Hunting dog

O
Outdoor_Myers
Ok well I never been much of a big dog type of person but I was thinking if I really get into hunting in the next year or so I might need to get a pointer/flusher/retriver for upland and waterfowl hunting. I been searching breeds but I would like some advice from my good OFF pals and gals on what breed to look for.
 
J
juggernaut506
There's a lot of good dog breeds out there. German shorthairs are great upland dogs but not so much for waterfowl. Chesapeake Bay Retrievers are great duck hunting dogs but not so good at upland. Labs are good at both, make great family dogs but without a lot of training it takes a few years before they're more interested in hunting then playing.
I have a yellow lab that's 2 1/2 and it was this year that she made her first duck retrieve. She hasn't gotten down the whole idea of upland hunting yet but by next year she should be fine.
 
M
Markcanby
juggernaut506 said:
There's a lot of good dog breeds out there. German shorthairs are great upland dogs but not so much for waterfowl. Chesapeake Bay Retrievers are great duck hunting dogs but not so good at upland. Labs are good at both, make great family dogs but without a lot of training it takes a few years before they're more interested in hunting then playing.
I have a yellow lab that's 2 1/2 and it was this year that she made her first duck retrieve. She hasn't gotten down the whole idea of upland hunting yet but by next year she should be fine.

Hey thats not cool My Shorthair will give any Chessy or Lab a beating retriving ducks "That is tell she gets to cold". Any day any time I She will race any of you lab lovers.:lol::lol:
 
J
juggernaut506
Markcanby said:
Hey thats not cool My Shorthair will give any Chessy or Lab a beating retriving ducks "That is tell she gets to cold". Any day any time I She will race any of you lab lovers.:lol::lol:

The cold is the best time to duck hunt though. My lab didn't complain at all about the ponds being partly frozen and being in them a good part of the day. I'm partial to labs because I have one but they are great all around dogs. Super gentle around my friends little kids even when they're hanging on her ears and always begging to go out to the field during hunting season.
Also they're amazingly protective and tough when they need to be.
 
T
thepreditor
I have a german shorthair. Great with kids and other dogs. She does get cold but it dosen't stop her. I dont think i will ever own another breed of dog....
 
M
Markcanby
I have seem a few good Labs but never seen a dog like a Shorthair. I must say though my dogs brother hates the water. So its never a sure bet what you are going to get. I dont like duck hunting enough to sit in the cold all day an my Shorthair can cover 20 miles of the roughest country in teh world an want more. So its a Shorthair for me.

In the end at all about want you really want to hunt an where has a lot to do also Myers. Where I hunt only Shorthairs an English Pointers can hunt all day unless you can teach your dog to wear boots "Thats not easy by the way funny as hell but not easy".

My next dog will be a French Britney they are a nice little hunter thats just as versatile as Shorthair an almost as tough.
 
M
Markcanby
thepreditor said:
I have a german shorthair. Great with kids and other dogs. She does get cold but it dosen't stop her. I dont think i will ever own another breed of dog....

Yeah I didn't say she would stop going after the duck just might not out swim as many dogs when she is cold.
Ha I was just thinking of my trip 2 weeks ago where she decided she was going to swim teh Deachuets she found out its a lot faster then the Molalla
I will always have a shorthair in the house they are the best.
 
J
juggernaut506
There's also a newer breed of dog that my old LT got called a bravarian vactaehound or something like that that is supposed to be the best straight up hunting dog. Other then they don't honor other dogs points so well.
If all I was going to do was upland hunt or owned a ranch where I guide people for birds I'd probably own a shorthair or that vactaehound. For 3/4 of the year I need a house dog that doesn't need to be ran everyday. So a lab that is a very good hunting dog and very good indoor house dog is the way to go. When you watch hunting shows and the guides all have labs or chessies in their blinds with them also says something. Sometimes you even see pointing labs out there working upland with these upscale guide services. I've never seen an upscale waterfowl guide using a shorthair.
 
D
dude young
Best choice, all around is a Lab, period. For upland, water, family, watching the homestead; Labs, Labs, Labs. I love my Labs, and all thier quirks.

