Author Topic: help picking a new hunting dog (Read 2671 times)

sachel.45 · « **on:** September 12, 2009, 09:46:11 AM »

I'm finally able to get a hunting dog but am kinda stumped as to what to get. I'm going to be hunting upland birds (pheasants, chuakar, grouse, quail, etc) and maybe duck (a tiny bit i'd say 95% upland 5% duck if that) it needs to be good with kids as i have a 1.5 year old and another in the next year or so i also have a non hunting dog that it needs to get along with. i have a yard and am going to be joining a bird dog club in my area. my wife is kind of set on a cheaspeake bay retriever are they any good at upland bird hunting? I've been told that flushers are easier to train is that true? So what would you guys recomend for me? sorry for all the questions

ctrout · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2009, 06:34:19 PM »

For the type of hunting that you describe, I'll boldly assert that there is NO better dog than an English Springer Spaniel, PERIOD! They are exactly what you are looking for.

RAdkins · « **Reply #2 on:** September 13, 2009, 05:21:34 AM »

Look into the Spinone Italiano. They are very gentle around kids and other dogs. They are also shy around strangers making it very difficult for anyone to steal one, as opposed to a Lab that will go with anyone. The only fault that I have with mine is they drool alot. Great dogs !!!!

mrbigtexan · « **Reply #3 on:** September 21, 2009, 02:53:16 PM »

i would say a well bred lab would be exactly what your looking for.

ctrout · « **Reply #4 on:** September 21, 2009, 04:05:52 PM »

Actually, a well bred lab would be the best dog if he was doing 95% ducks and 5% upland birds. Labs are exceptional water dogs and mediocre upland dogs. ESSs are exceptional upland hunters and mediocre to fair water dogs.

AtlLaw · « **Reply #5 on:** September 21, 2009, 05:03:38 PM »

A Deutsch Drahthaar, no question, no doubt. When I got my first one there were only 1500 +/- registered in the FDSB. John Rex Gates trained him up in Canada. I had a picture of my eldest daughter, an infant at the time-now 39, pulling his ear and he just licked her face. They want to be house dogs and hunt as much to please their master as for the love of it. RIP Gunner old pal...

dukkillr · « **Reply #6 on:** September 21, 2009, 05:55:17 PM »

I won't own another long haired dog. I've picked all the damn burrs out of ears I can stand. And the labs being mediocre upland dogs is true if you're focused on pointing birds, quail and grouse for instance. It IS NOT true if you're pheasant hunting. Here's a tip, call a South Dakota pheasant guide and ask what he runs... labs...

ctrout · « **Reply #7 on:** September 21, 2009, 06:16:46 PM »

Well he did say pheasant, chuckar, quail, grouse. And maybe I should have qualified the statement by saying that a lab is mediocre in comparison to the ESS for upland game. I would never recommend an ESS for someone who said they want a dog primarily for duck hunting either.

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #8 on:** September 22, 2009, 07:10:03 AM »

while there are better upland dogs, my choice is the golden retriever. I mostly upland hunt and they do a good job. Not the kind of job that makes a pointer fan happy, but we get game. Plus they have to be one of the most beautiful and loveable dogs on earth.

hunt-m-up · « **Reply #9 on:** September 22, 2009, 12:18:47 PM »

Not generalizing, but I've been around a couple of Springers that were very aggressive, as in, will bite the kid if they grab them a little wrong. The temperment of a lab is hard to argue with if you are expecting a family dog.

ctrout · « **Reply #10 on:** September 22, 2009, 03:56:09 PM »

