HUnt young GSP with retrievers

[KarlW]

I have an opportunity to hunt some good pheasant property with my one year old GSP. The owner of the land may want to hunt with us. He hunts over labs. I used to hear that hunting a pointer with labs is not a good idea. What should I do in this situation?

[ezzy333]

I would take turn with the dogs.

Ezzy

[jbogacki76]

I hunted my young shorthair with my cousins lab. I hunted one tree line and he hunted another further down. From what I heard its not a good thing to do because they will pick up habits. Of course my cousin complained, but I told him to buy a shorthair next time and we wont have this problems. He laughed, had a few choice words and told me I owed him lunch for that comment!

[romeo212000]

Only do it if you plan to teach to your GSP to be a flushing dog. :roll:

[birddog1968]

The few GSP's I saw in the Dakotas were flushing dogs

[romeo212000]

If you want to train them to be a flushing dog then that's fine. But you cannot refute the fact that gsp's are bred as pointing dogs. I assume the op wants his dog to.point and hold given his concern of hunting him with a flushing lab.

[Mike50]

If both dogs are down at the same time. I'd pass on the invite.

[Greg Jennings]

Just alternate with them or go in separate directions to keep them apart. You just don't want the flusher to flush birds that your dog has pointed.

[bruns333]

I hunted my gsp with a friend's springer on pheasants in Iowa a few years ago. It worked out alright as my gsp was always pretty far ahead and when she pointed and would hold and the springer would sometimes come up and flush or the pressure of us getting closer would flush the bird. The cover was pretty tall so my gsp couldn't see the springer get ahead of her. I wouldn't recommend it, but you may be able to get away with it depending on the circumstances. Mostly the springer got to watch my dog point. One of the times the springer marked the bird better and was making the retrieve until my gsp saw her and went and took the rooster from her and brought it back. My friend was a good sport about it and he had fun hunting over a pointing dog.

[romeo212000]

That story is exactly the reason you shouldn't hunt your gap with a flushing dog. The dog in this story may not have been able to see the springer but the springer was busting the gsp birds in this story. It is a surefire way to undo your hard work and training.

[steingre]

My buddy and I have hunted over Lab/GSP pairs for over 20 years....and I can probably count on one hand the times we have ever had a problem with the dogs figuring out what to do and who they work for! We usually keep a good distance apart...trying to work the fields intelligently...and each working slightly different parts- if we were both hunting exactly the same ground...I can see where it could be a problem!

Maybe we're really hunting different sections of the same property at the same time...but...I won't spend too much time thinking about that either!

Please don't tell Gus (GSP) and Lacey (Lab) that we're doin' it all wrong- otherwise...they might start THINKING they're doing something wrong...and we won't get to limit out like we've done twice so far this season!

[romeo212000]

I am glad you have found something that works for you and it sounds like it works because you don't hunt them together directly. Take a young dog and let a flushing dog bust his pointed birds once or twice and see what a pile you end up in with that young dog. Everyone has what works for them. I am very picky about what dogs I hunt with and have managed to limit a few times this year as well. And the season isn't over yet.

[Winchey]

I am getting a Small Munsterlander and I currently have a 18 month old Golden and was wondering if anyone has succesfully hunted a combination like this. My Golden hardly ever finds birds, he mostly tracks fur when we are out but his obedience is solid. His Whoa command is near 100%. What I was wondering is if I couldn't just use this command when my new pup (5 weeks now, still with breeder) points to avoid mishaps. It goes without saying that the new pup will need lots of 1 on 1 time but I was just wondering if anyone has succesfully hunted a combination such as this. I will be Hunting Grouse and Woodcock and hoping the pointer will range about twice as far as the golden. The golden really isn't that birdy unless it is waterfowl which many of you will ask why I would even bother but I guess it is because I am as much of a dog lover as a hunter and trainer and would like to eventually be able to bring him along. He has never flushed a bird on me when I have seen it first and whoad him and I can succesfully jump ducks with him while he is heeling although this practice actually kills him inside until i release him for the retrieve.

[romeo212000]

It may be just as bad for your dog to see you shoot a flushed bird over your golden is to do it over your pointer. I abide by this rule no matter what. Flushers and pointers never get hunted together. It's my rule though.

[Grange]

If you've got a good pointing dog and the lab is well trained go for it. I hunted my english setter puppy who just turned 1 year old all last fall with my 5 year old lab on ruffed grouse. My goal was to hunt them separately at first, but because we had a warm fall I didn't want leave one in the car so I hunted them together. My setter ranges farther out than my lab so the conflict is minimal. My lab has learned that when my setter goes on point she is to come to heal and then wait at a distance for me to flush the grouse. Heck my lab has even "backed" the setter's point this season. When my lab flushes a bird my setter is often out in front, but even when she's nearby it doesn't have a negative affect on her point. My setter's point has not been harmed at all by hunting her with my lab. Once she establishes point she doesn't move until released or the flush.

I think once I'm ready to break my setter to be steady to wing and shot I will have to revisit hunting the dogs together.

If the lab isn't trained to not flush a pointed bird or the owner won't call his dog off then you may want to think twice.