Danny, Ardoon Daniel wasn’t my first dog, and he wasn’t even my first pointing dog. There were a couple of spaniels before I left home and my first pointing dog was Quail, Pheasant of Cleavedale, an almost ( I am assured ) 100% Sharnberry Setter bitch. Work-wise she wasn’t a success and I soon got rid of her. The day I bought Quail Will had an Irish Setter with him. I liked the look of him and eventually after a bit of persuasion I managed to buy him. Danny wasn’t really suited to trials as he had a jealous streak in him a mile wide and would give tongue if he couldn’t close the gap on his brace-mate. He turned out to be the most amazing shooting dog though. He didn’t like the feel of feathers on his lips so he wouldn’t retrieve as such but he would tow a wounded duck to the shore with his lips peeled back so as not to touch the feathers. It was quite handy as you could see his teeth in the dark. With the duck ashore he would lie on it till you came to pick it up. A wounded pheasant would also be lain on till you arrived. His best year I shot 125 snipe over him and not one of them was lost. Danny would point them “Dead”. He would stand over the snipe with it just below his brisket, his four feet at the corners of the square the snipe was lying in and him looking straight down between his front legs at the bird. There were sixty odd pheasants in the game book that year as well. I shot in Donegal for a number of years and Danny and I did the open ground and Norman did the hedges with his spaniel. We has some great weekends away.
Danny injured himself jumping about at feeding time in the garden one evening. He lost the power of both legs and only one of them got better. I could see it was breaking his heart watching me take other dogs away so he was put to sleep. For long enough he was my dog of a lifetime and I reckon he will be my Setter of a Lifetime for ever.
