medium sized dog

[dugger13]

I have a friend who is looking for his first dog. It will live in the house. He is not a hunter right now, but being the person i am, i am recommending a hunting (pointing) dog. All he is asking is it be a smaller dog. 30-40 pounds. he grew up with cocker spaniels.

So my immediate thoughts are Britney or setter. Am i leaving any other breed out?

[CherrystoneWeims]

Boykin Spaniel. The more I am around the breed the more I really like them. LOL I'm thinking that when I get too old to run my Weims this could be a breed that I would get.

[bobman]

A pointer for an non hunter is a bad idea there tons of GSPs and other breeds in rescue because a nonhunter got fed up with their energy level and dumped them.

My boykin is a good house dog, a small mutt from the pound would be also.


And yes I know some pointers are calm to head off the inevitable , percentage wise not many IMO.

[dugger13]

the activity level is not going to be a problem.

I will look at the boykin spaniel as well. thanks

[Killer Instinct]

Field Bred Springer Spaniels might also be a nice fit.....

[Dennmor]

Nothing is sweeter in the house than a Large Munsterlander or a German Longhair! They're easy to train (very biddable) and very productive in the field for a foot hunter.To get an idea about the GLP's I'd recomend that you take a look at http://www.coraschatten.com/About_Us.htm.
You won't find nicer more knowlegable people than Scott and Cortney.
dennmor

[Bigg_Redd]

I have a friend who is looking for his first dog. It will live in the house. He is not a hunter right now, but being the person i am, i am recommending a hunting (pointing) dog. All he is asking is it be a smaller dog. 30-40 pounds. he grew up with cocker spaniels.

So my immediate thoughts are Britney or setter. Am i leaving any other breed out?

Is he going to hunt? If not any decently behaved dog of any lineage will do.

[Sharon]

I have a friend who is looking for his first dog. It will live in the house. He is not a hunter right now, but being the person i am, i am recommending a hunting (pointing) dog. All he is asking is it be a smaller dog. 30-40 pounds. he grew up with cocker spaniels.

So my immediate thoughts are Britney or setter. Am i leaving any other breed out?

Maybe I'm weird but if it's to be a housedog, "he is not a hunter", don't get a sporting breed. It wouldn't be fair to the dog. JMO

[crackerd]

Sharon's right--if he's not a hunter, he may have a problem, because a Boykin, every Boykin



is born one.

Then again they're not mid-sized dogs, either--they're little, they retrieve big



and there's nothing mid- about them.

MG

PS Sharon, what happened to your Outdoors Ontario site?

[Dennmor]

I have a friend who is looking for his first dog. It will live in the house. He is not a hunter right now, but being the person i am, i am recommending a hunting (pointing) dog. All he is asking is it be a smaller dog. 30-40 pounds. he grew up with cocker spaniels.

So my immediate thoughts are Britney or setter. Am i leaving any other breed out?

I'm thinking you're jumping the gun here. Wanting this gut to buy a hunting dog because you think he might become a hunter sounds like a bit of a strech.
I think the order of events should be to see if the guy likes hunting and then see if he likes it enough to comit to a hunting breed. I tend to think hunting breeds are bst in the house when they get their field time.
JMHO,
dennmor

[Sharon]

PS Sharon, what happened to your Outdoors Ontario site?

Always love those pics.

We changed software and set up a new site - decided not to send you the new address. JUST KIDDING!

You're welcome anytime. Takes about 24 hours to get passed for registration due to keeping spammers out.

http://www.oodmag.com/

[CherrystoneWeims]

Then again they're not mid-sized dogs, either--they're little, they retrieve big



and there's nothing mid- about them.

MG

Crackerd,

I was just at the Boykin National FT last month here in SC. I saw some BIG Boykins. It really took me by surprise at the size of some of them. not just leggy but also big bodied. A friend of mine just got a pup from Pam Kadlec - Just Ducky. He's interested in getting into field work with the pup and knows that I do field work so he asked me if I wanted to go and watch with him. LOL It was really weird seeing dogs flush and "hup" instead of point. Quite the learning experience!

[bwjohn]

I immediately thought of a small munsterlander. They are a small dog and very affectionate.

Brandon

[dugger13]

He is going to hunt some. he just never has had a hunting dog before, or hunted much before

[Trekmoor]

If your friend grew up with cockers and if he likes them, why not get another one of working breeding ? I got my first ever cocker last year, he hunts like a thing possessed and will retrieve anything that is just a smidgin too slow at getting off the ground ! Terrific little dogs, at present ,in Britain ,they are riding along on the crest of a wave of good breeding. I've worked labs, brits, G.S.P.'s and springers. In their own way workbred cockers equal any of them.

Bill T.

[Trekmoor]

P.S. to my previous post ........I see that you have a GSP and a GWP. I have a G.S.P. and a cocker. From personal experience I can say that the two make one heck of an effective hunting combination. The pointing dog handles the more open spaces as the cocker walks in heelfree position then when the cover gets really thick and nasty the little fella gets in there and shreds the cover as the big dog walks at heelfree.

Bill T.

[Dave]

I’d second the field-bred cocker suggestion. I’m a springer & retriever man myself but the club I train w/ has a lot of field trial cockers and I’ve shot a few cocker trials as an official gun. They punch well above their weight in the field and you can’t help but enjoy their company the rest of the time. A lot of the pointing dog guys are using them now to flush in front of their pointers and retrieve, it’s funny to see these hardened dog men who treat their pointers like machines let their little cocker buddy ride in the front of the truck.

If your friend’s not an experienced gun dog man, a pointing breed will probably never reach it’s potential but if he can teach a cocker to sit (hup), stay, and come, he can have a very useful gundog.

[sfellc]

I'll second the second on field trial cockers or springers in the home. I have 5 that live in the house with me, and I couldnt be happier. Although they are energetic, with a little excersise they settle down pretty quickly.