Laying down on point

Not a good picture. She broke just before I took another step. We can still discuss the topic. Ever seen it? Any stories?

I’ve heard of it, but never seen it

Ditto

I've read that they were initially bred that way to make room for a castnet going over their heads. I've seen a couple in NSTRA lay down on point. It really knocks their score.
My friend Ron had a big Paladin bred pointer named Frank. We lost Frank. We eventually found him spread eagle. His eyes were rolled back in his head. We walked up and a really big cover got up all around him. It's always been a mystery to me of how Frank could have gotten in the kindle of the covey without flushing the

Hers an old picture my wife got for me years ago.

Well, kind of. Before beeper collars and GPS, I had a Guard Rail bred pointer that if the birds left or he got too close and the birds bumped, and would lay down until you got there. I found him a couple of times and thought he was have a low blood sugar fit or something and when you got close to him and he could see you, he would jump up and take off in high gear where the birds flew to. Finally figured it out after I saw birds get up a 100 yards away and he "disappeared", walked over and he was laying down. Have no idea what caused the onset of that, but luckily he had a very long nose and was careful so it only happened about once a season

I was surprised to learn that in the German testing system for versatile dogs, lying down is an accepted form of pointing. At least for the young dogs. Not sure about the advanced dogs.

Older setters will do this after being on standing point for a lengthy point caused by their old master taking too long to get to them.
I had an English setter out in a huge CRP field for about an hour while I located him on the Garmin. He was lying down and I was sure the bird was long gone and if it was not it had to be a hen pheasant. I stepped one foot ahead of him and a [censored] pheasant got up. So, not a bad thing in the big picture.

Years ago I hunted with an older English Setter named Jake that was a rescue dog. Jake would point solid but as soon as you stopped the truck and started walking his direction he would slowly sink to the ground. By the time you got near him he would be lying flat on his belly. My Dad thought that the first owner shot a bunch of times directly over his head when he was a young dog & that is what caused Jake's belly point. Jake would stay there on the ground until you told him to fetch then he would pick up your dead birds like a champ. He was a good dog & I always enjoyed hunting with him.

had a setter gyp that would do the same thing..

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Do you remember the handlers name?

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I feel like the lying down on point or flush part could be fixed on most dogs with barrel work with a chain snapped to their collar attached to an overhead cable/wire. Get them standing upright, pointed, and steady and start tossing pigeons around them, and force them to stand still and not drop on point or flush. They will pay a consequence if they move and fall off barrel. Set them back up and repeat. Try this a couple a times a day for about a week.

I trained a setter for a guy back in the 80's that would lay down when she pointed, I never could get her to stand.Forrest

^^^ this