That is true. One must be careful of the breeding of any dog but especially spaniels. Both of mine come from vastly different lines and both are docile as a lamb. I have four kids ranging in age from one year to 15 years and never an issue. One of my springers is from puppy mill/show stock and hunts like a machine in the uplands but is a little too nervous and vocal for a duck blind. My other springer is too young to tell anything about yet because she's only 5 months old but her father is from Scottland with about 40% of his pedigree holding English FTCH titles and the mother is a US dog with roughly 35% of her pedigree holding FTCH or MH titles from the US and Canada. She nips at the kids, and me, and the dish towel hanging from the sink, and the other dog's ears. Basically I think that's just a puppy thing and I think she will be fine as she matures. I will never debate that a lab is probably a better all-around family dog or a better water retriever.

sachel.45 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 23, 2009, 10:28:11 AM »

as much as id like a lab the wifes doesn't like them so there out. am thinking about a brittney however

ctrout · « **Reply #12 on:** September 23, 2009, 05:39:19 PM »

I think a britt might be ok. I was looking at them myself a few years ago. I don't know how they do in the water but they are supposed to be great with kids. I'm not too familiar with pointers either. I hear that they work pretty far from the gun. Make sure that you would be comfortable with that type of hunting. I guess that one could make adjustments for that.

sachel.45 · « **Reply #13 on:** September 24, 2009, 07:51:28 AM »

yeah i'd rather have a close working dog. ive discovered that picking a hunting dog is alot harder than i thought but probably worth it in the long run

marlin mike · « **Reply #14 on:** October 01, 2009, 05:22:33 PM »

Ever think of a German Short Hair Pointer. I hunt ruffed grouse, pheasent, and ducks from a blind. My GSP points and retrieves as good as any Lab Ret I ever had. She is a geat swimmer. She will go in Lake Superiour faster than I will.

sachel.45 · « **Reply #15 on:** October 01, 2009, 06:05:42 PM »

yeah i like them. i'm going to go look at a chessis this weekend

sachel.45 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 03, 2009, 07:41:23 PM »

picked up a chessie pup today should work out preety well

Arier Blut · « **Reply #17 on:** October 04, 2009, 01:03:14 AM »

I have a chessy. I hunt the way you say 95% upland 5% duck. It does better than the upland trained labs I have seen on tv. No experience with seeing one in person as they are not used around me for upland. They have the drive of a lab without the absent mindedness.

jrfrmn · « **Reply #18 on:** October 04, 2009, 08:35:01 PM »

I would suggest that you talk to someone that has owned and hunted with a Chessapeake. I had a friend that did, after he wouldn't listen to my advise about the long hair picking up burrs. I have owned two springers and they are bad to pick up burrs and also get ice balls between the pads of their feet. My dogs were English and Canadian bloodlines. They came from Talbot Radcliff from England. My first was a male and my daughter used to lay on him as a toddler and he loved it. It does depend on the blood line. The American bloodline, I have been told is not the same.The only flusher I would choose over a springer is a Lab. One advantage with a springer, you can have them groomed with a field cut. That helps with the burrs. If you don't mind the long hair, I would choose between the springer and the britt. The English pointer ranges to far. For a first dog I would not get one .The German Shorthair and The Visila are fairly close ranging and very good hunters and good with kids. I have hunted with all of these except the Chessi and this is my experience. I have a very good book on training Springers. This is my experience.

sachel.45 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 05, 2009, 10:03:46 AM »

Ive talked to some guys about hunting with cheesie should be a good fit for me and my family. going to start training him this week

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #20 on:** October 05, 2009, 10:11:23 AM »

I had a lab that would hunt all you said you would hunt , No he did not have the style of a pointer or setter but he got the job done . On dock and geese none better . And i shot 10 or more deer with him jumping them and running them past me . He died at 15 years old , we miss Jake .

ctrout · « **Reply #21 on:** October 06, 2009, 07:00:45 PM »

That's interesting about the deer hunting. Around my parts, I think that deer hunting with dogs is illegal. Most deer hunters who see dogs chasing deer shoot the dog. Where are you at that hunting deer with dogs is legal and accepted?

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #22 on:** October 07, 2009, 02:19:08 AM »

Eastern side of the Blue Ridge in Virginia .

