GRAND JUNCTION, Tenn. — Several years ago, during the annual National Championships for Field Trialing Bird Dogs at Ames Plantation, a reporter was talking with famed Louisiana dog trainer Marshall Loftin about the differences between pointers and setters.

When she asked how often he worked his pointers, Loftin said, "Seven days a week."

But when she asked how often he worked his setters, he said, "One day a week."

Confused, the reporter asked Loftin why he only worked his setters one day out of seven.

He replied, "Because I figure there’s no sense in being mad every day."

For many people, that sums up setters in a nutshell.

Though perfectly capable of finding and pointing quail, setters are notorious one-person or one-family dogs. They often don’t like working with strangers even if the stranger happens to be an accomplished dog trainer, and they don’t respond to discipline nearly as well as most pointers.

Those characteristics are a big reason why no setter has won the National Championship event at Ames since W.C. Kirk’s Johnny Crockett did it in 1970.

"To win an event like the national, you have to have a dog that will work for the individual who’s training and handling him," said Dr. Rick Carlisle, superintendent at Ames Plantation and chief organizer for the annual national championship. "Pointers are like robots, they’ll work for anybody. But when you start moving setters from handler to handler, they don’t always respond really well."

Unlike pointers, setters aren’t always blessed with the endurance and hunting range it takes to excel in the physically demanding three-hour run at the national championship event.

All those drawbacks have prompted many bird dog enthusiasts to shy away from setters -- and that reluctance to train the dogs has caused their numbers to drop on the competitive field-trialing circuit.

Out of 36 dogs qualified for this year’s national championship, which runs through this week, there are 34 pointers and just two setters. But the setters that did make the event are exceptional dogs that many believe could break the 42-year drought for the breed someday soon.

Shadow Oak Bo, owned by Butch Houston and Dr. John Dorminy of Nashville, Ga., ran Wednesday -- and though the dog probably didn’t turn in a championship performance, it notched three finds and a back during a full three-hour run. That’s better than some of the pointers did last week and reason for the dog’s owners to believe he may have a shot at a national title someday.

"My dog is a freak of nature in that he can outrun the pointers," Houston said. "He’s the most competitive dog I’ve ever owned. He’s like the Secretariat of the bird dog game. He’s lightning fast and smart enough to check back in with his handler once in a while so you’re not gonna lose him.

"I truly believe he’s the best setter in the country and maybe the best one to come along in three or four decades."

The other setter in the field is Highground Jax Jabba, owned by Chuck and Kara Kunde of Nevada and handled by Lori Steinshouer -- one of the few female handlers ever to compete in the nationals.

"When the nationals began back in the 1800s, setters dominated the thing," Carlisle said. "That slowly changed through the years until the 1940s when you started having a really good mix of pointers and setters.

"A lot of people would love to see a setter win it again because it would be such a great story -- and I really believe there are some dogs on the circuit that will make a good run at winning before they’re done."