I agree with the notion that they take their time to settle in if you do not go all in on the training from day one. Case in point... my Brown-dog (no comments Mark or Adam) vs. my buddies twin Yellows. My girl is primarily a companion to my old yeller and a babe magnet. I've worked with her in a cursory sense, so she knows how to do basic retrieves, but I won't expect her to do double blinds right now. On the other hand, Frik and Frak were trained by a top pro when they were pups and Buddy works them non stop in the off season both in drills and running them in tower shoots at the local hunt club. These dog will (and have) retrieved birds any logical man would give up on, both on land, in water and through the ice.

I agree with the idea that Spaniels are phenomenal dogs too. And pointers. And terriers. And hounds. Bottom line... ...you need to be ready for a dog before you should get one. You don't need a dog to hunt with. You have enought to deal with over the next couple of years. The best thing you could do is make friends with folks that have dogs. Hunt with them. Learn and appreciate how different breeds work. Ge tthe inside track from your friends. As you develop a preference, a breed will stand out. Then, you need to start talking to breeders, owners, trainers...

Do it right and you will have a friend for the next 12-15 years, no matter how she hunts. Do it wrong, and you've made a mistake that will cost you so much more that the cost of admission.

Good luck.
 
M
Markcanby
Bah, Lab:lol::lol:
Lets just hit some water sometime Dude. Just remember that was the first time Ava ever looked fro birds in the trees got her all confused. I had here doing double blinds when she 10 months. Coarse its been almost 2 years now so she maybe rusty.:lol::lol: Unless you are going to spend over 50% of your hunting in the water you can't beat a GSP.:cool:
 
D
dude young
Alright there Mark. You're on. Next fall we do a duck v. chukar hunt. Ava v. Rhetta. May the best dog win. ;)

Nah. I ain't poo'n on pointers. I would love one some day. Remember, I hail from a place it is brutally cold during even the early hunts of the year. Labs are hardy dogs. They were bread of the North. To hunt cold hard times. But, they overheat too quickly when they are chasing birds in the high country in the early fall.

So, I guess the answer is to have a:

  • GSP for quail/chukar
  • Jack Russel for rabbits
  • Blood hound for bears/cougars
  • Lab for duck and geese
  • Chessie for old squaw, cans, and eiders
  • Doberman for perps
  • And a bulldog puppy for the babes

Get your check book out Myers. It's gonna be a rough ride.
 
J
juggernaut506
Chessies are also amazing dogs. One of my buddies had one and you could scratch an X on a rock, throw it in 6+ feet of water at Green Peter Res. and that dog would come up with that same rock 95% of the time. My lab won't go that deep but gets the right rock atleast half the time in up to 3 or 4 feet.
 
O
Outdoor_Myers
dude young said:
Alright there Mark. You're on. Next fall we do a duck v. chukar hunt. Ava v. Rhetta. May the best dog win. ;)

Nah. I ain't poo'n on pointers. I would love one some day. Remember, I hail from a place it is brutally cold during even the early hunts of the year. Labs are hardy dogs. They were bread of the North. To hunt cold hard times. But, they overheat too quickly when they are chasing birds in the high country in the early fall.

So, I guess the answer is to have a:

  • GSP for quail/chukar
  • Jack Russel for rabbits
  • Blood hound for bears/cougars
  • Lab for duck and geese
  • Chessie for old squaw, cans, and eiders
  • Doberman for perps
  • And a bulldog puppy for the babes

Get your check book out Myers. It's gonna be a rough ride.


Count me in I'll help to put some birds to the ground for the pups to have some competition and whoever dog does the best the looser gets to clean all harvest :) I can be the judge and learn while watching and participating! lol
 
H
halibuthitman
my last gundog was a brittney, she was killed by coyotes on a trip for huns near sprague lake in eastern wa. I killed one of the coyotes, but two more got away. Upland hunting dogs need many more traits to be a fine hunter than a waterfowl dog, my dog just wasn't tough enough for that game.. or trained well enough. shorthair against lab in a funny arguement, its like saying blonde or brunette..... one of both is best. The top 3 hunting dogs ive ever had the privelege of hunting with were all un-papered mutts.... who were loved hopelessly by the families that owned them.:cool:
 
D
dude young
halibuthitman said:
its like saying blonde or brunette..... one of both is best.

dude young said:
And a bulldog puppy for the babes

Check, and mate.