Tonk · « **Reply #23 on:** October 25, 2009, 06:57:35 PM »

I suppose since I used to raise Labs years ago, it will make me a little partial but in all honesty, if your going to be hunting 95% Upland Hunting, then I will call the shots like I see em and that means GERMAN SHORTHAIR POINTER period.

They are the most versatile of the pointer breeds and you won't have to walk every square foot of a 500 acre field to find the only 3 birds that are in that field. I raise GSP and have some of the best bred dogs East or West of the Mississippi. All my dogs are out of NFC dogs, meaning national field trial champions. You like to talk dogs send me a PM OK. Yes, my dogs can be used to hunt ducks too in a pinch.

I also have a couple of crossbreds that will hunt hogs as well. Sold a couple to cross breed with a fella's African breed, so as to hunt lion out West. Like I stated, the GSP is very versatile and tops at bird hunting in the field on wild birds. I never have to comb out the coat on a GSP of mine, they do not collect briars like long hair dogs do.

sachel.45 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 26, 2009, 05:03:38 PM »

thanks but got a chessie and couldnt be happier

Tonk · « **Reply #25 on:** November 26, 2009, 02:11:06 PM »

You picked a water dog for an Upland Game dog! Chessie's are great in the water and super cold conditions, those were 90% of most hunters head to the house but they can NOT hold a candle in upland hunting compared to a German Shorthair Pointer.......FACT!!! Good Luck with your dog though!

smokeeater3302 · « **Reply #26 on:** January 16, 2010, 07:00:43 AM »

I have a 120lbs chessie that cant swim you want him . The only reason that I got the dog was becasue I watched his grand pa break ice and there were a few times that I thought we killed him over a bird . He is mean and will kill anything that gets in the yard dog cat coyote I mean anything . My buddy wants his as a coyote dog but I know what kind of life they lead .

mrbigtexan · « **Reply #27 on:** January 17, 2010, 05:45:47 PM »

Quote from: smokeeater3302 on January 16, 2010, 07:00:43 AM

I have a 120lbs chessie that cant swim you want him . The only reason that I got the dog was becasue I watched his grand pa break ice and there were a few times that I thought we killed him over a bird . He is mean and will kill anything that gets in the yard dog cat coyote I mean anything . My buddy wants his as a coyote dog but I know what kind of life they lead .

can't swim? hmmm. i wouldn't recommend any dog breaking ice. they might not touch bottom and go under and not find the hole they made to get in. also, ice will cut a dog quick. the one and only chessie i ever had was an excellent waterfowl hunter but did not show any interest in finding birds that he did'nt watch fall. he became very protective of his backyard and would bite anyone who came near it. but was great out hunting as he did'nt own the ponds or wheat fields. was always great with my kids too.

DennyRoark · « **Reply #28 on:** February 09, 2010, 05:13:05 AM »

Quote

For the type of hunting that you describe, I'll boldly assert that there is NO better dog than an English Springer Spaniel, PERIOD! They are exactly what you are looking for.

X2 for me, great with kids, always happy and limitless, all day energy. At 14, mine still wanted to go huntin' but that year he finally lost his edge. Took the old boy out and let him try, even shot in the air a couple of times for him. I felt so sorry for him, but he loved every minute of it. Died in his sleep a few days after the season ended

Quote

I won't own another long haired dog. I've picked all the damn burrs out of ears I can stand.

Start each season with a butch! Mine grew to love his twice a year haircuts, and a "rough coat" ain't so bad. Get one from a reputable "family" gun dog breeder and they are already started and socialized.

bulletstuffer · « **Reply #29 on:** February 11, 2010, 02:51:31 PM »

Lost my Chessie last year after 12 years

He was the greatest hunting dog and fetched everything from doves to sandhill cranes

If it had feathers and it hit the ground or water he would fetch it up and bring it back and place it in my hand. He amazed me on many occasions

I wish you the same luck I had with my dog!

Bulletstuffer