But you know doggy people, they are all so serious about their chosen sport.
I'm sure there are loads of agility clubs that only really want the dogs that they think can compete.
When I went to agility, they were so competitive they weren't interested in making it fun

its not the dogs they are snobby about - its your class. One estate I heard of contributes over 5million to the economy, it is a sport that attracts usually the upper classes though for the most part they are trying to encourage dog owners to get out there, so are quite relaxed.
You cant take your dog if its not under control though - they dont want birds scattered everywhere or lost because the dog is chasing them or barking

I actually meant in regards to the damage a non bird dog can do to the body of a pheasant/duck/partridge etc.

Having grown up on a pheasant farm/shooting estate ive seen plenty of so called "trained" gun dogs running amock.

I was more interested in the training aspect, which for the most part uses dummies rather than live birds.

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Knacker Lacquer - Adds Luster To Your Cluster

a soft mouth is essential yes but you wont get anywhere near a shoot if your dogs out of control Im surprised the dogs you saw were able to return - it may have been their first time or a novice dog, usually underkeeps dont stand for it in the least!

The training side of it is hard.

you first have to get the dog steady
you then have to get the dog confident enough to run out
then its coming back to you on your command
you then have to get the dog retrieving.
and then you have to stop it retreiving until you say
then its soft mouth
then directions
then memory
then its steadying to flush and not retreiving that what they are going to retreive

All very difficult as they all over lap. You want the dog at heel all the times, however, you also want it confident enough to run at distance, then when at distance you want it following your whistle/arm movement. Then you want it coming back until you say go. They need to mark several different birds once shot so you have to practice memory/attention and then have them ignore it until you ask them to go.
Im new to it but theres so much you need to encourage only to discourage only to have them listen to you and do what you were first encouraging them to do.

eg. they are at heel, birds shot - they know they will get it, you train for the mark and retreive, you dont want them to get it until the areas clear, you walk them away so discourage them then when safe you send them. All the time whistles/shots/commands are going off and they are supposed to be at heel remembering an area. Not easy to do really

My dogs are never out of control thanks, so i dont really see why you keep bringing that up.

I was asking if it was possible to join such clubs to do the training with with a non working breed, not to actually go shooting with it.

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Knacker Lacquer - Adds Luster To Your Cluster

The whole point of this thread is the training aspect, nothing to do with shooting
You can train a gundog without ever taking it shooting

Thats what i was asking. Its just another form of training.

I think Alfie would have been good at it.

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Knacker Lacquer - Adds Luster To Your Cluster

He would if he was more interested in retrieving

Well ive never trained him to retrieve.

That said, he does it in the house, and is very good, no mouthing or shaking.

With Alfie it all comes down to confidence, or lack of it. As you know he does play a huge amount outside of the house.

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Knacker Lacquer - Adds Luster To Your Cluster

I gave you my opinion on how a dog should act in the field. I never mentioned the standard of your dogs in the least, I was simply replying to the comment you posted!. It really doesnt affect me how your dogs are really.
Gundog training is about steadyness under extreme conditions for the dog - your not going to get this simply by throwing dummies around, they could go through the exercises yes but this wouldnt mean they are a gundog, just a well trained pet. Ive approached gundog trainers that have said if you dont work them they will not train you but for the most part, trainers will accept dogs into classes to get them socialised/obedient if that what the owner wants.