Agreed. You cannot go wrong, so long as you love the dog you pick. My first dog (of my adult life) was a lab/collie mix that I would trade a kidney to have back. That dog would have taken a bullet for me or my wife, and I would be glad to return the favor.

RIP - Ceasar. :(
 
K
Kodiak
Whats wrong with you people?

Whats wrong with you people?

There is ONLY 1 dog for a guy who needs a dog that will do everything....Chessies!:D First of all there is no such thing as a pure bred lab unless you buy on directly from Britain. Labs may be "easy" to train but can be really quirky. I had a buddy who had one that absolutely refused to make land retrieves. Every chesapeake I have ever had also hunted upland birds with ease. They are smarter than a lot of other breeds making a little more challenging to train, but you have tobe 10% smarter than the machine you are trying to opperate, in this case a chessy. I would put my one eyed chessy (if he was still living) up against ANY of the pointing breeds. Yes with only one eye he would out hunt, retrieve, and run into stuff any other dog out there...Get a chessie..you won't ever go back.
 
J
juggernaut506
I still say lab. The only thing I don't like about chessies is the oily film they leave on your hand after you pet them. I know it works great as a waterproofer for them but it's not pleasant to pet. Even my fiance says labs are the best and she knows everything...I guess.
 
K
Kodiak
I guess the reason chessie are so dear to me is "quit" is just not in thier vocabulary. They handle some of the most redicoulous retrieves with a style and grace that few breeds poses. Way back before my first chessie was a finished dog, we were hunting on the galatin river back in montana. It was too cold to snow and the river was flowing Icebers twice the size of a sheet of plywood. A buddy of mine caught a drake mallard that swung a little wider than we had hoped for and dumped him in the willows on the other side of the river. My pup was off like a shot and hit the water with a vengence, I tried to call her back but she just wasn't having it...I could help but think I was going to loose my dog when one of the larger sheets came right at her. Some how she managed to climb aboard the ice sheet, sprinted to the other side, barreled back into the water, scurried up the bank, picked up the drake, and chugged back across the water with a little grin. She delivered to hand and sat watching the sky looking for her next victim. we decided to pack it in , just too dangerous for the dog....until she started playing fetch with the Ice sheets on her own...whatever dog..your nuts!..we had a great shoot and never once did she fail or flinch...Oily coat? I'll live with it.
 
H
hendrixfan
I don't hunt so I can't speak for that, but I do have a Chessie and can tell you that I have never seen a more capable swimmer in my life. I never trained her to be a retriever but in the water it is very instinctive for her. Anything I throw in that she can get to(this includes following a stick through mild rapids..oops) she will bring back. In the backyard on the other hand she would much rather turn retrieving into a game of chase than anything. The down side is that unlike a Lab she isn't much into strangers(this is good and bad) and doesn't really care for other dogs. I attempted to socialize her as much as possible at dog parks etc, but as soon as she was an adult she had dominance issues with other dogs. All in all an amazing dog that is a bit independent and hard headed...

murphy081707.jpg
 
G
Grace2u
Hunting dogs...

Hunting dogs...

I raised German Short hairs for approx 17 yrs, and for upland bird hunting Pheasant etc. they can do the Job. but as many say on here get the Dog that will suet you need for the conditions of your hunting, And remember all hunting dogs are bread for 2 reasons, hunting in their environment and companionship.

I probably sold 12 dogs out of my many litters that went to Hunting, as strange as that seems, all others went pets for single gals and families.

You would not want to hunt ducks in a cold environment with a upland bird dog, and you would not want to hunt thick thistle areas with a golden lab etc.

Even in the thick thorny areas we would take a very mild oil, and lightly coat the Short-hairs, and they could go through the very thick brush with out even the slightest burr on their coats.

SO in essence get the dog that will meet your needs in the conditions you hunt, and also get a good vet rundown on the physical negatives on that particular breed, and make sure when you look at a registered dog that those negatives are NOT on the family tree. Things such as overbites, some minor physical characteristics don't mater much if you Hunt allot or it will be a family pet, these things only give you a plus if you will make it a SHOW animal.
 

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