use for storage. Today we found this newspaper advertisement among some of the junk.
Yep, that skinny cowboy is the Reel Geezer in an earlier incarnation. Note that I've even got a pistol on my belt (it shot blanks). Based on the text, I guess that is from 1966 - 42 years ago. That dog was my Irish Setter Sally - or Double Cross. She was a Sports Afield All American dog in 1965 and won more open field trials against pointers and setters than any Irish in the country. Take a note of that high tail. She was a great dog, with nose and style to burn.
That's a neat picture, and brings back memories from the 1950s, when our family also had an Irish Setter. Dave was a great looking boy and a fine companion, although lacking in obedience training. We could have used your services!
Yo Geez: I'm sure you were good, but there are some dogs in my neighborhood that I'm equally sure would have broken your spirit! Does the business still exist in some form? Bad Bob
Yo BB: That business died when I realized that although I really loved working with the dogs, the owners were often too much to handle. There's lots of unruly barking dogs at the next place down the road from us, but I'm not about to try to get them to shut up. Every time the coyotes out front start howling, or the deer wander through, the dogs go wild. Luckily they're a fair distance away.
Thats pretty neat, I currently have one English and one Gordon Setter.
I have always been fond of Setters. I have noticed a few Setters labled as Red Setters not sure if they are the same or similar to the Irish? Is it just me or has the hunting quality of the Irish diminished from what they were in the past. There seems to be more of the show bloodlines out there now days?
The Irish setter was ruined by AKC show people. In the 1950s a few field Irish setter breeders (notably Ned LeGrande of PA) were given permission by the American Field to cross some Irish females with a red & white English setter owned by noted writer and setter breeder Horace Lytle. After 4 generations of breeding to pure Irish the offspring were registered as Irish Setters by the Field Dog Stud Book. They were allowed to compete as Cross Bred setters. Sally was a 3rd generation and ran trials under that registration. She had a tiny spot of white on her forehead and some white hairs on her feet, but that was all that showed of the cross - except for her tremendous field ability. Her pups (she had one litter) were registered as Irish Setters.
I have not kept up enough to know for sure what the "Red Setter" designation means. I have never seen a really great field AKC Irish Setter. Show people tend to do that. We had some show Irish people come out to our kennel to see Sally one time and they were horrified by her looks. For shame - she looked like a field setter should look.
Phil...what mags did you run that ad in? I used to read Sports Afield and Field & Stream like a religion back in the early '60s and I swear I remember seeing and reading that ad! In fact, I seem to recall my Uncle Joe might have either bought or considered buying a dog from you! Ever have anyone from Indiana come out and nose around?
John, that ad was only run in our local newspaper. I did advertise nationally in classified sections at times, but couldn't afford to run an ad like that in one of the big three outdoor magazines - I was a starving bird dog trainer.
I forgot to mention that Sally's brother Double Jack was also a Sports Afield All American dog in 1965.
That is a great photo that shows the intensity of the dog. Both of my dogs are the smaller field dogs. My English is from a NSTRA 7x champion from Washington State. To me the greatest part of the hunt is just watching the dogs work. They have a extremely powerful desire to hunt.
